A major goal of the US Department of Energy (DOE) is to understand and predict process- and systems-level interactions involving clouds, aerosols, and radiative transfer in climate-sensitive environments. A particular focus involves marine regions, where there is a tremendous need for dedicated long term measurements in natural and perturbed conditions. In 2024, the DOE hosted a workshop to evaluate the opportunities, benefits, and efficiencies that can be gained by using commercial ships of opportunity for sustained atmospheric research, where sensors and sensor suites can be deployed in a semi-autonomous manner. Subsequent to the workshop, a funding opportunity was issued to DOE National Laboratories, to launch a pilot project that will identify, develop, and pilot deployment of a small suite of instruments that can be operated autonomously on commercial vessels to address BER science questions. This Town Hall will focus on describing the outputs of the workshop as well as the pilot program’s three-year plans, including a longer term vision for a sustained observational program of unattended autonomous measurements of marine aerosols, clouds, and other environmental factors on commercial ships. It will also be an opportunity for the broader community to engage with the pilot project.

Our changing climate is impacting almost every aspect of society, including economic prosperity, human and environmental health, and national security.  Droughts, flooding, extreme weather, heat waves, sea level rise, and other environmental hazards will continue to put lives, property, and ecosystems at risk.  NOAA is the leader in understanding and predicting these transformations and their repercussions on society.  NOAA Research is aligning science done by our laboratories and research programs on the following four societal challenges: 1) Confronting Challenges from Our Changing Climate, 2) Managing Too Much & Too Little Water, 3) Protecting Against Extreme Events & Environmental Hazards, and 4) Sustaining a Healthy Environment & Economy.  These societal challenges will be addressed with NOAA Research’s expertise, data, and tools and which will prepare the Nation to make sound decisions to protect ecosystems and people.  In this Agency Update, NOAA Research leadership will discuss 2025 priority areas of research for the weather, water, and climate enterprise alongside key partners.

NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) works to observe our Earth environment and support NOAA’s enhanced climate services by delivering a robust observations and data system. Coordination with international, interagency, and industry partners is unlocking new capabilities and technological advances. This includes developing secure data ingest in different formats from different partners through a common ground service. NESDIS leadership will outline how the organization is working to better monitor the ocean, atmosphere, and climate to improve productivity and health outcomes. Planning for the next generation includes agile systems in LEO with commercial partners, continuous real time observations in GEO and advancements in operational space weather observation capabilities. NESDIS invites the community to join in this discussion.

For decades, the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) has supported, enhanced, and extended the capabilities of the university and the broader scientific communities. The center's collaborations with user communities and experience cooperatively conducting research and developing models, observational instruments, analysis tools, and other products underpins NSF NCAR’s role as an essential partner in fundamental, actionable Earth system science research.Join NSF NCAR Director Everette Joseph and lab leaders for a panel discussion about the center’s scientific priorities and its role as a partner to academia and other communities. Based on community input and federal and community reports, the priorities focus on how NSF NCAR can work with the community to bolster decision-making at the global, national, regional, and local levels. This includes an emphasis on collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and functions to address the toughest environmental challenges.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s global observations, Earth system science, and modeling delivers the services and information people need to make smart decisions in a changing world. Communities, especially those most vulnerable to climate change, are grappling with the effects of extreme events like hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires, and need resources to prepare for and respond to these events. NOAA works with federal partners, Tribes, communities, and businesses to provide products, tools and services that bolster resilience in the face of climate change. NOAA helps coastal communities adapt to sea level rise; provides critical early warnings about drought to farmers, rural residents, and Tribal and Indigenous communities; works with communities to map heat inequities in urban areas; and collects and stores the authoritative record of greenhouse gas measurements and historical weather, ocean, and climate data. The agency is particularly focused on improving equity in its provision of these services. NOAA leadership will discuss its vision for a Climate Ready Nation and share progress on efforts to increase support for the most vulnerable communities and ensure that all Americans are prepared to thrive in the face of increasing impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration executes its mission of science, service, and stewardship and protects life and property while enhancing the U.S. economy. In 2023, the U.S. experienced a historic 28 separate weather/climate disasters costing at least 1 billion dollars. 2023 was another very active year, featuring a high frequency, high cost, and large diversity of extreme events and causing at least 492 direct or indirect fatalities. The Biden-Harris Administration has made the federal government’s preparation for and response to climate change a major priority, with a focus on improving the equitable provision of services in every community, especially the underserved. NOAA is well-positioned to play a critical role in the whole-of-government effort to tackle the climate crisis in a just and equitable way, leveraging its state-of-the-art science and services. NOAA also plays a key role in achieving the Administration’s economic goals. By fostering innovation and business development without sacrificing environmental stewardship, NOAA is helping the U.S. economy build back better and more sustainably. Join NOAA Administrator, Dr. Rick Spinrad, and NOAA Senior Leaders for a panel discussion on NOAA’s scientific priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration and the importance of engaging the entire scientific community in accomplishing these goals.

The NASA Earth Science Flight program is a dynamic undertaking consisting of a large fleet of operating satellites, an array of satellite and instrument projects in development, and a robust airborne science program which augments and advances the use of satellite data. The current fleet of 23 operating missions provides a wide range of scientific measurements obtained from dedicated Earth-observing satellites and the ISS. Projects in development include both directed missions and competitively selected Principal Investigator-led Earth Venture missions. In May 2021, NASA initiated the Earth System Observatory in response to the 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey, including the competitively selected Earth System Explorers. The Earth Science Flight program benefits from investments by the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) to develop and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies that can be applied to future Earth Science measurements and missions.  Support for this Agency Update and Complimentary Box Lunches are sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Corporation [NGC]

By the end of the decade, The NOAA Office of Water Prediction will deliver a new generation of water information and services that will help users prepare for and respond to weather, water, and climate-dependent events. This Town Hall will provide a status update on NOAA’s Next Generation Water Resources Modeling Framework (NextGen), National Water Model (NWM), Flood Inundation Mapping (FIM), Enterprise Hydrofabric Solution, and Precipitation Frequency Atlas (PFA), and how BIL Provision 3 is supporting these activities.Box lunches sponsored by IBSS Corporation, Raytheon (RTX), GAMA-1 Technologies, M2 Strategy, Riverside Technology inc.

NASA's Office of the Chief Science Data Officer (OCSDO) is advancing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across all NASA science. At this town hall, the NASA team will discuss the intersection of open science principles and AI to enhance and scale scientific analysis, streamline processes, and foster collaboration across the diverse scientific disciplines. OCSDO recently initiated several activities focused on pioneering new approaches using AI for science. These efforts involve developing AI foundational models, establishing core computational infrastructure capabilities, and providing services essential for supporting AI projects. The town hall will provide an update on these initiatives, showcasing progress made and highlighting their role in NASA Science’s AI priorities. Additionally, it will spotlight strategic partnerships and training/outreach activities, underscoring their significance in the growth of AI capabilities within NASA’s scientific community. Furthermore, the town hall will offer insights into how communities can actively engage with these efforts, fostering a collaborative environment where diverse perspectives can move innovation forward. Attendees are invited to actively engage and contribute to discussions about the opportunities and challenges presented by AI for NASA science.

Climate change impacts are increasingly evident, necessitating proactive measures at all levels of society and across sectors. It is often at the local (i.e., municipal, community) level where people feel the most immediate effects and where initiatives can be most impactful. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate-Ready Nation initiative is responding to the growing demand from communities to tailor climate information and services to help facilitate informed decision-making. The Climate-Ready Nation Initiative reinforces NOAA’s commitment to providing equitable access to climate data, products, and information for our Nation’s communities and decision-makers by centering NOAA’s Equitable Climate Services Action Plan in its implementation. NOAA is committed to providing foundational climate information and knowledge for local decision-making and investing in additional technical assistance and capacity building. This panel will delve into the pivotal role of NOAA and NOAA-funded partners in enabling local adaptation and mitigation measures, fostering resilience, and ensuring that climate services effectively address the unique challenges faced by communities across diverse geographical and socioeconomic contexts. Panelists will explore the significance of providing science-based climate services tailored to local communities, highlighting successful strategies, challenges faced, and opportunities for future work.

The desired audience of this Town Hall is the AMS Community - open to all, including a mixed audience of stakeholders, users of satellite data, and researchers.The goal of this interactive town hall session aims to disseminate technical instrument specifications, provide mission updates for LEO, GEO, and SWO, and demonstrate how user information impacts mission development. Additionally, we will share our planned FY25 user engagement activities. This town hall will provide a unique opportunity for NESDIS to issue a call to action, inviting the community to engage with our programs. By doing so, we can: 1.) Better understand how satellite information is integrated into their work 2.) Connect with users to learn about existing and future needsnand 3.) Communicate how the AMS community can get involved and participate in FY25 User Engagement events. Moderators: Program Senior Scientists/ or NESDIS UE Lead.Panel: NOAA Satellite Mission Directors and User Engagement Leads' Presentations: Rapid Fire Presentations (5 min) with Open Q&A after each presentation.Thank you to our box lunch sponsors: Riverside Technology, Science & Technology Corporation, and Cadmus Group

The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence has been accelerating advanced research, development, and applications in many disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. This Town Hall will bring together leading representatives from NOAA, NASA, ECMWF, and EUMETSAT to discuss from their institutional perspectives the roles and potential impacts of AI in Environmental Sciences, Weather Forecasting and Climate Monitoring: Past, Present, and Future. One focus will be on the adaptation of emerging principles, practices, and results for Trustworthy AI in the domains of interest - Environmental Sciences, Weather Forecasting, and Climate Monitoring.  Support for this Town Hall Meeting and Complimentary Box Lunches is provided by Integrated Systems Solutions [ISS], Science and Technology Corp. [STC], Riverside Technology, Inc. [RTI], Axiom Consultants, Inc. [AXIOM], and HelloGOV [HelloGOV] Organizers:Stephen Mango, NOAA/NESDIS/SAE Affiliate and ISS, Inc.Gary McWilliams, NOAA/NESDIS/JPSS Affiliate and  STC, Inc.James Yoe, NOAA/NWS/JCSDARamesh Rangachar, NOAA/NESDIS Affiliate and Aerospace Corp. Jennifer Webster, NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI