FY2025 Weather Program Office Research Programs Announcement - VORTEX USA
- Posted
- September 17, 2024
- Closed
- December 2, 2024
- Award ceiling
- $1,500,000
- Award floor
- $100,000
- Cost sharing
- No
- Instrument
- Cooperative Agreement, Grant
- Assistance listing
- 11.459
- Archives
- January 1, 2025
Program funding history
Awards made under Assistance Listing 11.459 across FY2025–FY2027, from public federal spending records.
- FY2025 obligated
- $17.7M
- FY2026 obligated
- $7.9M
- FY2027 (to date) obligated
- $0
- Awards in window
- 198
Top recipients: Colorado State University, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, George Mason University, University of Oklahoma, University of Miami
Source: USAspending.gov · refreshed October 2026 · Program page: awards, recipients and the opportunities under this listing →
Synopsis
NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO, wpo.noaa.gov/nofo) is soliciting proposals for the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-USA (VORTEX-USA) grant competition from this funding opportunity notification. The program competition's approximate total award funding per year is $2,500,000.00.
In alignment with the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-25), this funding opportunity will allow NOAA to support new weather, water, and earth system observing and forecasting applications, including improved analysis techniques, better statistical or dynamic forecast models and techniques, development of calibrated, probabilistic forecasts, and communication of that information to better inform the public. In particular, this NOFO will seek projects that are responsive to the priorities articulated in the Science Advisory Board's 2021 Priorities for Weather Research Report (https://sab.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/PWR-Report_Final_12-9-21.pdf) as well as the National Weather Service’s strategic priority to advance probabilistic forecasting and decision support services (https://www.weather.gov/media/wrn/NWS-2023-Strategic-Plan.pdf).
For the purposes of NOAA-funded projects, the maturity of projects is broadly classified using Readiness Levels (RLs), as adopted by NOAA and other federal agencies. The numerical RL scale from 1 to 9 is designed to track project maturity across a progressive spectrum from research to development to demonstration to deployment. Some science priorities in this announcement may target research at a specific maturity level and restrict proposals to specific RL ranges. Additional information can be found in the Program Objectives (Section I.A) and Priorities (Section I.B), and definitions of RLs can be found in the WPO FY25 General Information Sheet (herein referred to as the “General Information Sheet”) accompanying this announcement.
NOAA, OAR, and WPO encourage applicants and awardees to write their proposals and perform their work in a manner consistent with NOAA’s core values, including those on diversity, inclusion, accessibility, civil rights, and scientific integrity. Promoting diversity and inclusion improves creativity, productivity, and the vitality of the weather and water research community in which WPO engages. Further information can be found at https://www.noaa.gov/organization/inclusion-and-civil-rights/diversity-and-inclusion and https://research.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FinalDraft-OAR-DEI-StrategicPlan-07Sep2021.docx.pdf.
Included under the ‘Related Documents’ tab of this announcement are several Information Sheets as well as external forms required to be submitted with proposals. If there is any conflicting information between the NOFO announcement and the attached Information Sheets, then the NOFO announcement takes priority and should be followed over any external attachments.
Who can apply
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they are eligible for this competition and identify with the appropriate title listed hereafter. The following entities are eligible and encouraged to participate in this funding opportunity, in conjunction with the Weather Program office: any public or private corporation, partnership, or other association or entity or any State, political subdivision of a State, Tribal government or agency or officer thereof. Non-NOAA federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however, federal scientists and other employees can serve as uncompensated partners or co-Principal Investigators on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities or equipment to applicants but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use, nor can the value of such assets be used as a match. If any applicants requesting funding are ineligible, the application(s) will be rejected without review. To be eligible to apply or receive an award, applicant organizations must complete and maintain three system registrations and access to include: SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. For each, the complete registration process can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants must begin this activity as soon as possible and well before the proposal due date. For more information on how to meet these registration and application submission requirements without errors, we advise all to carefully review relevant eRA Applicant and Grantee Training modules: https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training. Additionally, we advise that all applicants carefully read “Additional Application Package Forms” within the “Full Proposal Required Elements” section below. No foreign applicants based outside of the U.S. may request funding. Applicability to Federal Employees and Federal Contractors: Federal employees (hereafter referred to as…
The official record
Grants.gov published the official terms and dates of this opportunity; this page keeps them as they were listed.
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