Mission

CICS-NC focuses on collaborative research into the use of satellite and in situ observations in climate research and applications, and, preparation of the next generation of the workforce needed to address climate change and applications.  CICS-NC includes as partners all campuses of the UNC system through the North Carolina Institute for Climate Sciences (NCICS), an inter-institutional center of the System, as well as the CICS partners with specific expertise in the challenges of utilizing satellite observations in climate research and applications.

CICS-NC is supported by an agreement between NOAA, NC State University and the University of Maryland. CICS-NC is administered by NC State University and physically situated in Asheville to facilitate its affiliation with the NOAA’s NCDC. It is administered as part of the NOAA/NESDIS/STAR Cooperative Research Program Institutes.

Objective

CICS-NC’s objectives are to promote the discovery of new knowledge about global, regional, and local climate variability and its impacts; and to provide information that is critical for determining trends and validating climate forecasts at all of these spatial scales.  CICS-NC will organize and conduct collaborative research with our NOAA colleagues, educate and train the next generation of scientists, and communicate research results and their broad scientific context to the scientific community, decision-makers, and the general public.  It will connect NOAA mission-oriented research with the academic and research capacity of the UNC system and the CICS partners, and provide a venue for graduate academic programs and research.  By definition, cooperative institutes are academic and non-profit research institutions that demonstrate the highest level of performance and conduct research that supports NOAA’s Mission Goals and Strategic Plan.

Structure

CICS-NC activities support NOAA NCDC and enterprise climate services. Main collaborative activities are currently organized into 8 streams: Climate Data Records, Climate Literary, Surface Observing Networks, National Climate Model Portal, National Climate Assessments, Workforce Development, Consortium Projects and Administrative Support. These streams are supported by the different divisions in NCDC, NOAA Line Offices such as the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the National Weather Service (NWS), the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and North Carolina State University. CICS-NC is structured thematically by these streams. Please select the organization chart for an overview.