date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 15:12:42 -0400 from: "Bader, Dave" subject: Brief update on DOE Climate Change Prediction Program ( including to: abw@lanl.gov, ahu@rsmas.miami.edu, andy@atmos.ucla.edu, Ari.Patrinos@science.doe.gov, baer@metosrv2.umd.edu, balu@lanl.gov, bertrand.denis@ec.gc.ca, bleck@lanl.gov, boyle@pcmdi.llnl.gov, br@gfdl.gov, CAL@lanl.gov, chqding@lbl.gov, crooth@rsmas.miami.edu, csk@atmos.ucla.edu, dannevik1@llnl.gov, david.bader@pnl.gov, deasterl@ncdc.noaa.gov, dholm@lanl.gov, donj@ssec.wisc.edu, dpierce@ucsd.edu, drakejb@ornl.gov, drotman@llnl.gov, duk@lanl.gov, eclare@lanl.gov, foster@mcs.anl.gov, foxrab@metosrv2.umd.edu, garyj@gmu.edu, gates5@llnl.gov, gkv@gfdl.gov, gleckler1@llnl.gov, gpotter@llnl.gov, gutowski@iastate.edu, hahmann@atmo.arizona.edu, hall@ogp.noaa.gov, hammond@ucar.edu, HDSimon@lbl.gov, helinwei@iastate.edu, hfd@cdc.noaa.gov, hnilo@pcmdi.llnl.gov, ih@gfdl.gov, janders@neti.saber.net, jean.cote@ec.gc.ca, jerry.elwood@science.doe.gov, jfein@nsf.gov, jhack@ucar.edu, Jinwon_Kim@lbl.gov, jm@gfdl.gov, jochem@sound.mit.edu, joe@erc.msstate.edu, jtaylor@mcs.anl.gov, kbergman@hq.nasa.gov, kbryan@splash.princeton.edu, klaus.hasselmann@dkrz.de, krishna@pcmdi.llnl.gov, kukla@ldeo.columbia.edu, kwang@chammp.met.fsu.edu, laprise.rene@uqam.ca, larson@mcs.anl.gov, leith1@llnl.gov, len@lanl.gov, lipscomb@lanl.gov, mark.eakin@noaa.gov, maslowsk@ucar.edu, mcclean@oc.nps.navy.mil, mechoso@atmos.ucla.edu, meehl@ncar.ucar.edu, MFF@ornl.gov, milovich1@llnl.gov, mirin@llnl.gov, mmaccracken@usgcrp.gov, mooney@ogp.noaa.gov, murray@ogp.noaa.gov, NLMiller@lbl.gov, north@csrp.tamu.edu, nschneider@ucsd.edu, p.crowley@science.doe.gov, p.jones@uea.ac.uk, pcessi@ucsd.edu, pduffy@llnl.gov, phstone@mit.edu, piacsek@nrlssc.navy.mil, pwjones@lanl.gov, randall@redfish.atmos.colostate.edu, rareck@ucdavis.edu, rbradley@geo.umass.edu, rcess@notes.cc.sunysb.edu, rcm@lanl.gov, rcp@gfdl.gov, rdsmith@lanl.gov, Rick.Petty@science.doe.gov, rjs@gfdl.gov, rlindzen@mit.edu, rob@ssec.wisc.edu, robint@ucar.edu, robted@jet.atmo.arizona.edu, rood@dao.gsfc.nasa.gov, ross@cirque.atmos.colostate.edu, rschiffe@hq.nasa.gov, santer1@llnl.gov, sbert@ncar.ucar.edu, sergey@atmos.ucla.edu, shd@lanl.gov, smolar@ucar.edu, steve.ghan@pnl.gov, steve@ldeo.columbia.edu, stokes@pnl.gov, Sultan.Hameed@sunysb.edu, taylor13@llnl.gov, tbarnett-ul@ucsd.edu, Thompson_Webb_III@Brown.EDU, thompson59@llnl.gov, tkarl@ncdc.noaa.gov, tobis@ssec.wisc.edu, todd@placer.atmos.colostate.edu, tom@ccc.atmos.colostate.edu, wanda.ferrell@science.doe.gov, wang@climate.cestm.albany.edu, warren_prell@Brown.EDU, wcheng@rsmas.miami.edu, wehner1@llnl.gov, William.Pennell@pnl.gov, williams13@llnl.gov, wmson@ucar.edu, wmw@ucar.edu, zhang@nps.navy.mil As we approach the start of the new US Government Fiscal Year, I want to give everyone a brief update and outline of plans for the coming year. As of today, the appropriation bill that funds the DOE Office of Science has not yet passed Congress. Accordingly, we do not know what our budget will be for the fiscal year that starts October 1, 2000. Right now, we are using a very conservative (ie bare minimum funding) budget for planning that we expect will be revised upward, but nothing is certain. Additionally, as many of you are aware, program planning has been been complicated for the last two years because of uncertainty over the fate of the DOE Office of Science computational science initiative (previously called SSI) now known as the "Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing" plan. In May, we received start-up money for our portion of the initiative (ACPI), which was used to fund two, limited duration projects, the ACPI Pilot Project and the NCAR-DOE Software Engineering Project in support of CSM. There is no guarantee that we will receive this money again this year, although we are hopeful for an increase. It is safe to say that a very large program as envisioned in the original ACPI document will not be started this year. The consequences of the current uncertainty are as follows: University Grants A large number of the grants supported by the CCPP Program expire in the next three to nine months. We plan to hold another program announcement soliciting new proposals, but the scope and extent of that announcement cannot be defined until our budget level is determined. We hope to have an announcement published by January 1, with proposals due in early spring so that awards can be made by June. DOE Laboratories Over the next year, we plan to make the DOE laboratory component of the program more coherent and rational. I have already spoken to most of the primary laboratory contacts about our ideas, and almost everyone is on board and supportive. Better definition will follow when we know the fate and level of any ACPI-like funding. Initial funding levels given to the labs in the Financial Plan (FinPlan) guidance for FY2001 are based on the low value for the planning budget described above. In most cases, the funding enables the ongoing activities at the labs to continue for now until we receive a more definitive budget, which we anticipate will be more generous. NCAR The existing funding at NCAR is not affected by this funding uncertainty, because the cooperative agreement is funded through next spring from last fiscal year's funds. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions Dave dave.bader@science.doe.gov voice 301-903-5329 FAX 301-903-8519 Express services and US Mail: David C. Bader SC-74 US Department of Energy 19901 Germantown Rd. Germantown, MD 20874