PSL and GSL enter agreement with AI startup Brightband for NNJA project

PSL and NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory and the artificial intelligence startup Brightband have entered into a two-year Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) to transform the NOAA NASA Joint Archive (NNJA) of observational data from satellites, weather balloons and surface stations into an open-source data a repository that will support a suite of geospatial foundation AI models. The joint archive is a collaboration between NOAA and NASA that has developed a homogenized repository of Earth System observations from 1970 to present.

AQPI Video: Enhancing Precipitation Monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area

When big storms hit California, accurate precipitation data is crucial for reservoir operations, flood protection, and emergency preparedness. However, the state's coastal mountain ranges where the heaviest precipitation can occur pose significant challenges for monitoring.

The Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information (AQPI) project, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, enhances weather radar data, surface measurements, and forecasting for better short-term precipitation predictions. Improved monitoring boosts public safety by enhancing early warnings and storm tracking, especially for atmospheric rivers, including their cascading impacts such as flooding, landslides, and debris flows.

Learn more about this project in a new video from PSL and Sonoma Water.

Slivinski and Thompson named PECASE winners

PSL’s Laura Slivinski and Elizabeth Thompson have been named Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) winners. Nearly 400 scientists and engineers were honored by the White House on January 14, 2025. PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

Dr. Slivinski was nominated for co-leading the development of the 20th Century Reanalysis version 3 data set, a pioneering 200 year reconstruction of global weather that has helped NOAA better understand and predict global changes. The data set was a joint project between NOAA, the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences at CU Boulder, and the Department of Energy. Dr. Slivinski specializes in a variety of data assimilation projects and approaches, including the development of a global rapidly-updating data assimilation system and the recent evaluation of several machine-learning models within a cycled data assimilation system.

Dr. Thompson was nominated for her significant work on precipitation, air-sea interactions, and oceanography and how they affect the world. She has played a critical role in a series of international tropical research field campaigns such as ATOMIC, DYNAMO, and PISTON, as well as helping to develop NOAA’s Precipitation Prediction Grand Challenge. Her research supports the improvement of Earth System prediction models, and our fundamental understanding of the coupled ocean-atmosphere Earth system.

PSL Seminars

PSL live streams science seminars every other week for most of the year. Presenters include both internal NOAA and external researchers. All seminars are at 2pm MDT (UTC-6) unless otherwise noted.

March 25: Evaluating a Machine Learning Approach Leveraging MRMS to Improve Quantitative Precipitation Estimation for Atmospheric Rivers - Oscar Chimborazo, Howard University

April 8: Spatial Clustering of Low Probabilities Events: Possible Implications for Decision Support Services - Phil Schumacher, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) - NOAA Global Systems Laboratory

April 22: Identifying preferred weather conditions for prescribed fires in northern California - Rochelle Worsnop, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, Hydrology Applications Division

Visit the PSL Seminars page for more info on other upcoming seminars and to sign up for seminar email reminders.

Please note: due to privacy concerns, the seminars are not recorded.

Publication Spotlights

For a full list of PSL publications from this and past years, visit the PSL Publications database. 

Bold names indicate PSL and PSL Cooperative Institute authors.

January 2025

Adler, B., Caicedo, V., Butterworth, B.J., et al. The short life of upvalley wind in a high-altitude mountain valley in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. ESS Open Archive. January 24, 2025. DOI: 10.22541/essoar.173776281.16090218/v1

Amaya, D. J., Maher, N., Deser, C., Jacox, M. G., Alexander, M. A., Newman, M., Dias, J., & Lou, J. (2025). Linking Projected Changes in Seasonal Climate Predictability and ENSO Amplitude. Journal of Climate, 38(3), 675-688. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0648.1 

Barsugli, J. J. et al. (2025). Climate Risk Reduction: Hazards and Processes for Operationalizing Climate Information into ASCE Standards and Manuals of Practice. https://doi.org/10.25923/0d8c-dw27

February 2025

Agarwal, N., Amrhein, D. E., & Grooms, I. (2025). Cross-attractor transforms: Improving forecasts by learning optimal maps between dynamical systems and imperfect models. Geophysical Research Letters, 52, e2024GL110472. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110472

Accepted and Awaiting Publication

Kukal M, and Hobbins MT (2024), Thirstwaves: Prolonged periods of agricultural exposure to extreme atmospheric evaporative demand for water. Accepted at Earth's Future.

Towler E, Stovern D, Acharya N, Abel MR, Currier WR, Bellier J, Cifelli R, Mahoney K, Mossel C, Scheuerer M, Thorstensen A, Viterbo F (2025), Implementing and evaluating National Water Model ensemble streamflow predictions using post-processed precipitation forecasts, Accepted at Journal of Hydrometeorology.

Toride, K., M. Newman, A. Hoell, A. Capotondi, J. Schlör, D. J. Amaya (2025), Using Deep Learning to Identify Initial Error Sensitivity for Interpretable ENSO Forecasts, Accepted at Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems

Currier, W.R., R. McCrary, M. R. Abel, T. Eidhammer, B. Kruyt, A. Smith, T. Enzminger, K. Mahoney, R. Cifelli, E. D. Gutmann (2025), End-of-century changes in orographic precipitation with the Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research Model over the western United States, Accepted at Journal of Hydrometeorology

Pulwarty named Acting PSL Director

With Dr. Robert “Robin” Webb’s retirement, PSL Senior Scientist Dr. Roger Pulwarty has been named PSL Acting Director.

Dr. Pulwarty brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished record of publications and achievements in research, risk management, and services. He has been nationally and internationally recognized as a role model in bringing science to the table to inform societal and economic decision-making through his outstanding contributions to early warning, impact assessment, and disaster risk reduction.