The NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO) Testbeds Program for FY2025 offers funding to support research and development (R&D) projects that advance weather forecasting technologies and methodologies. This funding opportunity aligns with the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 and is aimed at enhancing NOAA’s weather, water, and earth system observations and forecasting capabilities. The program focuses on projects that can be tested in NOAA’s quasi-operational forecasting environment across five key testbeds: Climate, Fire Weather, Hazardous Weather, Hurricane and Ocean, and Hydrometeorology. With approximately $4.2 million in total funding, NOAA anticipates supporting 13-15 projects, each limited to a maximum funding request of $300,000 per year for up to three years.

The program’s objectives include supporting the transition of mature R&D projects to operational use within NOAA, emphasizing projects that address one or more priority areas such as probabilistic forecasting, model improvements, and data assimilation. Each testbed has specific focus areas, such as seasonal prediction for the Climate Testbed, microscale fire spread forecasting for the Fire Weather Testbed, and tropical cyclone tracking for the Hurricane and Ocean Testbed. Proposals are expected to target readiness levels (RLs) 5 to 8, indicating near-operational maturity, with clear pathways for integration into NOAA’s forecast models or operational services.

Eligible applicants include U.S.-based public and private entities, educational institutions, and local, state, and tribal governments. Federal employees may participate as collaborators but are ineligible for direct funding. International entities cannot apply for funding. Applicants must ensure they are registered with SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons prior to submission. The program encourages diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in proposal design, with particular consideration given to projects that engage underserved communities or foster a diverse research environment.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) by October 2, 2024, to receive feedback on alignment with program objectives before submitting a full application. The final application is due on December 2, 2024. Proposals must include a project narrative outlining objectives, methodology, and anticipated impacts, alongside a detailed budget, data management plan, and, if applicable, a software management plan. Multi-institutional projects should designate a lead principal investigator (PI) and submit separate budgets for each participating entity.

Evaluation criteria prioritize project relevance to program goals, technical merit, team qualifications, cost efficiency, and commitment to DEIA. Projects will be reviewed for their potential impact, alignment with NOAA priorities, and feasibility within the proposed timeline and budget. Notifications of funding decisions are anticipated by June 2025, with project start dates expected in August 2025.

Successful applicants will submit semi-annual progress reports and a final report summarizing project outcomes. Data generated must be made publicly accessible per NOAA’s data sharing policy, and software should adhere to open-source guidelines where possible. Compliance with NEPA, as well as reporting on DEIA and outreach activities, is required.