FY2025 Weather Program Office Research Programs Announcement - VORTEX USA

The NOAA Weather Program Office’s FY2025 VORTEX-USA funding opportunity seeks research proposals aimed at enhancing tornado prediction, warnings, and communication, with an estimated $2.5 million in funding available annually. This opportunity builds on NOAA's previous VORTEX-SE research, expanding efforts to improve the understanding and mitigation of tornado impacts, especially in regions like the Southeastern U.S., but also extending across the nation. Funded projects are expected to contribute to the timely advancement of tornado-related research for societal benefit, focusing on readiness levels (RL) between 2 and 6, which span from basic research through to early demonstration phases in applied environments.

The program has four core priorities: (1) improving actionable public information for the critical period 30 minutes to 4 hours before tornado events, enhancing forecaster tools and public messaging, especially through advanced technologies; (2) examining and reducing social vulnerabilities to tornado impacts, with particular interest in socioeconomic factors and housing types; (3) understanding how tornado-induced near-surface winds interact with both natural and built environments to cause damage, aiming for better response and mitigation strategies; and (4) advancing tornado prediction through refined models, data assimilation techniques, and leveraging past VORTEX data, including studies of low-impact events for potential predictive indicators. The NOAA Science Plan provides further details on these areas of focus.

Eligible applicants include U.S.-based institutions from public and private sectors, academic entities, and state, local, and tribal governments. Federal employees may participate as collaborators but are not eligible for direct funding. Applicants must complete necessary registrations in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons well in advance of submission deadlines. There are no matching fund requirements for this opportunity, but applicants are expected to carefully adhere to eligibility and application guidelines.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) by October 2, 2024, to receive feedback regarding alignment with program priorities. Full applications are due by December 2, 2024, with anticipated funding decisions in June 2025 and projects starting as early as August 2025. The full proposal must include a project narrative outlining objectives, methodology, anticipated outputs, and impacts, as well as a comprehensive budget, data management plan, and, where applicable, a software management plan. Proposals involving multiple institutions should designate a lead principal investigator (PI) and provide budget breakdowns per institution.

Proposals will be evaluated on their relevance to program priorities, technical merit, team qualifications, cost-effectiveness, and inclusion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) considerations. Successful projects will address pressing issues related to tornado forecasting, societal impact, and response, with DEIA playing a role in outreach and community engagement efforts. Required reports include semi-annual progress updates and a final comprehensive report, with public sharing of results encouraged to maximize program visibility and impact.