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Cooperative Institute for Climates and Satellites 5825 University Research Court, Suite 4001 M Square Building University of Maryland College Park, MD 20740 TEL: 301-405-0050 FAX: 301-405-8468 Dr. Phillip A. Arkin, Director http://essic.umd.edu/cics

Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies

The Cooperative Institute for Climates and Satellites (CICS) was established in July 2009. CICS is formed through a national consortium of academic, non-profit and community organizations with leadership from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and the University of North Carolina (UNC) System through North Carolina State University (NCSU). This partnership includes Minority Serving Institutions as well as others with strong faculties who will enhance CICS' capability to contribute to NOAA's mission and goals.

CICS activities are carried out at two centers, each a partnership between a host university and a major unit within a NOAA Line Office. The first joins the UMCP with the Center for Satellite Applications and Research in the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and with the Climate Prediction Center in the National Weather Service (NWS). The second center joins NCSU in Raleigh, NC, with the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC. Other partners include the University of California-Irvine, Colorado State University, Howard University, the University of Miami, Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Princeton University, City University of New York, Columbia University, Oregon State University, and Remote Sensing Systems, in Santa Rosa, California.

CICS conducts its research under three themes: (1) Climate and Satellite Research and Applications - Development of new observing systems, or new climate observables from current systems; (2) Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring - Development and improvement of climate observables from current systems; and (3) Climate Research and Modeling - Research component that brings together climate observables, modeling and validation in a comprehensive integrated whole.

CICS' research activities assist NOAA in three of its Mission Goals: 1) Understand climate variability and change to enhance society's ability to plan and respond, 2) Provide Critical Support for NOAA's Mission, and 3) Protect, Restore, and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources through an Ecosystem Approach to Management.

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