The publicly releasable subset of our environment portfolio can be found here.
U.S. Group on Earth Observations: | Interagency Coordination
IDA helps to coordinate the U.S. Group on Earth Observation’s semiregular assessment of products and services that use Earth Observations. The Earth Observations Assessment links individual federal data sources to products and services that meet societal benefit areas, such as climate or agriculture. IDA helped to complete the 2023 Earth Observations Assessment and the accompanying final report. This report is used to highlight federal investments in observational data and how those data support society.
Tornadoes: | Program and Process Evaluation
IDA worked with the DOC’s Office of Inspector General to complete an independent evaluation of NOAA’s National Weather Service tornado warning, prediction and forecasting performance, and identify opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of tornado forecast delivery. The evaluation included analyses of tornado warning performance, effectiveness of the research-to-operations transition, and overall program performance. This work is ongoing.
Wildfire Gaps and Priorities: | Federal Science and Technology Priorities
Several federal agencies, interagency groups and commissions have released reports in the last decade identifying wildland fire science and technology (S&T) needs, gaps, and recommendations. IDA reviewed eight reports published between 2014 and 2023 to identify (1) gaps and priorities in wildland fire S&T and (2) entities with equities in wildland fire S&T. The gaps and priorities included in this analysis were selected due to their emphasis on research (both science and social science), data, or technology needs related to wildfires. IDA also supported the workshop “Meeting Science & Technology Needs for Wildland Fire Risk & Resilience.” IDA’s report was the basis for all workshop discussions to identify high-leverage opportunities for wildland fire and to develop a tiered and annotated list of fire science, data and technology priority recommendations.
For more information view the following publication:
Natural Hazard Programs: | Analysis of Gaps and Trends
The federal government operates many interagency hazard coordination programs designed to support hazard preparedness, response and recovery. IDA compiled a list of existing interagency hazard coordination programs and examined their governance structures, organizational charts, role of science and technology, relevant phase of disaster coordination, involvement of non-federal partners, and process of establishing the program. By comparing federal interagency hazard coordination and identifying trends across their organization and processes, IDA identified challenges and best practices from existing programs that may inform future coordination efforts. This work is ongoing.
International Energy Infrastructure Research and Development: | U.S.-Foreign Comparative Assessments
IDA has conducted comparative analyses of the research and development (R&D) capabilities of the United States regarding its major trade partners as well as other emerging economies. In this work, IDA recently developed a dataset of R&D infrastructure projects in a sample of selected countries around the world.
For more information view the following publication:
Operational Implications of Extreme Weather and a Changing Climate: | Research for Operational Applications
IDA has assisted DoD sponsors with better understanding potential operational impacts of extreme weather events and a changing climate, including identifying potential vulnerabilities and adaptations to mission-level planning and training activities. Through these analyses, IDA leverages the best available climate science and modeling to test the relationships between and among local conditions, equipment, and operations to identify the likely effect of a changing climate on mission-essential tasks and associated tactics, techniques, and procedures already recognized within military doctrine.