Naomi Cooper
Microsoft has signed an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide cloud computing capabilities in support of NOAA’s environmental research and development efforts.
The company will integrate cloud computing capabilities into a range of collaborative R&D efforts aimed at advancing the agency’s climate, weather and ocean prediction initiatives, NOAA said Wednesday.
Under the cooperative research and development agreement, NOAA’s Earth Prediction Innovation Center will use Microsoft Azure to implement pilot projects on earth system modeling and research.
The agency will also use Microsoft cloud applications to advance climate models and forecast models for air quality, wildfire smoke and particulate pollution; accelerate the collection, processing and dissemination of NOAA Fisheries’ observation and survey data; create a catalog of ocean observations; and design an accessible weather modeling and forecasting system.
“Microsoft Azure Artificial Intelligence and high performance computing capabilities can help NOAA accelerate critical research and foster innovative approaches to mitigate the risk of climate change,” said Rick Wagner, president of Microsoft’s federal arm and a five-time Wash100 awardee.
