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ESMF Executive Board Special Topic

ESMF Executive Board Special Topic. Cecelia DeLuca NOAA CIRES / NESII November 14 , 2017 ESMF Executive Board Meeting. Hurricane Irene/NASA GOES-13 satellite image/August 26, 2011. Proposal to Move the ESMF Community Project to NCAR.

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ESMF Executive Board Special Topic

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  1. ESMF Executive Board Special Topic • Cecelia DeLuca • NOAA CIRES / NESII • November 14, 2017 • ESMF Executive Board Meeting Hurricane Irene/NASA GOES-13 satellite image/August 26, 2011

  2. Proposal to Move the ESMF Community Project to NCAR ESMF Interagency Working Group/Executive Board Special Topic • Background • Current challenges • Proposal • Strategic implications

  3. Background – NCAR CISL Years (2002-2009) Where we started and where we’ve been • The ESMF project started in NCAR’s Computational Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) in 2002. • Founded as a community project, it relies on multi-agency funding. • The team at NCAR was about half contractors (about 5 of 10 FTEs), some of which were project leads (Theurich, Liu). • In 2009, the team faced disruption due to contracting changes at NCAR. • NCAR did not want to support long-term contractors. • Human Resources required that contractors be turned into staff or let go. • The ESMF team faced losing critical people. • NOAA ESRL offered a solution. • NOAA ESRL could support long-term contractors as well as staff through the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado (CU). • The ESMF team was beginning to work closely with NOAA Environmental Modeling Center on their coupled modeling system. • In 2009, the ESMF team moved from NCAR to the ESRL Director’s Office, taking both contractor and CIRES positions.

  4. Background – ESRL DO Years (2009-2016) Where we started and where we’ve been • Once in the Director’s Office (DO), grants to CU proved more reliable and universal than federal MOUs. • Per-award MOUs to move funds from other agencies to NOAA were difficult and in the case of NASA, unsuccessful. • However, funds from other agencies could be received in the form of grants to CU/CIRES. • The grant mechanism preserved eligibility for some solicitations (e.g. NSF) not possible as a NOAA entity. • There was a path to getting NOAA overheads paid with CU awards. • About half of the ESMF team is off-site, and half sits at NOAA, so the physical footprint at NOAA is relatively small. • NOAA overhead in the DO was a la carte (sq. foot office space, utilities, contracting, administration and financial services, etc.), totaling about $100K per year. Grants also have CU/CIRES university overheads of about 20% of direct costs. • Since funds cannot be transferred from university to agency, the DO overhead was not taken out of any CU grants, but entirely out of a $600K award received annually by ESMF under a SOW with the NOAA NWS. • In 2016, NOAA ESRL reorganized and removed projects from the Director’s Office. The ESMF team moved to the NOAA Global Systems Division.

  5. Background – NOAA Global Systems Division (2016 - ) Where we started and where we’ve been • The GSD overhead structure is different than the DO. • GSD overhead is 29% off the top of all incoming funds, including grants, which is about 41% of loaded labor. Grants still include the 20% CU/CIRES overheads. NOAA ESRL and OAR overheads are 4% each on loaded labor. • With external awards of more than $1.5M for ESMF, the GSD overhead represents more than $450K. • Because of the rule that funds can’t move from university to agency, the GSD overhead on a CU grant must be paid out of funds at NOAA – i.e., from a different project than the one where the overhead was incurred. • The ESMF team has no NOAA base funding to draw on and must take the GSD overheads for its grants out of either NOAA project funds (like the $600K from NWS) or ad hoc NOAA donations. • The amount of GSD overhead is comparable to and would drain NOAA project funds. • GSD management would like all its projects to follow its overhead model consistently, and there is resistance to exceptions from other GSD teams. • Writing grant proposals from CU requires GSD permission (this only avoids MOUs). • Reducing award overhead on a case-by-case basis requires GSD permission. • GSD management has granted permissions and exceptions, as well as grandfathering in previous awards, but relying on exceptions is fragile.

  6. Background – NOAA Global Systems Division (2016 - ), continued Where we started and where we’ve been • In summary, the financial challenges in NOAA GSD are: • Using per-award MOUs to obtain external funds with ESMF as a NOAA entity is not reliable and limits eligibility for solicitations. • Writing grant proposals from CU to obtain external funds requires paying for GSD overheads using funds from NOAA projects in which the overhead costs were not incurred. • The GSD overheads for ESMF external grants can be comparable in amount to the NOAA project funds where the GSD overheads are paid - this happens because the ESMF team has a higher percentage of external grants than most GSD projects. • Covering grant overhead through negotiated reductions or donated NOAA funds is fragile since these require exceptions to established GSD practice. • These challenges threaten the viability of a team where external awards cover basic functions. • At the last ESMF Executive Board meeting, there was a suggestion to look again at NCAR. • Discussed options with the NCAR Climate and Global Dynamics (CGD) Division.

  7. Proposal – NCAR CGD + NOAA Project Lead in GSD Moving the community part of the project back to NCAR • Proposal to move Dr. Rocky Dunlap to NCAR CGD: • Rocky would lead most ESMF external agency proposals from NCAR, which can receive funds easily from NASA, Navy, and other organizations, and which is eligible for some NSF solicitations. • Rocky would take on the role of ESMF Core Team Manager (half time). • NCAR CGD will fund half of Rocky through indirect funds, for NCAR projects related to ESMF infrastructure and general technical management. • Some ESMF team members may migrate to NCAR as new awards arrive there. • Rocky has the required experience, including: • ESMF collaborator for ~10 years, 3 years as part of the core team. • Demonstrated ability to write successful proposals, manage projects, and manage staff. • Participant in executive functions and in preparation of the ESMF Strategic Plan. • Co-organizer of international coupling infrastructure working group and other service and leadership activities. • Current ESMF Core Team Manager (Cecelia) will stay at GSD and focus that team on NOAA projects.

  8. Strategic Implications – Synergies Looking forward • ESMF is first and foremost a community project, and that will not change. • The proposed move does not alter the basic structure of the ESMF project described in the ESMF Project Plan. • Rocky will take over the Core Team Manager role over the next couple of years. • The move is supportive of ESMF and partner organization strategic directions. • The move places ESMF in the NCAR CGD organization which is known for coupled system development, community infrastructure, and community governance – all synergistic interests. • ESMF and NUOPC software and the NCAR CGD/DOE Common Infrastructure for Modeling Earth (CIME) tools are complementary and together form a set of powerful community infrastructure assets. • Rocky’s presence in CGD will advance the ESMF-based Community Mediator for Earth Prediction Systems (CMEPS) being developed for use by NCAR, GFDL, and EMC, and will support emerging NOAA-NCAR agreements.

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