JCRDP 2025

NCAS-M & CESSRST

Joint Collaborative Research and Development Project (JCRDP)

30 June 2025 - 03 August 2025

JCRDP At A Glance

The Joint Collaborative Research and Development Project (JCRDP) is designed to provide students, postdocs, and faculty affiliated with the EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Centers (CSCs) with hands-on, collaborative research experiences that align with NOAA’s mission. This initiative aims to prepare the next generation of NOAA-ready scientists and professionals by immersing participants in real-world projects focused on air quality, long-term weather, meteorology, and their impacts on human and ecosystem health.

JCRDP brings NOAA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) together with CSC researchers to strengthen each Center’s capacity for conducting mission-aligned research, development, and training. These partnerships foster career-building opportunities for participants and support a pipeline of talent into NOAA’s workforce.

At the heart of JCRDP is a distributed collaborative research model—ensuring all partners are equally invested, share mutual goals, and leverage shared resources and networks to maximize impact.

Areas of Interest

The JCRDP brings together students, postdocs, faculty, and NOAA scientists to explore critical topics at the intersection of weather, climate, and air quality. Our research efforts focus on the following key areas:

Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effects
Air Quality and Emissions Monitoring
Boundary Layer Dynamics
Experiential Learning and Capacity Building

Activities

The Joint Collaborative Research and Development Project (JCRDP) offers a dynamic suite of activities that blend scientific inquiry, fieldwork, training, and mentorship. These activities are designed to immerse participants in NOAA mission-aligned research while building capacity across partner institutions.

Field Campaigns and Observational Studies

Participants engage directly in the design and execution of field measurements to investigate urban air quality and meteorological processes.

Instrument deployments include ceilometers, radiosondes, ozonesondes, drones, and mobile air quality labs.
Focus areas involve capturing spatial and temporal variability in pollution, boundary layer structure, and temperature anomalies linked to urban heat islands.
Case studies are developed to examine high-impact events (e.g., heatwaves, frontal passages).

Training Week and Skill-Building Workshops

A dedicated training week offers structured learning for participating students and researchers.

Mobile Air Quality Transects

Teams conduct air quality measurements across urban and suburban corridors using mobile labs equipped with sensors.

These transects help assess environmental disparities and spatial pollution gradients.
Measurements support community-focused studies on health and exposure.