Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) Program

Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) Program is sponsored by NOAA Weather Program Office. Solicits project proposals that advance knowledge of how the public perceives, responds to, and is impacted by severe weather.

Social Science - NOAA Weather Program Office Portfolio Analysis & Research Transitions REACH – WPO’s Open Science Tool SPARK – WPO’s Project Directory Tool Management and Administration Science, Technology, and Society Joint Technology Transfer Initiative Earth System Research and Modeling Earth Prediction Innovation Center Subseasonal to Seasonal Research Observations and Research Support Supplemental Appropriations Portfolio Analysis & Research Transitions Cross-Division Initiatives The Data Assimilation Consortium Explore FY25 Funded Projects W.

I. N. G.

S. Fellowship 2025 Social science is the study of people —what they think, how they feel, and how they respond—in a particular context. Recent societal impacts from hurricanes, floods, snow storms, and wildfires, shows a great need to understand the intersection of people and meteorology.

The Social Science Program funds research that plays a critical role in connecting the improvements of NOAA’s weather forecast information to the public’s growing forecast needs. Creating Actionable Information for the Public Social Science Helps NOAA Improve Forecasts Understand societal needs and decision making to determine what types of forecast improvements will produce the greatest societal benefit.

Assess how people receive, interpret, perceive, and respond to weather information. Design products and services that maximize the utility of numerical weather prediction improvements while integrating our understanding of end-user decision information needs. Understand the forecaster operational decision environment to consider and/or optimize cognitive demands as NOAA introduces new modeling tools and technologies.

Evaluate and quantify the economic value of NOAA’s products and services. Improve and streamline processes, practices, and policies surrounding the 24/7 operational environment. Weather Program Office Social Science Program Hosts Third Data Forums Event “Historically, we have tended to reward the papers that come from data collection more than the data themselves.

But I think there is a growing… WPO Social Science Program Announces Data Forums: Building a Connected, Data-Capable SBES Community The NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) Social Science Program (SSP) is excited to announce the SSP Data Forums, a two-part virtual forum series as… WPO’s Social Science Program Releases StoryMap on March 2025 Severe Weather Outbreak The Weather Program Office Social Science Program (WPO SSP) is pleased to announce the release of a new StoryMap, highlighting the March 14-16, 2025, severe… Research to Applications Support Help NOAA meet its mission by facilitating the transition of social science research and data into an operational environment.

Drive collaborative research that develops and tests methodologies that systematically collect data to ensure products and services save lives, protect property, and enhance the national economy. Portfolio Analysis & Evaluation Support Evaluate WPO’s evolving research and development portfolio, progress, and impact.

Putting Social Science Into Practice FY25 SBES Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Funded Project Summaries This document offers a quick glance at a few key features of each FY25 project. Collectively, these projects utilize innovative mixed-methods approaches to understand a variety of decision-making and communication processes in response to hazardous weather.

This includes (but is not limited to) examining population mobility; bridging AI, forecasting, and human systems data; investigating how businesses prioritize weather information; and enhancing extreme cold decision support. Click below to learn more about WPO's FY25 funded projects.

Puttitestn g Stocial Science Into Practice Putting Social Science Into Practice WPO Launches REACH, a New Open Science Tool The Research Explorer for Articles, Code, and Hosted Data (REACH) is WPO’s open science resource, connecting practitioners, scientists, policymakers, and the public to nearly 1,000 research outputs to date produced through WPO-funded research. These resources include journal articles, code, data, and tools.

Developed by WPO’s Portfolio Analysis and Research Transitions… Envisioning the Future FACETs: Evaluating and Defining the FACETs Program In response to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and National Weather Service (NWS) bi-lateral meeting 2021, the WPO Forecasting A Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) Program funded a project to assess the current program and plan for a future iteration of the program.

Weather Ready Quick Response Research To advance NOAA’s social science data needs, WPO’s Social Science Program partnered with the National Hazard Center—with support from the National Science Foundation, and in collaboration with the National Weather Service and National Severe Storms Laboratory— to develop the Weather Ready Quick Response Research Initiative to support social science event-based… Taking on Operational Challenges Currently Funded Projects Exploring the Perspectives and Behavior of Populations with Limited-English Proficiency Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Dr. Mary Angelica Painter Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Carson MacPherson-Krutsky This project aims to understand how populations with limited English Proficiency receive, interpret, and respond to extreme weather event emergency information.

Planned outputs of this work will improve emergency alert system messages for these communities as well as reduce barriers to receiving life-saving information more broadly across the general public. Click here for more details.

… Understanding How Businesses Prioritize Hazardous Weather Information in Protective Decisions Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Mississippi State University Co-Principal Investigator(s): Using mixed-methods, this project will interview and survey small businesses across Mississippi.

Information gleaned will help better understand how businesses more broadly in the southeastern United States receive their hazardous weather information and then perceive, integrate, and prioritize it in their protective action decisions for patrons and employees during severe weather.

Click here for more… Advancing Natural-Human System Models to Integrate Hurricane Forecasts, Data, and Impacts Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: National Center for Atmospheric Research Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Rebecca Morss, Dr. Paul Roebber This project will use a natural-human system model (FLEE) along with agent-based models to simulate decision-making of emergency managers and households under evolving hurricane risks.

This research will inform understanding of hurricane evacuation outcomes resulting from interactions between forecast information, people, and the built environment, which will enable impact-based forecast verification.

Click here for more… Leveraging AI and Extended Reality to Prepare for Extreme Weather Events Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Kyle Johnsen, Dr. James Marshall Shepherd, Dr. Daniel Pimentel Through immersive technologies and community-based research, this project will develop actionable and sustainable weather solutions that communicate risk and motivate preparatory and protective action among the public.

This team will also deliver a collection of mixed- and virtual-reality hazardous weather simulations to help users learn about and take protective actions. Click here for more details.

… Human Health Impacts of Hurricanes and Hurricane Forecasts Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): By combining high-resolution health and hurricane data with state-of-the-art econometrics, this project aims to quantify the health impacts of hurricanes (beyond mortality) and evaluate how accurate and timely hurricane forecasts can mitigate these impacts.

This replicable methodology will enable agencies to better perform socio-economic health benefit assessments of other forecast products.

Click here for more… ColdRisk Messaging: Development and Scalability of an Extreme Cold Decision Support Tool Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Reid Wolcott, Dr. Jamie Vickery, Jebb Stewart, Dr. Tania Busch Isaksen, Dr. Joan Casey, Dr. Ann Bostrom, Dr. Bradley Kramer Through intensive regional partner engagement, this work will develop a proof-of-concept ColdRisk decision support tool, which will address unmet forecast and community needs.

The project integrates local health impacts, locally tailored risk reduction strategies, and recommendations decision-makers can use for preparing and responding to extreme cold events in Washington State.

Click here for more details… Using Quick Response Surveys to Generate a Public Perception and Response Database Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: University of Massachusetts Amherst Co-Principal Investigator(s): This project aims to create a scientifically rigorous and operationally feasible (i.e., could be deployed by National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices) survey system for collecting data on the publics’ perception and response to four different hazards: tornadoes, severe thunderstorms (i.e., those with winds over 70 miles per hour), flash floods, and winter weather.

The… Integrating Mobility, Survey, and Forecasting Data to Understand Decisions During Hazardous Weather Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Mani Rouhi Rad, Dr. Majid Shafiee-Jood This project combines mobility and survey data to study how people move and respond to information during hazardous weather events.

The team will create a database of hurricane, wildfire, and flash flood hazard information, which will be a resource for emergency managers and inform future weather warning systems and decision-making. Click here for more details.

… Examining Roles and Solutions for Extreme Heat Impacts on Pregnant People Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: University of Tennessee Knoxville Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Robyn Stassen, Dr. Shamshad Khan, Dr. Andrea Shields, Dr. Thankam Sunil Despite the high mortality rate from extreme heat and extensive research on its physiological impacts, a notable gap exists in understanding how heat and its associated risks and recommended protective actions are communicated–especially among pregnant people.

This research addresses that gap by exploring how English- and Spanish-speaking pregnant people access and use extreme heat information. … Improving Emergency Communications among the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Jacksonville State University Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. John J. Walsh, Jr., Dr. Michael L.

Freeman People who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HOH) require specific adaptations for emergency communications to be effective and actionable, but knowledge about how to best serve this group in weather emergencies is largely lacking.

This mixed methods project will illuminate D/HOH communication needs and prototype an intervention model for specific warning system processes for the D/HOH… A National Assessment of Baseline Heat Knowledge Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): This research study aims to improve National Weather Service (NWS) heat communication.

Through a mixed-methods approach, researchers will generate a national baseline assessment of how people access NWS heat information, and determine the extent of the public’s knowledge and understanding of heat risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities.

Quantifying the Socio-Economic Benefits of Augmented Hurricane Observations Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): This research project aims to estimate the socio-economic benefits from augmented aircraft hurricane observations (AO) and advance methodologies for cost-benefit assessments.

A statistical analysis linking the occurrence of different AO types to hurricane forecast performance will be evaluated.

The information gathered from this research project will be useful for additional forecasting observation systems and new… Exploring Localized Probabilistic and Timing Guidance for NWS Core Partners Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologists use data from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) to create severe weather forecast graphics and information customized to their local area.

However, these forecasts often lack the temporal specificity needed by local decision-makers.

This research project aims to improve SPC’s new graphical product, called Severe Timing Guidance, using feedback collected… Streamlining BVOT Development and Assessing Its Impact on Tailored Messaging Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Elizabeth Hurst, Dr. Michelle Saunders, Alex Marmo Brief Vulnerability Overview Tool (BVOT) is crucial for tailored weather messaging and emergency preparedness.

It can provide meteorologists and emergency managers consistent spatial-situational awareness of critical social vulnerabilities. This research project involves refining their established methodologies for collecting operationally-actionable vulnerability information. Ultimately, the goal is to train forecasters how to set up BVOTs independently.

Understanding the Value and Function of Flood Inundation Mapping for Decision Support Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Flood inundation maps (FIM) are a common visual way to communicate flood risk, but there is little research on such products.

This mixed-methods research project will use focus groups and surveys to explore how FIM products support flooding decision-making among professional users and the general public to improve FIM product delivery and design.

Characterizing Broadcast Meteorologists’ Challenges Communicating Bilingual TORFF Risks Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Rodolfo Hernandez, Dr. Erik Nielsen The goal of this project is to document the challenges and nuances that broadcasters who serve Spanish-speaking populations face in generating translated risk information and naming conventions for compound, multi-hazard tropical events.

Qualitative findings from broadcast meteorologists will enable NWS partners in Spanish-speaking and bilingual broadcast meteorology markets to better convey multi-hazard risks to Spanish-speaking… Improving Warning Reception and Response to SEUS Nocturnal Disasters Lead Principal Investigator & Affiliation: Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Jennifer M. First, Dr. J.

Brian Houston The Southeast US (SEUS) is uniquely impacted by nocturnal tornadoes and flash floods; these events are difficult to forecast and warnings are often under-received due to the timing. This interdisciplinary project assesses spatiotemporal patterns and social/behavioral risk factors for SEUS nocturnal tornadoes and flash floods, especially among socially vulnerable populations.

The aim is to improve… Integrate Social Science Research into Your Projects Social Science Award Resource Hub Transitioning to Applications Data & Instrument Publications Social Science Award Resource Hub Transitioning to Applications AMS Presentation (2025) — A Decade of Discovery: Reflecting on 10 Years of Social Science Research Transitions AMS Panel Presentation (2024) — Sharing the Secrets to Successful R2X Collaborations: Perspectives on Collaboration Challenges, Opportunities, and Successes from R2X Teams AMS Presentation (2023) — Too Much of a Good Thing or Can’t Get Enough?

A Growing Need to Coordinate SBES Field Research and Data Collection NOAA Library Webinar (2022) Readiness Levels, Transition Plans, and Knowledge Transfers, Oh My! Demystifying Social and Behavioral Research to Applications (R2X). AMS Presentation (2022) — Building Successful R2X Collaborations: Ongoing WPO Efforts to Highlight Knowledge Transfer in NOAA’s Transition Practices, Processes, and Policies.

Expanding the Definition of R2O: Findings from the WPO Social and Behavioral Science Research-to-Operations Workshop Social and Behavioral Science Research to Operations Workshop Report A Community Discussion on Transitioning Social and Behavioral Science into the Next 100 Years How NOAA’s Readiness Levels Work with the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Data & Instrument Publications Social Science Data and Instrument Publication Guide to Choosing a Data Repository (Updated December 2023) Social Scientists Need Observation Systems Too!

How Social Science Data Can Measure the Effects of Weather Risk Communication on Society . The Importance of Social Science Data and Instrument Publishing to Advance SBES Integration within NOAA and the Weather Enterprise.

Weather Ready Instrument and Data Publications (2021) – This special call for Weather Ready Research with the Natural Hazard Center supported the publication of social science and multidisciplinary data, data collection instruments, and research protocols for natural hazards and disaster research via the DesignSafe CyberInfrastructure .

If you are unfamiliar with an annotated bibliography, it is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents about a certain topic. The purpose of these bibliographies is to increase awareness of journal articles that exist on a certain topic by pulling together a variety of journal articles in one place.

Bibliography on Uncertainty and Probability Communication Bibliography on Tornado Warnings: Delivery, Economics, and Public Perception Bibliography on Social Science and Fire Weather (Coming Soon) Uncertainty and Probability Communication: Past, Present, and Future (AMS 2020) Social Science Webinars about the FY18 Hurricane & Disaster Supplemental Numeracy and its Impact on Public Comprehensive and Responses to Probability Information in Hurricane Forecasts (Joe Ripberger) Improving the Web User Experience for NHC Tropical Cyclone Information from a Public Perspective (Robert Soden & Scott Miles) Improving NWS tropical cyclone forecasts by understanding NWS partners’ decision timelines (Rebecca Morss) Social Science Webinars about Economic Valuation A Contingent Valuation of Hurricane Forecasts (Renato Molina) Estimating the Economic Benefits of the Tornado Warning Extension and Improvement Program (Kim Klockow-McClain & Kevin Simmons) Measuring the Economic Impact of Preparedness during Severe Weather Events (Haydar Kurban) Social Science Webinars from NOAA Central Library Valuing NOAA Products and Services: Connecting to Society Through Economics and Social Sciences (Monica Grasso) Lessons Learned from a Decade of NWS Funded Social Science Research (Anas Askar) Taking Action Based on Science - Emergency Management Decision Making and Severe Weather (Terri Adams-Fuller & Jayson Kratoville) Suffering after Harvey, Irma, and Maria: An analysis of the emotional and socio-political impact of the 2017 Hurricane Season (Cassandra Jean) The Growing World of Citizen Science (Chris Bowser, Amy Fritz, Jenifer Jencks, John McLaughlin, Laura Oremland, Gil Compo) Effective Risk Communication Practices for Natural Hazards (Eastern Research Group) Science Communication @ NOAA: Effective strategies to increase public engagement and understanding of science.

(Leticia Williams) Creating alerts and warnings for short messaging channels (Jeannette Sutton) Social Science Webinars from National Weather Service Risk and Uncertainty Communication Using Probabilistic Information: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Existing Research - Part 1 Risk and Uncertainty Communication Using Probabilistic Information: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Existing Research - Part 2 (Joe Ripberger) Cone of Uncertainty Social and Behavioral Research - Part 1 (Eastern Research Group) Cone of Uncertainty Social and Behavioral Research - Part 2 (Eastern Research Group) An internal NOAA website dedicated to transitioning social science research into discoverable and usable insights.

Please note: You must have a noaa. gov email account to access this website.

NOAA’s Office of Performance, Risk, and Social Science NOAA’s National Weather Service – Social Science Page NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management Digital Coast Introduction to Conducting Focus Groups Introduction to Survey Design and Delivery Stakeholder Engagement Strategies for Participatory Mapping Introduction to Social Network Analysis NOAA’s Social Science: Vision and Strategy NOAA’s Practical Guide for Natural Hazard Risk Communication Social Science Basics Course Practical Guide for Natural Hazard Risk Communication and Executive Summary We Provide Social Science Research Support for the Weather Program Office SBES Data Engagement Coordinator Cassandra Shivers-Williams, PhD Social Science Deputy Program Manager SBES Data Integration and Partnership Analyst Social Science Program Manager Social Science Program Analyst Severe Weather Social Scientist