Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

What Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites does

The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) is a non-profit cooperative research institute formed in 2010 as a national consortium of academic, non-profit, and community organizations. It is jointly led by the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) — through the Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) — and the University of North Carolina System via North Carolina State University (NCSU). The institute traces its institutional lineage to the 1983 Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies collaboration with NOAA and is formally chartered through NOAA cooperative agreements. Its core research portfolio is organized around three themes: Climate and Satellite Research and Applications, Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring, and Climate Research and Modeling, spanning satellite retrieval, atmospheric and oceanic reanalysis, regional ecosystem modeling (with a Mid-Atlantic focus), and operational climate forecasting through the NOAA/NWS/NCEP Climate Test Bed.

CICS operates two principal locations: CICS-MD in College Park, MD (focused on collaborative research with STAR and NCEP), and CICS-NC in Asheville, NC (focused on research with NCDC, administered as an Inter-Institutional Research Center of the UNC System). The consortium draws scientific expertise from approximately fifteen academic and research partners, including Princeton, Howard, UC Irvine, Columbia, CUNY, Duke, University of Miami, Oregon State, Colorado State, Remote Sensing Systems, RENCI, and DoE Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Outreach and public communication are supported through Climate Central, the North Carolina Arboretum, and CECI.

CICS has no commercial products, pricing model, or paying customers. Revenue is derived almost entirely from NOAA cooperative agreement funding, with applications and information products transferred to NOAA for operational implementation rather than commercialized. Marketing, if any, occurs through scientific seminars, annual science meetings, and annual reports. The organization operates within the U.S. academic-federal research ecosystem rather than a competitive commercial market, and there is no indication of venture capital, private equity, or public-market ownership.

Name

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

Legal name

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

Website

https://climateandsatellites.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CICS is a non-profit cooperative research institute that conducts satellite observation and Earth System modeling research in collaboration with NOAA. It operates as a national consortium led by the University of Maryland and the UNC System, serving federal climate mission needs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Research Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Benchmarking, Ratings & Stakeholder Reporting Portals (Scorecards, Dashboards) (EUABAEAJ)

Keywords

• Climate research services
• Satellite observation analysis
• Earth System modeling
• Atmospheric reanalysis
• Climate forecast applications

Headquarters

HQ city

College Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. NOAA Cooperative Agreement Funding: CICS is primarily funded through cooperative agreements with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The institute receives federal funding to conduct collaborative research aimed at enhancing NOAA's ability to use satellite observations and Earth System models.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CICS conducts collaborative research, education, and outreach programs with NOAA to develop innovative applications of national and international satellite observations, monitor and model climate variability and change, and improve climate forecasts from regional to global scales. Its work is organized under three research themes — Climate and Satellite Research and Applications, Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring, and Climate Research and Modeling — and is delivered through a national consortium led by the University of Maryland College Park and the University of North Carolina System through North Carolina State University.

Product overview

CICS is a research consortium and not a commercial product company. It conducts collaborative research with NOAA focused on satellite observations and Earth System modeling to advance the national climate mission, including monitoring, understanding, predicting, and communicating information on climate variability and change. The organization comprises two principal locations (CICS-MD and CICS-NC) with affiliated academic institutions conducting research across three themes: Climate and Satellite Research and Applications, Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring, and Climate Research and Modeling. No commercial products or services are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Climate and Satellite Research and Applications Collaborative research service for NOAA that develops innovative applications of national and international satellite observations and transfers those applications into NOAA's operational activities, delivered as part of CICS Research Theme 1.
• Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring Research service that investigates satellite observations and designs information products to detect, monitor, and understand the impact of climate variability and change on coastal and oceanic ecosystems, delivered as CICS Research Theme 2.
• Climate Research and Modeling Research and modeling service that develops and advances regional ecosystem models (with a focus on the Mid-Atlantic region), supports atmospheric and oceanic reanalysis, and improves climate forecasts from regional to global scales through the NOAA/NWS/NCEP Climate Test Bed, delivered as CICS Research Theme 3.
• Climate Research Education and Public Outreach Programs Education and outreach service that establishes and delivers strategies for articulating, communicating, and evaluating research results and reliable climate change information to targeted public audiences, in partnership with Climate Central and other outreach organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Enhanced NOAA operational capabilities through satellite observation applications
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• University of Maryland College Park (UMCP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUMCP provides leadership for CICS through the Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) which has managed the Cooperative Institute since 2002. UMCP brings extensive experience from the Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies collaboration with NOAA since 1983.
• University of North Carolina System / North Carolina State University (NCSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCSU administers CICS-NC as an Inter-Institutional Research Center (IRC) of the UNC System. Provides research leadership and administrative oversight for the Asheville location.
• Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerESSIC has successfully managed the Cooperative Institute since 2002 and hosts CICS-MD. Provides scientific computing and research infrastructure.
• UMCP Departments (AOSC, GEOG, GEOL)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartments of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Geography, and Geology contribute scientific expertise to CICS research themes.
• University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides advanced computing expertise and capabilities for climate research and satellite data analysis.
• Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration between UMCP and DoE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory contributing to climate research capabilities.
• Princeton UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributes scientific expertise to CICS research themes on climate and satellite applications.
• Howard UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoward University scientists participate in CICS research themes, contributing to the Minority Serving Institution partnership.
• University of California at IrvinemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributes scientific expertise to CICS research themes on climate and satellite observations.
• Columbia UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientists from Columbia University participate in CICS research themes.
• City University of New York (CUNY)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUNY scientists contribute to CICS research themes on climate and satellite research.
• Duke UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuke University scientists participate in CICS research themes.
• University of MiamimajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributes expertise to CICS climate and satellite research themes.
• Oregon State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientists from Oregon State University participate in CICS research.
• Colorado State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributes scientific expertise to climate research themes.
• Remote Sensing SystemsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRemote Sensing Systems scientists contribute specialized expertise in satellite observation research.
• Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)majorTechnology or IntegrationProvides scientific computing expertise for the CICS Consortium, part of the UNC System.
• DoE Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)majorTechnology or IntegrationProvides scientific computing expertise and capabilities for the Consortium.
• Climate CentralmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit organization that facilitates communication between scientific communities involved in climate research and decision-makers and the general public.
• North Carolina ArboretumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate member of the UNC System providing additional outreach capability.
• Centers for Climate Interaction (CECI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsheville NC-based organization of academic, non-profit, community and private organizations advancing CICS capabilities.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary federal partner for CICS. CICS conducts research, education and outreach programs in collaboration with NOAA to advance the national climate mission through satellite observations and Earth System modeling.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): Major federally funded atmospheric and climate science research center. Broader portfolio than CICS but overlapping research in climate modeling, satellite observations, and atmospheric science.

Emerging players

• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Columbia University Earth and climate science research institute. Sits within the CICS consortium partner network and conducts comparable climate, atmospheric, and oceanographic research.
• NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS): NASA Earth science research lab conducting climate modeling and satellite-based Earth System analysis. Comparable for its focus on satellite observations and global climate modeling research, although NASA-funded rather than NOAA-funded.

Direct peers

• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA): NOAA cooperative institute at Colorado State University applying satellite data to weather and climate research. Comparable in funding model, NOAA partnership, and satellite-observation research focus.
• Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL): NOAA research laboratory focused on climate modeling, Earth System prediction, and atmospheric/oceanic research. Directly comparable as a federally funded climate modeling and prediction research entity.
• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES): NOAA cooperative institute at CU Boulder conducting research in atmospheric science, climate, and Earth System science. Highly comparable as another federally funded cooperative institute focused on environmental and climate research with university partnership structure.
• Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS): NOAA cooperative institute at UW-Madison focused on satellite meteorology and atmospheric research. Directly comparable to CICS in its NOAA-funded, university-based, satellite-applications research model.

Others

• Climate Central: Non-profit climate communication organization that is a formal CICS consortium partner. Comparable for its role in translating climate science research into decision-maker and public communications.
• Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI): PNNL–University of Maryland joint institute conducting integrated climate, energy, and Earth System research. Part of CICS's consortium and comparable in its academic–federal lab research collaboration model.
• Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC): University of Maryland research center that manages CICS-MD since 2002. Comparable as an Earth System science research organization at UMCP and the institutional backbone of the CICS-MD location.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites