IRI

What IRI does

IRI is a climate research institute operating as part of The Columbia Climate School at Columbia University, jointly established under a cooperative agreement between NOAA's Climate Program Office and Columbia University. Headquartered on the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus in Palisades, New York, the institute conducts applied climate research and delivers forecasts, decision-support tools, and capacity-building programs to governments, agricultural organizations, multilateral development agencies, and academic institutions, with explicit emphasis on developing countries.

Its core technology stack centers on probabilistic climate prediction systems, including real-time ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) forecasts, biweekly sub-seasonal probability forecasts for precipitation and temperature, and seasonal forecasts built on the NMME (North American Multi-Model Ensemble). Supporting infrastructure includes the IRI Data Library (currently in sunset transition), ENACTS high-resolution climate reconstructions, interactive Maprooms for visualization, and the FIST (Farmer Input, Local Design) index insurance tooling suite. A notable proprietary methodology is a clinical-study-style data cleaning process applied to farmer recollection data, which has produced agricultural indexes that outperform those designed by international experts.

IRI does not operate a commercial revenue model. The institute is funded through research grants, cooperative agreements, and donations — legal contributions are made payable to "The Trustees of Columbia University." All data products, forecasts, and tools are distributed free of charge through iri.columbia.edu as global public goods, with no commercial pricing or sales channels. Revenue figures are not disclosed in available data.

Name

IRI

Legal name

The Trustees of Columbia University

Website

https://iri.columbia.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

IRI is a Columbia University-affiliated climate research institute, jointly established with NOAA, that produces ENSO, seasonal, and sub-seasonal forecasts plus decision-support tools and index insurance products for governments, development agencies, and agricultural users globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Research and Forecasting

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate & GHG/Emissions Modeling & Scenario Analysis (Inventories, Projections, Net-Zero Pathways) (EUAHAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Downscaled Climate Projections & Scenario Analytics (CMIP, SSP/RCP, Regionalization) (EUABALAB), Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting) (EUABALAJ), Climate Risk & Scenario Analysis (TCFD/IFRS S2) (EUAHAJAD), Environmental Data Integration, ETL & Interoperability (APIs, Standards, Data Pipelines) (EUAHAKAB)

Keywords

• Climate forecasting services
• Agricultural index insurance
• Seasonal climate predictions
• ENSO climate monitoring
• Climate data analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Palisades

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Funding and Grants: IRI operates as a research institution funded through grants, cooperative agreements, and institutional support from partner organizations. The mission emphasizes providing free access to data and tools as global public goods.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IRI produces real-time ENSO forecasts, sub-seasonal probability forecasts, and seasonal climate forecasts for precipitation and temperature, supported by the Data Library and ENACTS high-resolution datasets for data-sparse regions. It also operates interactive Maprooms for climate visualization and provides Index Insurance Tools (FIST) co-designed with farmers to optimize agricultural index insurance products. All forecasts, data, and tools are distributed free of charge as global public goods to governments, agricultural organizations, development agencies, and researchers, with emphasis on climate-vulnerable developing countries.

Product overview

The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is a research organization operating as part of The Columbia Climate School at Columbia University, established as a cooperative agreement between NOAA's Climate Program Office and Columbia University. IRI offers a suite of climate science tools and services centered around its core Climate and Forecast Products platform, which provides real-time ENSO forecasts, seasonal climate forecasts, and sub-seasonal probability forecasts. The offering portfolio includes the Data Library (currently in transition), ENACTS for enhanced data analysis, interactive Maprooms for data visualization, and specialized Index Insurance Tools developed collaboratively with farmers. Supporting services include Climate Services Academies for professional capacity building, K-12 educational materials, and research Publications documenting scientific findings. The institute's mission focuses on enhancing society's capability to understand, anticipate, and manage climate impacts, particularly in developing countries, through strategic and applied research, education, and by providing forecasts and information products with practical utility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Climate and Forecast Products Real-time ENSO forecasts, sub-seasonal probability forecasts for precipitation and temperature, and seasonal climate forecasts using the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) for precipitation and temperature, providing quantified uncertainty for decision makers.
• Data Library Comprehensive repository of climate and forecast data accessible to users for analysis purposes, serving the global climate research and services community with free public access.
• ENACTS Enhancing National Climate Monitoring datasets providing high-resolution climate data through the merger of station observations and satellite estimates, designed to improve climate services in data-sparse developing countries.
• Maprooms Interactive visualization tools for exploring climate data, forecasts, and ENSO information through graphical map interfaces, enabling users to access and interpret climate products without specialized software.
• Index Insurance Tools (FIST) Collaborative tools developed with farmers and organizations to design and optimize index-based agricultural insurance products that reduce basis risk through farmer input and a clinical-study-style farmer data cleaning process.
• Focus Group Tools Field tools used to conduct farmer focus groups and collect data for designing locally-relevant index insurance products, including village-level database systems that capture farmer inputs for index design.
• Climate Services Academies & Trainings Educational programs and training workshops designed to build capacity in climate science and climate services delivery worldwide, serving professionals and partner organizations needing operational climate services skills.

Quantifiable outcome

• Farmers can design indexes at least as good, or better than any index or area yield insurance product provided by international experts

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NOAA's Climate Program OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative agreement establishing IRI as a joint venture between NOAA's Climate Program Office and Columbia University, forming the foundation for IRI's research activities and mission.
• Columbia University / The Columbia Climate SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIRI is part of The Columbia Climate School and is located on the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus. Provides institutional framework and academic resources.
• World Food Programme (WFP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in Zambia with technical support for index insurance design in collaboration with Government of Zambia, involving farmer focus groups and index optimization.
• Government of ZambiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on agricultural index insurance, with IRI providing technical support and WFP partnership, conducting nationwide focus group meetings with farmers to design appropriate insurance indexes.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Climatic Research Unit (CRU), University of East Anglia: University-based climate research unit producing global climate datasets, reconstructions, and projections. Comparable as an academic climate data provider producing widely used gridded climate products.
• ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts): Intergovernmental organization producing global medium-range, seasonal, and sub-seasonal forecasts. Directly comparable to IRI in producing probabilistic global climate forecasts as a public good for member states and partners.
• NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS): NASA's climate research lab producing global climate modeling, projections, and datasets used by policymakers worldwide. Comparable as a publicly funded climate science organization producing free global climate data products.
• UK Met Office Hadley Centre: UK government climate research centre producing climate projections, scenario analysis, and decision-support tools. Comparable to IRI in producing climate models, projections, and services for societal benefit.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): NSF-funded US research center producing atmospheric and climate forecasts, models, and datasets. Highly comparable as a publicly funded, mission-driven climate science organization producing free forecasting tools and research.
• Climate Analytics: Climate science and policy institute producing climate risk analysis, scenario modeling, and science-based policy advice. Comparable in producing downscaled projections and scenario analysis for vulnerable regions.

Emerging players

• aWhere: Commercial provider of agricultural and weather data, forecasts, and analytics for smallholder farmers and agribusiness in developing countries. Comparable in its focus on climate-driven agricultural decision support in developing markets.
• The Climate Corporation (Bayer): Digital agriculture platform providing field-level weather, climate, and agronomic analytics. Comparable overlap in climate-driven agricultural decision support, particularly for crop planning and risk management.

Broad incumbents

• Risk Management Solutions (RMS): Large catastrophe and climate risk modeling firm serving insurance and financial markets. Comparable overlap in probabilistic climate and weather risk analytics for decision makers, though as a commercial-scale incumbent.

Regional players

• Climate Central: US-based climate research and communications organization producing climate visualizations, sea-level rise projections, and impact analyses. Comparable as a mission-driven climate science organization focused on translating climate data for societal use.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/climatesociety

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IRI