NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL)

What NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) does

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) is a U.S. government research laboratory located in Boulder, Colorado, operating under NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and co-located on the NOAA Boulder campus at 325 Broadway. PSL conducts weather, climate, and hydrologic research aimed at advancing the prediction of water availability and extremes, serving operational meteorologists, water resource managers, researchers, and the general public with free public-domain data, forecasts, and tools. Its core technical platform combines observational networks (Doppler wind profilers, GPS water vapor receivers, lidars, sodars, microwave radiometers), numerical weather prediction models (WRF-based RAP and 3km HRRR with custom physical parameterizations), and century-spanning reanalysis datasets. PSL's product portfolio includes the 20th Century Reanalysis Project, the Atmospheric River Portal backed by nine coastal Atmospheric River Observatories and 57 total monitoring sites generating over 21 million annual observations, drought monitoring indices (EDDI, LERI), the AQPI precipitation information system, WFIP2/WFIP3 wind energy forecasting programs, fire weather products, ENSO/MJO/marine heatwave monitoring, Arctic sea ice forecasts, and interactive web-based reanalysis intercomparison tools (WRIT).

PSL's business model is entirely government-funded with no commercial revenue generation. Primary funding flows through NOAA OAR annual appropriations from the U.S. Department of Commerce, supplemented by co-funding from the Department of Energy (for wind energy research under WFIP) and state agencies (notably California Department of Water Resources for atmospheric river observatory expansion). All products, data, and forecasts are released as U.S. government public domain material at no cost, with users asked only to acknowledge NOAA/OAR/PSL as the source. The lab's primary distribution channel is its website (psl.noaa.gov), with direct operational integration into National Weather Service forecast systems for research-to-operations transitions and a quarterly PSLadvance newsletter for community engagement. Strategic partners include NOAA NWS (primary transition partner), NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (joint model development), DOE and Argonne National Laboratory (wind energy forecasting), and California DWR (water resource management).

Name

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL)

Legal name

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

Website

https://psl.noaa.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. U.S. Government Appropriations: Funded through NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) annual appropriations from U.S. Department of Commerce. Provides core operational funding for research programs and facilities.
2. Department of Energy Cooperative Research: DOE co-funding for specific research projects including WFIP2 and related wind energy forecasting initiatives. Public-private partnership model with federal research agencies.
3. State Government Grants: California Department of Water Resources invested in atmospheric river observatory network expansion and maintenance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) is a U.S. federal research laboratory that conducts weather, climate, and hydrologic research to advance the prediction of water availability and extremes. PSL provides free public-domain access to experimental forecast guidance, gridded climate datasets (including the 20th Century Reanalysis), real-time observations from a network of wind profilers and Atmospheric River Observatories, drought and ENSO monitoring tools, and research publications for the scientific community, operational meteorologists, and water resource managers.

Product overview

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) is a government research laboratory that provides a comprehensive portfolio of weather, climate, and hydrologic research products and data services. The portfolio includes the 20th Century Reanalysis Project and WRIT for climate reanalysis; AQPI and PSL Observation Network for real-time observations; Atmospheric River Portal with nine AROs for AR monitoring; ENSO Forecasts, EDDI/LERI for drought monitoring; Fire Weather products; WFIP2/WFIP3 for wind energy forecasting; and extensive gridded climate datasets with plotting tools. PSL is not an operational center—its products are experimental and provided primarily for research purposes with free public access to data and tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSLadvance: Quarterly e-newsletter of the Physical Sciences Laboratory covering lab projects, initiatives, awards, publications, and more.
• Atmospheric River Observatories (AROs)

Products and services

• 20th Century Reanalysis Project

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015DOE co-funded the Wind Forecast Improvement Project 2 (WFIP2) with NOAA, investing in public-private partnership to improve numerical weather prediction for wind energy. DOE funding enabled 18-month field deployment with extensive instrumentation in the Pacific Northwest.
• California Department of Water ResourcescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCalifornia DWR invested in the 'picket fence' of seven coastal Atmospheric River Observatories and later funded two inland AROs (San Francisco Bay gap and Lake Oroville). Provides operational data supporting California's water resource management.
• NOAA Global Systems LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on AR water vapor flux tool development; GSL runs experimental versions of RAP and HRRR models using new physical parameterizations developed at PSL.
• NOAA National Weather ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary transition partner for research improvements. PSL model developments are transferred to NWS operations, including the 13km RAP and 3km HRRR operational forecast systems.
• NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSL is a division within NOAA ESRL. Intranet connections link PSL with PSD (Physical Sciences Division) and other ESRL labs for internal collaboration.
• NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organization providing primary federal appropriations and research direction. PSL operates under OAR's research mission.
• NOAA Boulder CampusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSL shares the Boulder, CO campus with multiple NOAA organizations including NWS forecast offices, NOAA public affairs, and other OAR labs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): Intergovernmental organization producing global numerical weather predictions and ERA reanalysis datasets. Directly comparable to PSL as a peer national-scale research-and-operations atmospheric modeling entity producing public datasets.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): Federally funded atmospheric research center sponsored by NSF that conducts weather, climate, and air-quality research and operates major modeling and supercomputing infrastructure. Directly comparable to PSL as a U.S. research lab producing public-domain atmospheric datasets and numerical models.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC): Canadian government agency responsible for weather, climate, and environmental monitoring and research. Comparable to PSL as a national government scientific organization producing public weather and climate datasets and operating atmospheric observation networks.
• NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS): NASA atmospheric and climate research lab producing public-domain climate datasets and reanalysis products. Comparable to PSL as a federal research lab that contributes foundational climate science used by operational forecasting agencies.
• NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC): NOAA center responsible for seasonal climate forecasts, ENSO monitoring, and drought outlooks that depend heavily on PSL's reanalysis and index products. Directly comparable as a downstream consumer and partner that translates PSL's research into operational climate services.
• UK Met Office: United Kingdom's national weather and climate service combining research and operational forecasting. Directly comparable to PSL's combined research-and-operations mission spanning atmospheric science, reanalysis, and operational model contributions.
• National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP): Operational center running the HRRR and RAP models that PSL helped develop. Directly comparable as the operational counterpart to PSL's research mission, integrating PSL's parameterizations into nationwide forecast systems.
• NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL): NOAA research laboratory focused on climate and weather prediction through advanced numerical modeling. Directly comparable to PSL as a sister NOAA/OAR lab developing operational weather and climate models fed to NWS and the broader scientific community.
• NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL): Sister NOAA/OAR lab that operates the operational RAP and HRRR forecast systems using parameterizations developed at PSL. Directly comparable as a collaborating federal lab on next-generation numerical weather prediction and research-to-operations transitions.

Broad incumbents

• AccuWeather: Largest commercial weather forecasting company in the U.S., distributing forecasts and severe-weather warnings to consumers and enterprises. Comparable to PSL as a downstream user of NOAA foundational data and as a broad incumbent in weather forecasting where PSL supplies the underlying public data backbone.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/noaa-physical-sciences-laboratory-psl-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL)