EOAS Weather Forecast Research Team key player of the NSF-NSERC Global Centers Initiative

Chances are you are reading this article on a device powered by The Western Interconnected Grid or the “Western Interconnection”. This major electrical transmission network supplies over 80 million people, throughout British Columbia, Alberta, the western United States, and part of Baja Mexico. In the West, fire is one of the primary threats to the infrastructure that supports this power grid. Adapting to increasing fire risks associated with climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing western North America. 

The Weather Forecast Research Team, headed by Earth Oceans and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Roland Stull, aims to estimate ‘Probable Max Fire Threat (PMFT) to Future Electric Supply and Transmission’. The team will create and employ numerical weather prediction and climate model downscaling to predict and mitigate potential fire risks. Their work is part of a larger initiative, ‘The US-Canada Center on Climate-Resilient Western Interconnected Grid’, co-lead by the University of Utah and the University of Calgary. This ambitious and critical project has just received a total of $8.75M from the National Science Foundation and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Global Centers Initiative. 

The six Canadian Research teams funded by the Global Centers Initiative are all tackling essential research questions to address climate related challenges and concerns. Click here to read more about the Weather Forecast Research Team and the work they are doing to facilitate climate-adapted infrastructure.