Abstracts are due by 14 August 2025 at 5:00 PM ET
Abstract Fee and Author Instructions
All presenters must also register for the meeting.
The 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations is sponsored by the American Meteorological Society and organized by the Board on Environmental Information Processing Technologies.
The rate of meaningful research results in the Weather, Water and Climate disciplines and enterprises has been steadily increasing, especially in this era of “big data”, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and disruptive, innovative technologies. One of the grand challenges for these enterprises is to find which of these meaningful research results can, and the ways and means to, transition these results to operations and applications [R2O], using efficient and cost-effective techniques and technologies. R2O and O2R can provide those critical links in the transition chain of vast information to usable knowledge.
This 16R2O Conference will demonstrate how traditional and non-traditional observations, modeling and instrumentation, covering both complementary and often disparate, temporal and spatial scales, are identified and validated for past, present, and future advances in research, technology and applications. These advances will drive transitions to meaningful operations in order to achieve and sustain a more thriving world. The 16R2O Conference will also support the national and international imperatives for the effective and efficient transition of research into sustained operations and the feedback process of operations back to research.
16R2O is seeking papers describing recent advances in research, technology and applications including any that incorporate aspects of this year’s Annual Meeting theme, “the Human Factor in a Rapidly Changing World” and any that incorporate aspects of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence/machine learning that will support the Nation’s ability to provide more responsive and accurate weather, water, and climate information to decision makers and end users around the world.
Student and Early Career Professionals Event
The 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations will be co-hosting with other Conferences and Symposia the 12th Annual Speed Networking Event [12SPNE]. The Event allows students and early career professionals to network with mentors via “speed networking” where the mentors (meteorology and allied discipline professionals) roam between tables at set intervals introducing the students and early professionals to a wide array of professions in the field of meteorology. The Speed Networking will include a social with heavy hors d'oeuvres, providing a great time for open networking. This allows the students, the early career professionals, and the mentors of their selected discipline to have extended conversations after their speed-mentoring.
The 16R2O Conference is inviting oral and poster presentations for the following Session Topics:
01 Advances in CubeSats and SmallSats for Observations and Measurements of Earth’s Atmosphere Thermodynamic Structure and Processes, Winds, and Water Cycle Processes, and to Improve Climate Monitoring, Weather Forecasting, or Space Weather Prediction
02 Advances in Satellite Observations, Earth Science, and Observing Technologies that can complement the Heritage Observation Systems and potentially lead to Advances in Next Generation Observation Systems
03 Emerging Technologies for Earth or Space Sciences to Address Unmet, Targeted Needs/Requirements in the Research or Operational Communities
04 Advances in Uncrewed Vehicle Sensors and Observations for a More Comprehensive Earth Observing System for Improved Extreme Weather Forecasts and Climate Monitoring
05 Special Session: The UFS-R2O Project: Advancing NOAA’s Unified Forecast System [UFS] as a Collaborative Community-Based Modeling System for Research and Operations
06 The Earth Prediction Innovation Center to Accelerate Community-Developed Scientific and Technological Enhancements into the Operational Applications for Numerical Weather Prediction
07 Advancing Hazards Forecasting and Decision Support through NOAA Testbeds and Proving Grounds
08 Advancing R2O and O2R in Weather Analysis and Forecast Systems: Technologies, Methodologies, and Approaches to Meet Evolving Forecasting Needs
09 Atmospheric River Reconnaissance: Observations, Science Advances, and Impact on Forecasts and Downstream Decision-Making
10 NOAA Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP): Advancing Hurricane Modeling, Analysis, Forecasting, and Risk Communication for a Diverse World
11 NOAA’s S2S Applications: Stakeholder Needs, Modeling Systems and Analysis
12 Leading Through Change: Strengthening End-to-End User Engagement for a Weather Ready Nation: Panel Discussion – Invited Panelists
13 User Engagement from Insight to Decision: Managing Change and Advancing Essential Mission Services through End-to-End User Integration
14 Responsive Science: User-Centered Approaches to Applied Research, Innovation, and Developing Capabilities to Support Stakeholder Decision Making
15 Reward Structures for Engaged Research and Applications: Barriers, Enablers, and Smart Practice
16 Calibration/Validation for Environmental Remote Sensing and Weather Prediction
17 Towards Operationalizing AI/ML in the Weather Enterprise. How AI/ML Support Decisions, Efficiency Improvement and Operation. Focus on GenAI and AI/ML transition to application and operation.
18 Advancements in Flash Flood Modeling, Forecasting, and Communication: Integrating Prediction, Response, and Emerging Technologies
19 Lightning Research and Applications in the R2O-O2R Paradigm
20 Identifying, Understanding, and Resolving Model Biases
01 Advances in CubeSats and SmallSats for Observations and Measurements of Earth’s Atmosphere Thermodynamic Structure and Processes, Winds, and Water Cycle Processes, and to Improve Climate Monitoring, Weather Forecasting, or Space Weather Prediction
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the 22nd Annual Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems [22OESS])
02 Advances in Satellite Observations, Earth Science, and Observing Technologies that can complement the Heritage Observation Systems and potentially lead to Advances in Next Generation Observation Systems
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the 27th Conference on Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climatology [27SatMOC])
04 Advances in Uncrewed Vehicle Sensors and Observations for a More Comprehensive Earth Observing System for Improved Extreme Weather Forecasts and Climate Monitoring
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the 26th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology [26ARAM])
05 Special Session: The UFS-R2O Project: Advancing NOAA’s Unified Forecast System [UFS] as a Collaborative Community-Based Modeling System for Research and Operations
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the Fifth Symposium on Community Modeling and Innovation [5CMI])
06 The Earth Prediction Innovation Center to Accelerate Community-Developed Scientific and Technological Enhancements into the Operational Applications for Numerical Weather Prediction
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the Fifth Symposium on Community Modeling and Innovation [5CMI])
16 Calibration/Validation for Environmental Remote Sensing and Weather Prediction
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the 22nd Annual Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems [22OESS])
17 Towards Operationalizing AI/ML in the Weather Enterprise. How AI/ML Support Decisions, Efficiency Improvement and Operation. Focus on GenAI and AI/ML transition to application and operation.
(Joint between the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O] and the 25th Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Science [25AIES])
Advanced Products and Technologies That Can Be Used Now and
Their Path to Quasi-Operational or Sustained Operations:
The View from the Dry and the Wet Side
(Joint between the 42nd Conference Environmental Information Processing Technologies [42EIPT] and the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O])
National and International Program Overviews for Environmental Satellites (Invited) (Joint between the 22nd Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, the 27th Conference on Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climatology, the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations, and the 14th AMS Symposium on the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation)
Atmospheric Science Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems Technology Across Scales (Joint between the 22nd Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems and the 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations [16R2O])
Student Presentation Awards
The 16th Conference on Transition of Research to Operations, the 22nd Annual Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, and the 27th Conference on Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climatology, are pleased to co-host Joint Student Presentation Awards at the 106th Annual Meeting. Award certificates and cash prizes of up to $200 will be given for the best student oral and poster presentations. Students must be enrolled at a college or university at the time of submission and must be the lead author or presenter of the work. Submitters should indicate their eligibility for student awards when submitting their abstracts.
The basis for an award will be:
Originality of the work
Quality of the presentation (oral and poster/slides) and the Student’s delivery.
Award recipients will be informed of the committee's decision by late February 2026.
For additional information, please contact the program chairs:
Martin Yapur ([email protected]); Robert Bauer ([email protected]); Changyong Cao ([email protected]); Amber Emory ([email protected]); Eric Fetzer ([email protected]); Sundararaman G. Gopalakrishnan ([email protected]); Young-Joon Kim ([email protected]); Chandra Kondragunta ([email protected]); John Pereira ([email protected]); Vijay Tallapragada ([email protected]); Thanh Vo Dinh ([email protected]); Ian Wahagheghe ([email protected]); Jana Warshawsky ([email protected]), and Stephen Mango ([email protected])