Extreme Events

Improving our ability to predict and respond to weather and water extremes to mitigate impacts on agriculture, ecosystems, and society.

Flooding - Extreme Events

Flooding - Extreme Events

Issue

Flooding, heatwaves, drought, wildfire, and related natural hazards are occurring with greater frequency and intensity, while economic and social impacts are mounting rapidly. This initiative aims to bridge agricultural, biophysical, and social science expertise to address an expanding set of impacts for production agriculture and forestry in Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic, and globally. Researchers in this initiative, together with decision-makers at the federal, state, and local levels and private-sector interests, including the insurance industry, will collectively devise actionable solutions to extreme events.

Conveners

Katherine Y. Zipp
Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics
Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education

Christopher Scott
Professor of Ecosystem Science and Management
Goddard Chair - Forestry and Environmental Conservation
Associate Director of the Institute of Energy and Environment

Associated Members

  • Bishwodeep Adhikari, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, School of Science, Engineering, and Technology
  • Daniel Allen, Associate Professor of Aquatic Ecology
  • Kristina Brant, Assistant Professor, Rural Sociology
  • Daniel Brent, Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics
  • Shirley Clark, Acting Director, School of Science, Engineering, and Technology; Professor of Environmental Engineering, School of Science, Engineering, and Technology
  • Jon Duncan, Director, Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center; Associate Professor, Hydrology
  • Weiyun Hua, Assistant Teaching Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering
  • Lisa Iulo, Director, Hamer Center for Community Design; Professor, Architecture
  • Maurie Kelly, Director, Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access
  • Christine Kirchoff, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Law, Policy, and Engineering; Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Zhen Lei, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics
  • Lauren McPhillips, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Renee Obringer, Assistant Professor, Energy and Mineral Engineering
  • Heather Preisendanz, Director, Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science; Professor, Natural Resources Engineering
  • Cibin Raj, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Danielle Rhea, Penn State Extension, Water Resources
  • Lilliard Richardson, Director, School of Public Policy and Professor, Public Policy
  • Peter Stempel, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
  • Femeena Pandara Valappil, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Sarah Whitney, Director, Pennsylvania Sea Grant 
  • Hong Wu, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture

Related Penn State Initiatives

Related College of Agricultural Sciences Research Impact Areas

Funding Targets

USDA AFRI Foundational and Applied Science 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  • Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Broad Agency Announcement
    • CHL-8 Hydrology (p.15 in the announcement linked above)
      • Develop rapid procedures for flood forecasting
      • Quantify precipitation with remote sensing and develop spatially varying precipitation hydrology models
      • Improve understanding of groundwater-surface water interaction
      • Develop visualization tools for hydrology and dam break models
    • CHL-19 Nearshore Coastal Research in Support of the U.S. Coastal Research Program (p.20-21)
      • Enhance our understanding of the physical processes that occur during extreme events to improve models of flooding, erosion, and recovery
      • Understand the long-term evolution of coasts (in terms of the morphology and ecology), especially urbanized coasts
    • CHL-20 Comprehensive Water Risk Management (p.21-22)
      • Improve our understanding of inland and coastal compound flooding (i.e., how flood risk depends on the combination of precipitation, coastal storms, groundwater interactions, sea level change, snowmelt, wildfires, subsidence, and other natural and anthropogenic events)
    • CHL-21 Innovations in Sediment Management (p.22-23)
      • Conduct research to inform the development of tools, techniques, and guidance for designing nature-based flood management solutions
    • CHL-22 Next Generation Water Management (p.23-24)
      • Conduct research on Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) to provide reservoir managers more lead time to selectively retain or release water from reservoirs based on longer-term forecasts
      • Improve data synthesis, decision support systems, and data visualization capabilities to enhance water management decision-making
    • EL-47 Disaster Planning and Response (p.71)
      • Work with the Center for Health Engineering (CHE) to improve consideration for public health and human factors in engineered planning, design, operations, and management. (CHE coordinates cross-disciplinary research to support agencies and organizations with planning across engineering, infrastructure, and public health settings where public and personnel health and safety intersect with natural and built environments)

National Science Foundation

  • NSF Infrastructure Systems and People (ISP)
    • Full proposals accepted anytime
    • The program supports fundamental research on the design, optimization, sustainability, and resilience of infrastructure systems during normal operation and extreme events (natural hazards).
    • ISP encourages interdisciplinary exploration that will open new research frontiers and significantly expand and transform the research communities.
    • ISP also values innovative efforts focused on collecting, standardizing, and sharing large-scale databases of real-world infrastructure systems and people-infrastructure interactions during normal and extreme operating conditions.
    • Proposers are actively encouraged to email a one-page project summary to the ISP program officers for guidance on whether the proposed research topic falls within the scope of the ISP program.
    • Past awards to other institutions:
  • NSF Cyber-Physical System Foundations and Connected Communities (CPS)
    • Proposal due date(s):
      • September 11, 2025 (Second Thursday in September, Annually Thereafter)
      • February 05, 2026 (First Thursday in February, Annually Thereafter)
    • The Community-Inspired Research track aims to develop use-inspired research focused on the co-development of novel and translational innovations and systems with cyber-physical components, their communities, and the natural and built environments.
      • Proposals submitted to this track are expected to be inspired and motivated by the needs of clearly defined communities and to establish meaningful partnerships with stakeholders to shape research questions and provide ongoing engagement in the project.
    • Areas of particular interest include civil infrastructure, disaster response, transportation, geographical systems, infrastructure resilience, manufacturing, power systems, and agriculture, as well as topics at the nexus of cyber-physical systems, community, and natural and built environment.
  • NSF Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE)
    • Due April 7, 2026
    • Supports convergent research, education, and networking activities to improve understanding, prediction, and resilience to wildland fire and its interactions with communities, infrastructure, and the natural environment
    • FIRE proposals should demonstrate strengths in one or more of the following areas:
      • New advances in data collection, storage, and sharing relevant to wildland fire dynamics, including Earth observations
      • New modeling and computational approaches to understand wildland fire (including AI and machine learning approaches)
      • New understanding of the cross-scale interactions of wildland fire across local, regional, and global extents
      • New insights into community adaptation and governance relevant to wildland fire
      • New approaches to reduce the vulnerability of built infrastructure, natural fuels, and social systems to wildland fire
      • Engagement of a variety of community members and stakeholders to promote a forward-looking approach to wildland fire science
    • FIRE supports research proposals and conference (network) proposals that focus on one or more of the following elements:
      • Focus area 1: Next Generation Coupled Fire Models (FIRE-MODEL)
      • Focus area 2: Enhancing Capacity for Fire Resilience in the Wildland-Urban Interface (FIRE-WUI)
      • Focus area 3: Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) Networks (FIRE-NET)
  • NSF Translation to Practice (NSF TTP)
    • Proposal due dates:
      • Due September 16, 2025 (third Tuesday in September, annually thereafter)
      • Due January 20, 2026 (third Tuesday in January, annually thereafter)
      • Due May 19, 2026 (third Tuesday in May, annually thereafter)
    • Supports use-inspired research, translational activities and partnerships that turn scientific discoveries into real-world solutions.
    • The NSF TTP program was developed with several goals in mind:
      • To develop partnerships and collaborations between institutions of higher education and other entities (e.g., industry, state/local/national government agencies)
      • To identify and support use-inspired research and translational activities enabling a continuum from foundational research to practice
  • NSF Human-Environmental and Geographical Sciences Program (HEGS)
    • Proposal due dates:
      • Due January 16, 2026 (third Friday in January, annually thereafter)
      • Due August 7, 2026 (first Friday in August, annually thereafter)
    • Supports fundamental research that examines how human behavior interacts with environmental and social processes, advancing geographical theory and geospatial methods through rigorous, impactful studies
    • Research projects submitted to the HEGS program must illustrate how the proposed research questions engage human dimensions that are relevant and important to people and societies.
    • HEGS welcomes proposals that utilize quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods in novel ways. However, a proposal that applies geographical or geospatial methods to a geographic problem without proposing how that problem provides an opportunity to make a theory-testing or theory-expanding contribution to geographical science will be returned without review.
  • NSF Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences
    • Proposal due dates:
      • Due January 20, 2026 (annually thereafter)
      • Due August 18, 2026 (annually thereafter)
    • Supports research that increases understanding of how individuals, organizations, and societies make decisions
    • Areas include judgment, decision analysis and aids, risk analysis and communication, public policy decision making, and management science
    • The program supports the use of the RAPID funding mechanism for research that involves ephemeral data, typically tied to disasters or other unanticipated events.
  • NSF Growing Convergence Research (GCR)
    • Due February 9, 2026 (second Monday in February, annually thereafter)
    • Supports transitioning teams from research that is multidisciplinary to research that transcends disciplinary boundaries with novel conceptual frameworks, theories, and methods.
    • Convergence research is inspired by the need to address a specific challenge or opportunity, whether it arises from deep scientific questions or pressing societal needs.
    • GCR solicitation targets multidisciplinary teams who are embracing convergence research as a means of developing highly innovative solutions to complex research problems.
    • Proposals submitted to this solicitation are expected to explore novel avenues not previously investigated that are at the forefront of advancing science through deep integration

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

  • FEMA Cooperating Technical Partners (CTP) program
    • The FY 2024 NOFO was released on June 12, 2024 with applications due July 19, 2024
      • $66M available for 120 projects
      • 24-month duration for community outreach and mitigation strategies or a letter of map revision (LOMR) review project
      • 48-month duration for technical hazard identification, risk analysis, and mapping projects
      • The CTP program is one mechanism that FEMA uses to deliver its Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) program to communities.
        • The vision for Risk MAP is to deliver quality data that increases public awareness of flood risk and leads to action that reduces flood risk to life and property.
        • Risk MAP strengthens the local ability to make informed decisions about reducing flood risk through more precise flood mapping products, risk assessment tools, and planning and outreach support.
        • The Risk MAP process was developed not only to introduce tools to address flood risk challenges but also to create partnerships with communities affected by flooding and other hazards.
      • CTP supports the goal of enhancing flood-resilient communities by establishing, maintaining, and improving collaborative working relationships and ensuring timely and accurate delivery of data to communities to support flood risk reduction and mitigation.
      • CTP funding recipients will:
        • Develop flood hazard maps for communities that have never had identified risks
        • Build on effective flood hazard data and flood insurance rate maps (FIRMS), and
        • Increase public awareness of flood risk and potential mitigation options to reduce that risk and better inform planning
    • Past NOFOs from the CTP program:
      • FY 2023 due June 5, 2023 (released April 3, 2023), $95M allocated to 130 projects
      • FY 2022 due July 21, 2022 (released June 9, 2022), $104M allocated to 140 projects
      • FY 2021 due May 31, 2021 (released March 31, 2021), $100M allocated to 110 projects
      • FY 2020 due May 1, 2020 (released March 2, 2020), $102M allocated to 95 projects
      • FY 2019 due June 18, 2019 (released April 19, 2019), $110M allocated to 93 projects
      • FY 2018 due July 2, 2018 (released June 1, 2018), $114M allocated to 85 projects
      • FY 2017 due July 1, 2017 (released June 1, 2017), $66M allocated to 80 projects
      • FY 2016 due June 10, 2016 (released March 25, 2016), $72M allocated to 90 projects
      • FY 2015 due August 15, 2015 (released June 15, 2015), $41M allocated to 88 projects
      • FY 2014 due August 18, 2014 (released July 1, 2014), $35M allocated to 93 projects
      • FY 2013 due August 11, 2013 (released July 25, 2013), $22M allocated to 100 projects
      • FY 2012 due September 15, 2012 (released June 29, 2012), $19M allocated to the following activities:
        • Base map acquisition
        • Community engagement
        • Outreach
        • Riverine floodplaing analyses and floodplain mapping
        • Digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM) preparation
        • Digital topographic data development
        • Independent QA/QC review
        • Post-preliminary processing of flood map studies
        • Letter of Map Revision (LOMR)
        • Risk assessments
  • Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund Program
    • The Safeguarding Tomorrow RLF program is authorized under Section 205 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide capitalization grants to states, tribes, territories, and D.C. to establish revolving loan funds that provide hazard mitigation assistance for local governments to reduce risks from natural hazards and disasters.
    • The program complements and supplements FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant portfolio (administered in PA through PEMA, see below) to support mitigation projects at the local government level and increase the nation's resilience to natural hazards.
    • The priorities of the program are to:
      • Empower entities. FEMA will collaborate with eligible entities to help them increase their capacity and capability, through focused engagement activities leading up to the application period and providing increased technical assistance during the year 1 application period.
      • Create innovative funding solutions. Applicants can leverage loans for non-federal cost share with other FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs, helping underserved communities access additional funding.
      • Reduce grant application complexity. The goal of launching this effort is to reduce program complexity by breaking down barriers and increasing access to mitigation funding.
      • Maximize administrative flexibility. Throughout the process, identify administrative burdens and reduce them to the greatest extent possible.
    • More info about the Safeguarding Tomorrow RFL program can be found in this fact sheet
  • Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current (Swift Current)
    • Swift Current provides funding to mitigate buildings insured through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to reduce risk against future flood damage.
    • On June 1, 2024, FEMA announced $300M would be available between June and September 2024.
    • On December 5, 2024, FEMA made an additional $200M available and extended the opportunity until May 31, 2025.
    • Funds are available to states, territories, and federally recognized tribal governments that received a major flood-related disaster declaration.
    • Swift Current funding is only available to property owners that have a current flood insurance policy under the NFIP and a history of repetitive or substantial damage from flooding.

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)

  • PA Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant
    • This grant program makes federal funds available to plan for and implement cost-effective measures to reduce the risk to people and property from future natural hazards. It is offered in addition to funds provided through other federal grant programs for projects that support growing mitigation needs.
    • The application period typically opens in March and closes in April.
    • Local governments, including municipalities and special districts, are eligible to apply.
    • Congressional representatives who have been approached by municipalities with mitigation project ideas can also apply for this grant. Representatives should contact the state hazard mitigation officer at RA-dgmhmgrants@pa.gov to begin the process.
  • PEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant
    • The Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) encourages the development of comprehensive disaster preparedness and assistance plans, programs, capabilities, and organizations by the states and by county governments.
    • Funds under this program are appropriated by Congress for allocation to the states by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
    • States in turn are responsible for subgranting these funds to county emergency mangement organizations for reimbursement of salaries and benefits.
    • EMPG requires a 50% match of the total cost of the approved projects.
    • More details can be found in the EMPG program administrative guide.
    • Funds can be used for:
      • Having a dedicated staff to conduct and coordinate emergency management activities
      • Preparing and maintaining a comprehensive Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) that address relevant hazards
      • Ensuring that all members of the emergency response organization receive the necessary training
      • Ensuring that there is an aggressive exercise program that provides a means to evaluate and test plans, people, procedures, equipment, etc.
      • Applying the results and lessons learned from self-assessments, EOP reviews, and post-disaster response critiques to improve the jurisdiction's emergency response capabilities
    • All county governments within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are eligible to apply.
    • EMPG applications usually open in spring. Award notification is provided to localities after PEMA receives the formal award from the federal agency (this generally around August or September, depending on the timing of the federal award).
    • Applications are submitted through the Enterprise eGrants System (with a Keystone Login)
  • PEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant
    • The key purpose of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is to help communities enact hazard mitigation measures that reduce the risk of loss of life and property from future disasters.
    • HMGP helps communities implement these measures following a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration in the areas requested by the governor or tribal executive (the program requires a federal disaster declaration)
    • Following a disaster declaration for that area, municipalities that participated in the county's hazard mitigation plan and identified the mitigation project are eligible. The program is open to any local governments (individuals cannot apply directly for the program).
    • When a federal disaster has been declared, eligible municipalities can send a letter of intent to the state hazard mitigation office (RA-Shazmitoff@pa.gov) to start the process.
    • Full applications are submitted through the Enterprise eGrants System (with a Keystone Login)
  • PEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant
    • The federal Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program helps states, local communities, tribes, and territories reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings and structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
    • Municipalities in good standing with the NFIP are eligible for mitigation projects in this program.
    • Applications must come from local governments or other eligible organizations (individuals cannot apply directly for the program)
    • Funds can be used for:
      • Developing mitigation strategies and obtaining data to prioritize, select, and develop viable community flood mitigation projects
      • Projects that integrate cost-effective, natural floodplain restoration solutions and improvements to NFIP-insured properties
      • Flood mitigation planning grants (the flood hazard component of hazard mitigation)
    • Eligible entities can email a letter of intent to the state hazard mitigation office (RA-Shazmitoff@pa.gov) to get on an annual listing.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  • Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)
    • "Rapid Response and Novel Research in Earth Science" (A.04)
      • Looking for proposals that study "natural or anthropogenic extreme events and/or similar or unpredictable events that fall outside the norm" (they give 100-year floods and major fires as examples)
    • "Water Quality" (A.07) with primary focus areas that include:
      • Pollution monitoring and management (land-based and waterborne contaminants)
      • Integrated stormwater and wastewater management
      • Water quality risk assessment and adaptive management, and
      • Coordinated transboundary and cross-jurisdiction water quality management
    • "Water Resources" (A.08) with primary focus areas that include
      • Drought resilience and water scarcity
      • Integrated stormwater and floodwater management
      • Water system risk assessment and adaptive management
      • Sustainable and efficient water use across sectors, and
      • Transboundary cooperation
    • For both A.07 and A.08, the funded activities must be conducted in collaboration with end users (water management agencies, water utility managers, private companies, non-governmental organizations in water management, coastal and fisheries and aquaculture management, agricultural sector, industry, and/or disaster management) with at least one "representative" of the end users involved on the project team.
    • Both A.07 and A.08 specify that projects must involve at least one "NASA Earth observation" data source, which includes:
      • ECOSTRESS, high-resolution temperature data (which could be used to measure the degree of heat stress on different ag plots)
      • SWOT (surface water and ocean topography data)
      • NISAR, which is launching soon and will collect data on biomass, groundwater, sea level rise, among other things
      • SMAP, which collects soil moisture data
      • GMP for precipitation data
      • GRACE, which uses changes in gravity to detect changes in water storage at different points on the earth's surface (or in aquifers)
      • Landsat for land surface data,
      • And others like Terra, Aqua, and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership