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Overview

The Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) fully leverages NOAA’s R&D enterprise to serve NOAA’s mission and benefit society by accelerating and facilitating the transition of R&D within NOAA to operations, applications, commercialization, and other uses. It also accomplishes this by working to develop and implement policies that guide and manage transition in NOAA. ORTA comprises the Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP) and the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO), as well as direct support for R&D transition policies and guidance across NOAA.

A novel low-cost, high-precision sea temperature sensor for coral reef monitoring
PMEL's Manta UAV launch

QOSAP and TPO both sit in ORTA with separate but related functions.  QOSAP conducts research to quantitatively evaluate and optimize the impact of current and proposed observations for Earth systems analysis and forecasting. TPO fosters science and technological innovation through federal investments in research and development (R&D), partnerships, or licensing opportunities at NOAA.