The SERDP and ESTCP missions are to develop and transition knowledge, tools, and technologies to enhance both the DoD’s installation resilience, as well as its ability to adapt to a changing climate. To accomplish this mission, SERDP and ESTCP promote research and develop technology to mitigate climate change impacts, optimize lands used for training and testing of systems, and ensure safe, efficient, and healthy military installations. Specifically, SERDP and ESTCP currently pursue research and development in three research areas: installation infrastructure, military land condition, and readiness-ecosystems.

SERDP and ESTCP work to expand the knowledge base and develop technologies that provide important insights into the DoD’s exposure to hazards resulting from climate change. This includes sensitivity to climate change hazards, as well as the knowledge, tools, and technologies that build adaptive capacity and resilience to meet those hazards.

SERDP and ESTCP research activities are multifaceted, dynamic, and multi-disciplinary research efforts involving diverse groups. Federal, state, local governmental agencies and communities, academia, the private sector, and stakeholder groups collaborate to provide discovery, technology advance, and delivery of actionable insights, research, products, and tools. This is not a new focus for SERDP and ESTCP; only the pace is changing with the recognition that the climate crisis is, as Secretary Austin said, “… an essential element of our national security...”

Subtopics:
Sea Level Rise Tools

SERDP and ESTCP continue to mature and develop tools that examine sea-level rise in the context of impacts to DoD installations now and in the future. In October 2020, the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) launched the DoD Regional Sea Level (DRSL) tool enabling DoD planners and managers to understand and assess a range of site-specific scenarios of future sea-level rise and extreme water level conditions for three-time horizons: 2035, 2065, and 2100. Learn More...

Arctic Infrastructure

Installation infrastructure resiliency research requires technologies that allow for resilience in the face of a changing climate, and nowhere else is climate changing as fast as in the arctic. Learn More...

Climate Impacts on Installations

SERDP and ESTCP continue to mature and develop tools for assessing climate change impacts, managing climate-related risks, and informing decision-making across installations. In October 2020, the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) launched the DoD Regional Sea Level (DRSL) tool enabling DoD planners and managers to understand and assess a range of site-specific scenarios of future sea level rise and extreme water level conditions for three-time horizons: 2035, 2065, and 2100. Learn More...