Established in 2019, CISESS predecessor was the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), originally founded in 1984 as the Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies  CISESS is a national consortium, with leadership from the University of Maryland and North Carolina State University, partnering with NOAA partners NESDIS and NWS. CISESS research areas will include the analysis of satellite observations; improving data access, management, quality, and stewardship; and performance computing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and social sciences.