The 24th SPARC Scientific Steering Group (SSG) meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, from 1-4 November 2016. The meeting followed a one-day science workshop focused on SPARC’s contribution to the WCRP Grand Challenges on 31 October 2016. The resulting report gives an overview of current and new SPARC activities, the current state of partner projects and an update on the looming gap in limb-sounding observations of atmospheric composition. Key discussion points from the WCRP/SPARC Workshop: “Grand Challenges for Climate Science – Synergies between SPARC and the WCRP Grand Challenges” are also listed. Report: 24th Meeting of the SPARC Scientific Steering Group & Local Workshop