The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $147,635 - Friday the 4th of December 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSION WILL MEASURE GLOBAL SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) BY MEANS OF L-BAND PASSIVE(RADIOMETER) AND ACTIVE (SCATTEROMETER) REMOTE SENSING. THE SALINITY VARIABILITY IN THE OPEN OCEAN WILL RESULT IN CHANGES OF THE ORDER OF A FEW KELVIN (K) IN THE RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL. HOWEVER, VARIABILITY OF OTHER GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETERS LIKE THE OCEAN SURFACE ROUGHNESS (MOSTLY RELATED TO WIND) OR SURFACE TEMPERATURE CAN RESULT IN A SIMILAR, IF NOT LARGER, RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL. IN ADDITION, INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS, DUE FOR EXAMPLE TO THE ANTENNA GAIN PATTERN, CAN ALSO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY ON THE MEASURED SIGNAL. THEREFORE, RETRIEVING THE SALINITY WILL REQUIRE ACCURATE CORRECTION OF THE UNCERTAINTIES DUE TO INSTRUMENTAL EFFECTS AND NATURAL GEOPHYSICAL NOISE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL IS TO IMPROVE THE FORWARD MODEL FOR THE AQUARIUS RADIOMETERS AND SCATTEROMETER, AND TO DEVELOP AN EFFICIENT RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM, FROM SIMULATIONS AT FIRST, AND FROM THE ACTUAL AQUARIUS DATA WHEN THESE BECOME AVAILABLE LATER. AQUARIUS WILL USE A SCATTEROMETER TO RETRIEVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS. THIS WILL HELP TO CORRECT FOR ROUGHNESS IMPACTS ON THE RADIOMETER SIGNAL IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE RETRIEVAL OF SALINITY. WHILE THE SCATTEROMETER SIGNAL IS KNOWN TO BE MOSTLY DEPENDENT ON THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS, ITS USE FOR CORRECTING THE RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SIGNALS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY THE VARIOUS ROUGHNESS SCALES, AND THESE DIFFERENCES VARY WITH THE INSTRUMENTS INCIDENCE ANGLES AND POLARIZATIONS. PART OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO ASSESS THE DEPENDENCE OF BOTH TYPES OF SIGNAL ON THE VARIOUS SCALES BY MEANS OF MODELING, AND TO DERIVE AN OPTIMIZED RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM ACCOUNTING FOR THE MODELING RESULTS. THE PI WILL USE THE AQUARIUS SIMULATOR THAT HE HAS DEVELOPED DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS (AND THAT HE WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP). THE SIMULATOR INCLUDES FORWARD SIGNALS COMING FROM THE EARTH SURFACES (LAND, OCEAN, ICE), THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE CELESTIAL SKY (INCLUDING THE SUN AND THE MOON). IT USES AQUARIUS SIMULATED ORBIT DATA (POSITION, VELOCITY, ATTITUDE), AND COMPUTES INSTRUMENTAL EFFECTS LIKE THE IMPACT OF ANTENNA GAIN PATTERNS. WHEN ACTUAL AQUARIUS/SAC-D DATA WILL BE AVAILABLE, THE RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM WILL BE VALIDATED AND CORRECTIONS TO THE ALGORITHM WILL BE PERFORMED USING RETRIEVED AND GROUND TRUTH SSS. THE PI HAS CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE RELATED TO THE RETRIEVAL OF SSS FROM L-BAND RADIOMETRY. HE HAS BEEN WORKING ON THE ESA SOIL MOISTURE AND OCEAN SALINITY (SMOS) MISSION AND THE NASA/CONAE AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSIONS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, DEVELOPING FORWARD MODELS AND RETRIEVAL ALGORITHMS. HE HAS PROCESSED AND ANALYZED RADIOMETRIC DATA FROM VARIOUS AIRBORNE AND IN-SITU CAMPAIGNS IN ORDER TO VALIDATE AND IMPROVE FORWARD MODEL.

  ---

• $105,703 - Friday the 4th of December 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSION WILL MEASURE GLOBAL SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) BY MEANS OF L-BAND PASSIVE(RADIOMETER) AND ACTIVE (SCATTEROMETER) REMOTE SENSING. THE SALINITY VARIABILITY IN THE OPEN OCEAN WILL RESULT IN CHANGES OF THE ORDER OF A FEW KELVIN (K) IN THE RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL. HOWEVER, VARIABILITY OF OTHER GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETERS LIKE THE OCEAN SURFACE ROUGHNESS (MOSTLY RELATED TO WIND) OR SURFACE TEMPERATURE CAN RESULT IN A SIMILAR, IF NOT LARGER, RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL. IN ADDITION, INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS, DUE FOR EXAMPLE TO THE ANTENNA GAIN PATTERN, CAN ALSO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY ON THE MEASURED SIGNAL. THEREFORE, RETRIEVING THE SALINITY WILL REQUIRE ACCURATE CORRECTION OF THE UNCERTAINTIES DUE TO INSTRUMENTAL EFFECTS AND NATURAL GEOPHYSICAL NOISE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL IS TO IMPROVE THE FORWARD MODEL FOR THE AQUARIUS RADIOMETERS AND SCATTEROMETER, AND TO DEVELOP AN EFFICIENT RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM, FROM SIMULATIONS AT FIRST, AND FROM THE ACTUAL AQUARIUS DATA WHEN THESE BECOME AVAILABLE LATER. AQUARIUS WILL USE A SCATTEROMETER TO RETRIEVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS. THIS WILL HELP TO CORRECT FOR ROUGHNESS IMPACTS ON THE RADIOMETER SIGNAL IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE RETRIEVAL OF SALINITY. WHILE THE SCATTEROMETER SIGNAL IS KNOWN TO BE MOSTLY DEPENDENT ON THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS, ITS USE FOR CORRECTING THE RADIOMETRIC SIGNAL IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SIGNALS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY THE VARIOUS ROUGHNESS SCALES, AND THESE DIFFERENCES VARY WITH THE INSTRUMENTS INCIDENCE ANGLES AND POLARIZATIONS. PART OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO ASSESS THE DEPENDENCE OF BOTH TYPES OF SIGNAL ON THE VARIOUS SCALES BY MEANS OF MODELING, AND TO DERIVE AN OPTIMIZED RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM ACCOUNTING FOR THE MODELING RESULTS. THE PI WILL USE THE AQUARIUS SIMULATOR THAT HE HAS DEVELOPED DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS (AND THAT HE WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP). THE SIMULATOR INCLUDES FORWARD SIGNALS COMING FROM THE EARTH SURFACES (LAND, OCEAN, ICE), THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE CELESTIAL SKY (INCLUDING THE SUN AND THE MOON). IT USES AQUARIUS SIMULATED ORBIT DATA (POSITION, VELOCITY, ATTITUDE), AND COMPUTES INSTRUMENTAL EFFECTS LIKE THE IMPACT OF ANTENNA GAIN PATTERNS. WHEN ACTUAL AQUARIUS/SAC-D DATA WILL BE AVAILABLE, THE RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM WILL BE VALIDATED AND CORRECTIONS TO THE ALGORITHM WILL BE PERFORMED USING RETRIEVED AND GROUND TRUTH SSS. THE PI HAS CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE RELATED TO THE RETRIEVAL OF SSS FROM L-BAND RADIOMETRY. HE HAS BEEN WORKING ON THE ESA SOIL MOISTURE AND OCEAN SALINITY (SMOS) MISSION AND THE NASA/CONAE AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSIONS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, DEVELOPING FORWARD MODELS AND RETRIEVAL ALGORITHMS. HE HAS PROCESSED AND ANALYZED RADIOMETRIC DATA FROM VARIOUS AIRBORNE AND IN-SITU CAMPAIGNS IN ORDER TO VALIDATE AND IMPROVE FORWARD MODEL.

  ---