The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $81,000 - Thursday the 16th of August 2012
  National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
  NOT IN USE
  PROVIDE SERVICES FOR CONTINUITY AND CONSISTENCY INHERENT OPTICAL PROPERTIES FROM THE VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGER RADOMETER SUITE.

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• $53,181 - Tuesday the 31st of January 2017
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  NUMEROUS PAPERS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED HOW LAND COVER CHANGE AND ECOSYSTEM DISTURBANCE CAN ALTER THE SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE THROUGH CHANGES IN ALBEDO, SURFACE ROUGHNESS, AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION. IN SOME CASES, THESE SURFACE CHANGES MAY CONSTITUTE A LARGER RADIATIVE FORCING THAN THOSE ARISING FROM RELATED CARBON EMISSIONS. OUR APPROACH RELIES ON INTEGRATING THE 10-YEAR MODIS ALBEDO (MCD43) DATA PRODUCT, A RECENTLY DEVELOPED 25-YEAR LANDSAT-BASED ALBEDO PRODUCT, AND LANDSAT-BASED MAPS OF VEGETATION CHANGE. THE LANDSAT-BASED ALBEDO PRODUCT FUSES LANDSAT DIRECTIONAL SURFACE REFLECTANCE WITH MODIS ALBEDO VALUES DERIVED FROM HOMOGENOUS PIXELS, AND ALLOWS ALBEDO TRENDS TO BE EVALUATED AT THE CHARACTERISTIC SCALE OF VEGETATION CHANGE (<1 HA). FIRST, AN ANALYSIS OF THE MCD43A PRODUCT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ISOLATE TRENDS IN SEASONAL (E.G. SNOW-COVERED/FREE; LEAF-ON/OFF) SURFACE ALBEDO. SECOND, A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF LANDSAT TIME SERIES FROM EARTH S BIOMES WILL BE USED TO EXAMINE TRENDS IN ALBEDO FOR AREAS WITH KNOWN VEGETATION DISTURBANCE OR CONVERSION. THESE DATA WILL BE ASSEMBLED INTO CHARACTERISTIC ALBEDO TRAJECTORIES AS A FUNCTION OF DISTURBANCE TYPE, BIOME, SEASON, AND LATITUDE. THE UMASSBOSTON CONTRIBUTION WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE MODIS ALBEDOS FOR A RANGE OF LAND COVER TYPES AND DISTURBANCE REGIMES WITHIN ECOREGIONS AND ON EVALUATION OF THE MERGED LANDSAT ALBEDO PRODUCT THROUGH COMPARISON WITH SURFACE ALBEDO DATA. THE OUTCOME OF THIS WORK WILL BE AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW RECENT VEGETATION DYNAMICS HAVE FORCED CLIMATE, AND HOW HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND ALTERED DISTURBANCE REGIMES MAY AFFECT THIS FORCING IN THE FUTURE.

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• $51,236 - Tuesday the 31st of January 2017
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  NUMEROUS PAPERS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED HOW LAND COVER CHANGE AND ECOSYSTEM DISTURBANCE CAN ALTER THE SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE THROUGH CHANGES IN ALBEDO, SURFACE ROUGHNESS, AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION. IN SOME CASES, THESE SURFACE CHANGES MAY CONSTITUTE A LARGER RADIATIVE FORCING THAN THOSE ARISING FROM RELATED CARBON EMISSIONS. OUR APPROACH RELIES ON INTEGRATING THE 10-YEAR MODIS ALBEDO (MCD43) DATA PRODUCT, A RECENTLY DEVELOPED 25-YEAR LANDSAT-BASED ALBEDO PRODUCT, AND LANDSAT-BASED MAPS OF VEGETATION CHANGE. THE LANDSAT-BASED ALBEDO PRODUCT FUSES LANDSAT DIRECTIONAL SURFACE REFLECTANCE WITH MODIS ALBEDO VALUES DERIVED FROM HOMOGENOUS PIXELS, AND ALLOWS ALBEDO TRENDS TO BE EVALUATED AT THE CHARACTERISTIC SCALE OF VEGETATION CHANGE (<1 HA). FIRST, AN ANALYSIS OF THE MCD43A PRODUCT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ISOLATE TRENDS IN SEASONAL (E.G. SNOW-COVERED/FREE; LEAF-ON/OFF) SURFACE ALBEDO. SECOND, A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF LANDSAT TIME SERIES FROM EARTH S BIOMES WILL BE USED TO EXAMINE TRENDS IN ALBEDO FOR AREAS WITH KNOWN VEGETATION DISTURBANCE OR CONVERSION. THESE DATA WILL BE ASSEMBLED INTO CHARACTERISTIC ALBEDO TRAJECTORIES AS A FUNCTION OF DISTURBANCE TYPE, BIOME, SEASON, AND LATITUDE. THE UMASSBOSTON CONTRIBUTION WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE MODIS ALBEDOS FOR A RANGE OF LAND COVER TYPES AND DISTURBANCE REGIMES WITHIN ECOREGIONS AND ON EVALUATION OF THE MERGED LANDSAT ALBEDO PRODUCT THROUGH COMPARISON WITH SURFACE ALBEDO DATA. THE OUTCOME OF THIS WORK WILL BE AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW RECENT VEGETATION DYNAMICS HAVE FORCED CLIMATE, AND HOW HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND ALTERED DISTURBANCE REGIMES MAY AFFECT THIS FORCING IN THE FUTURE.

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• $400 - Wednesday the 8th of August 2012
  Broadcasting Board Of Governors
  PERSIAN NEWS NETWORK
  OT-VENDOR TO PROVIDE SATELLITE TRANSMISSION SERVICES FROM BOSTON, MA TO VOA/TV STUDIO IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR PNN'S PROGRAM HORIZON ON OCTOBER 5, 2011. WORK ORDER #: 305457 - TIME: 12:30 - 13:15

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• $25,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARAMETERS OF THE CARBON CYCLE IS ABOVEGROUND BIO-MASS. THIS STUDY EXPLORES THE SYNERGY BETWEEN MULTIANGLE MEASURES FROM BOTH THE OPTICAL, MULTIWAVELENGTH CLOUD ABSORPTION RADIOMETER (CAR) AND THE MODERATE IMAGING SPECTRORADIOMETER (MODIS) TO ESTABLISH MEASURES OF CANOPY HEIGHT AND ROUGHNESS AND EXTEND THE MEASURES POSSIBLE BY AIRBORNE LIDARS. THE STUDY WILL DRAW ON MEASUREMENTS FROM A RECENT MONTH-LONG FIELD CAMPAIGN, EC03D, AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 2011, WHICH ACQUIRED DATA OVER SEVEN WELL-CHARACTERIZED LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL MONITORING SITES FROM QUEBEC, CANADA TO FLORIDA. FOR THIS PILOT STUDY, WE WILL BE FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON HARVARD FOREST, MA. CAR MEASURES SURFACE BRDF (BIDIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION) AT 14 NARROW SPECTRAL BANDS LOCATED IN THE ATMOSPHERIC WINDOW REGIONS OF THE ULTRAVIOLET, VISIBLE AND NEAR-INFRARED PARTS OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM. IT HAS A WIDE APERTURE OF 190 , AN INSTANTANEOUS FIELD OF VIEW OF 1 , AND CAN CAPTURE THE FULL BRDF, INCLUDING THE HOTSPOT, EVEN UNDER LOW SUN ANGLE CONDITIONS. THE STUDY BUILDS UPON A SPECTRAL INVARIANT APPROACH HAD BEEN DEVELOPED FOR AIRMISR, MISR, AND CHRIS-PROBA DATA THAT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED TO MODIS DATA WHICH RELATES MULTIANGLE SATELLITE DATA TO LIDAR FOREST CANOPY HEIGHTS (WANG ET AL., 2011). THIS APPROACH WILL ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE CAR MULTIANGLE OBSERVATIONS AND CORRELATED WITH THE LIDAR DATA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TWO DATA SOURCES AT A HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION. THE VMB TEARN WILL FOCUS ON ASSISTING WITH THE TRANSLATION OF THE SPECTRAL INVARIANT APPROACH FROM MODIS TO CAR AND PROVIDE THE CORRESPONDING MODIS RESULTS FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE CAR RESULTS SCALE UP TO REGIONAL MODERATE RESOLUTION DATA.

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• $23,294 - Thursday the 28th of April 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ALTHOUGH COASTAL WETLANDS AND ESTUARIES ARE KNOWN TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND MOBILIZATION, IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE COASTAL OCEAN IS A NET SOURCE OR SINK FOR CARBON. NOR IS IT CLEAR HOW COASTAL SOURCES OR SINKS WILL BE INFLUENCED BY CHANGES IN CLIMATE. THESE FUNDAMENTAL GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE MAY BE DUE TO: A) THE LACK OF PARALLEL, COHERENT TIME SERIES OF CARBON POOLS AND FLUXES, FOR LAND AND COASTAL OCEAN, WITH WHICH TO CLOSE CARBON BUDGETS OR B) ERROR BUDGETS FOR LAND AND OCEAN CARBON POOLS AND FLUXES (INCLUDING LAND-TO-SEA EXPORT) THAT LACK THE STATISTICAL POWER TO DEFINITIVELY TEST SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESES. TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, WE PROPOSE A COORDINATED LAND, RIVER AND COASTAL OCEAN PROJECT IN TWO LARGE CONTIGUOUS WATERSHEDS IN NE NORTH AMERICA, THE GULF OF MAINE (GOM) AND GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE (GOSL). THE FUNDAMENTAL GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE LAND-TO-SEA CARBON EXPORT TERM, RELATIVE TO POOLS AND FLUXES IN TERRESTRIAL AND OCEAN BIOMES. THE COMBINED WATERSHED AREA OF THE GOM AND GOSL IS 1.2 MILLION KM2. RIVERS FEEDING THESE GULFS ANNUALLY DISCHARGE ~17,000 M3 S-1, SOME 33% MORE THAN THE ANNUAL DISCHARGE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER (12,750 M3 S-1) AND THEY CONTRIBUTE 8-9% OF ALL RIVER DISCHARGE FROM N. AMERICA. DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON (DOC) STRONGLY DOMINATES THE CARBON EXPORT OF THESE SYSTEMS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE GULF OF MAINE WATERSHED IS 1/6 THE SIZE OF THE GOSL, DOC EXPORTS TO THE GOM ARE ~50% OF THOSE ENTERING THE GOSL (DUE TO GREATER RUNOFF PER UNIT AREA AND HIGHER DOC CONCENTRATIONS). THE PROJECT TEAM PROVIDES THE REQUIRED EXPERTISE FOR SUCH A COMBINED MODELING, REMOTE SENSING, AND FIELD STUDY, WITH STRONG INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION. WE WILL ADDRESS KEY QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPORT AND FATE OF ORGANIC MATTER WITHIN THESE WATERSHEDS. THE STUDY WILL FOCUS ON TERRESTRIAL, RIVER AND MARINE COMPONENTS AND THE RESPECTIVE TIME SCALES THAT ORGANIC CARBON IS FIXED, MOBILIZED AND EXPORTED. BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND HYDROLOGIC MODELING WILL FOCUS ON THE CARBON SOURCES AND FLUXES. SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING PROVIDES THE ONLY SYNOPTIC MEANS TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS OVER SUCH A BROAD AREA. ESTABLISHED ALGORITHMS FROM THE MODIS LAND AND OCEAN PROGRAM, AS WELL AS SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION RESULTS, WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT CARBON TIME SERIES. HIGHLY-TARGETED FIELD CAMPAIGNS WITHIN WATERSHEDS AND COASTAL WATERS--INCLUDING THE ONGOING NASA GULF OF MAINE NORTH ATLANTIC TIME SERIES (GNATS), NOW IN ITS 12TH YEAR-- WILL PROVIDE THE MEANS TO VALIDATE THE SATELLITE PRODUCTS, PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION ON THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF DOC, ESTABLISH ITS OVERALL IMPORTANCE RELATIVE TO MARINE DOC AND HIGHLIGHT THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE LAND AND SEA CARBON CYCLES. THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK WILL REPRESENT A HOLISTIC ANALYSIS OF CARBON FLOW, THROUGH THE WATERSHEDS, RIVERS AND COASTAL WATERS; IT WILL FOCUS ON THE DOC MOBILIZATION/EXPORT FROM TERRESTRIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS TO RIVERS AND, ULTIMATELY, MARINE SYSTEMS, INTEGRATING THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATIC VARIABILITY, MICROBIAL PROCESSES, SOIL EFFECTS, ACID DEPOSITION, IMPOUNDMENTS, BURNED AREAS, EROSION ETC. THIS PROJECT IS MOST RELATED TO NASA SUB-ELEMENT 2.2 OF THE ROSES 2009 IDS ANNOUNCEMENT (EFFECTS OF CHANGING CLIMATE, LOCAL WEATHER, AND LAND USE ON WATERSHEDS AND THEIR CONNECTED COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS). IT ALSO HAS DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO THE OTHER SUB-ELEMENTS: 2.1) IMPACT OF EXTREME DISTURBANCES SUCH AS FLOODING (WHICH IS INTENSIFYING) 2.3) EFFECTS OF CHANGING SEASONALITY OF ICE AND SNOW MELT ON DOC MOBILITY (SNOWMELT IS OCCURRING EARLIER) 2.4) ROLE OF COASTAL EROSION INCREASINGLY ASSOCIATED WITH SEA LEVEL RISE IN BOTH WATERSHEDS AND 2.5) WATER AND ENERGY CYCLE IMPACTS OF BIOMASS BURNING (DUE TO LARGE FIRES COMMON TO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STUDY AREA).

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• $182,291 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  SURFACE ALBEDO (AND REFLECTANCE ANISOTROPY) HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY GTOS AS AN ESSENTIAL CLIMATE VARIABLE (ECV) CRUCIAL FOR ACCURATE MODELING AND MONITORING OF THE EARTH S RADIATIVE AND BIOPHYSICAL REGIMES (SCHAAF ET AL., 2009). AS SUCH, ALBEDO IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY VIIRS ENVIRONMENTAL DATA RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE SUOMI NATIONAL POLARORBITING PARTNERSHIP (NPP). UNFORTUNATELY THE VIIRS SPECIFICATION ONLY CALLS FOR A SINGLE BROADBAND VALUE, RETRIEVED ON A DAILY BASIS UNDER CLOUD-FREE CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF OVERPASS, WHEREAS MOST NUMERICAL PREDICTION MODELS (AND GLOBAL CLIMATE AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL MODELS) NOWADAYS CALL FOR A REPRESENTATION OF THE SURFACE RADIATION IN TERMS OF BOTH THE PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION (SHORTWAVE RADIATION LESS THAN 0.7μM) AND THE NEAR AND MIDWAVE RADIATION (0.7- 4.0μM). FURTHERMORE MANY CURRENT MONITORING AND RETRIEVAL APPLICATIONS ARE RELYING ON MORE THAN JUST BROADBAND ALBEDO. TWO VIIRS ALGORITHMS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED TO FULFILL THE OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR A SINGLE DAILY BROADBAND ALBEDO. THE FIRST (ROUGHLY BASED ON A MODIS HERITAGE) RELIES ON PERIODIC MULTI-DAY RETRIEVALS OF NARROWBAND ANISOTROPY MODELS TO ESTIMATE THE BIDIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION (BRDF) OF EACH PIXEL (SCHAAF ET AL., 2002; LUCHT ET AL., 2000) AND THEN COUPLES THESE WITH THE SURFACE REFLECTANCE RETRIEVED ON ANY SINGLE DAY TO OBTAIN AN ESTIMATE OF THE DAILY SHORTWAVE ALBEDO AT THE OVERPASS TIME. THE SECOND APPROACH RELIES ON SINGLE-DAY TOP-OF-ATMOSPHERE RADIANCES AND PRECOMPUTED RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODEL INFORMATION TO ESTIMATE DAILY BROADBAND SURFACE ALBEDOS (LIANG ET AL., 2003; 2005), PARTICULARLY OVER HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SURFACES. WHILE BOTH APPROACHES CAN PROVIDE SPECTRAL ALBEDOS, SPECTRAL QUANTITIES ARE NOT CURRENTLY PLANNED FOR ARCHIVE AND DISSEMINATION. FURTHERMORE, IN THE CASE OF THE MODIS HERITAGE ALGORITHM, THE OPERATIONAL USER WILL HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE UNDERLYING SPECTRAL ANISOTROPY MODELS (THE BRDF INTERMEDIATE PROCESS OR IP) FOR EACH LOCATION AND THEREFORE THEY ARE PRECLUDED FROM COMPUTING SPECTRAL ALBEDOS FOR THEMSELVES AS WELL AS COMPUTING ALBEDO UNDER OTHER ILLUMINATION CONDITIONS, SPECIFYING THE SURFACE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS, OR CORRECTING SURFACE REFLECTANCES TO A COMMON VIEW-ANGLE. THE NADIR BRDF-ADJUSTED REFLECTANCES (NBAR) (WHICH FROM MODIS ARE USED TO GENERATE VIEW-ANGLE-CORRECTED VEGETATION INDICES TO MONITOR LOCAL LANDCOVER CHANGE, ASSESS RANGELAND CAPACITY AND ESTIMATE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY) ARE ALSO GENERATED WITHIN THE BRDF IP FOR USE BY THE NPP CLOUD ALGORITHM, THESE ARE AGAIN ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN ANY FASHION TO THE USER COMMUNITY. THIS PROPOSAL REPRESENTS THE CONTINUATION OF GRANT NNX11AG46G AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON (ORIGINALLY AWARDED TO BOSTON UNIVERISTY), REFLECTING DR. SCHAAF S (THE PI) MOVE FROM A RESEARCHER AT BU TO TENURED FACULTY AT UMASSBOSTON. THEREFORE THIS EFFORT IS FOCUSED ON THE REMAINING TWO YEARS OF THE EFFORT AS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED AND DESCRIBES OUR ROLE AS A MEMBER OF THE NPP SCIENCE TEAM EVALUATING THE CONTRACTOR IMPLEMENTED DAILY ALBEDO QUANTITIES AND EXPLORING THE PRESERVATION OF LONG TERM RECORD OF CLIMATE-QUALITY ALBEDO, BRDFS, AND NBAR QUANTITIES.

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• $16,024 - Thursday the 28th of April 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ALTHOUGH COASTAL WETLANDS AND ESTUARIES ARE KNOWN TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND MOBILIZATION, IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE COASTAL OCEAN IS A NET SOURCE OR SINK FOR CARBON. NOR IS IT CLEAR HOW COASTAL SOURCES OR SINKS WILL BE INFLUENCED BY CHANGES IN CLIMATE. THESE FUNDAMENTAL GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE MAY BE DUE TO: A) THE LACK OF PARALLEL, COHERENT TIME SERIES OF CARBON POOLS AND FLUXES, FOR LAND AND COASTAL OCEAN, WITH WHICH TO CLOSE CARBON BUDGETS OR B) ERROR BUDGETS FOR LAND AND OCEAN CARBON POOLS AND FLUXES (INCLUDING LAND-TO-SEA EXPORT) THAT LACK THE STATISTICAL POWER TO DEFINITIVELY TEST SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESES. TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, WE PROPOSE A COORDINATED LAND, RIVER AND COASTAL OCEAN PROJECT IN TWO LARGE CONTIGUOUS WATERSHEDS IN NE NORTH AMERICA, THE GULF OF MAINE (GOM) AND GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE (GOSL). THE FUNDAMENTAL GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE LAND-TO-SEA CARBON EXPORT TERM, RELATIVE TO POOLS AND FLUXES IN TERRESTRIAL AND OCEAN BIOMES. THE COMBINED WATERSHED AREA OF THE GOM AND GOSL IS 1.2 MILLION KM2. RIVERS FEEDING THESE GULFS ANNUALLY DISCHARGE ~17,000 M3 S-1, SOME 33% MORE THAN THE ANNUAL DISCHARGE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER (12,750 M3 S-1) AND THEY CONTRIBUTE 8-9% OF ALL RIVER DISCHARGE FROM N. AMERICA. DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON (DOC) STRONGLY DOMINATES THE CARBON EXPORT OF THESE SYSTEMS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE GULF OF MAINE WATERSHED IS 1/6 THE SIZE OF THE GOSL, DOC EXPORTS TO THE GOM ARE ~50% OF THOSE ENTERING THE GOSL (DUE TO GREATER RUNOFF PER UNIT AREA AND HIGHER DOC CONCENTRATIONS). THE PROJECT TEAM PROVIDES THE REQUIRED EXPERTISE FOR SUCH A COMBINED MODELING, REMOTE SENSING, AND FIELD STUDY, WITH STRONG INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION. WE WILL ADDRESS KEY QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPORT AND FATE OF ORGANIC MATTER WITHIN THESE WATERSHEDS. THE STUDY WILL FOCUS ON TERRESTRIAL, RIVER AND MARINE COMPONENTS AND THE RESPECTIVE TIME SCALES THAT ORGANIC CARBON IS FIXED, MOBILIZED AND EXPORTED. BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND HYDROLOGIC MODELING WILL FOCUS ON THE CARBON SOURCES AND FLUXES. SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING PROVIDES THE ONLY SYNOPTIC MEANS TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS OVER SUCH A BROAD AREA. ESTABLISHED ALGORITHMS FROM THE MODIS LAND AND OCEAN PROGRAM, AS WELL AS SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION RESULTS, WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT CARBON TIME SERIES. HIGHLY-TARGETED FIELD CAMPAIGNS WITHIN WATERSHEDS AND COASTAL WATERS--INCLUDING THE ONGOING NASA GULF OF MAINE NORTH ATLANTIC TIME SERIES (GNATS), NOW IN ITS 12TH YEAR-- WILL PROVIDE THE MEANS TO VALIDATE THE SATELLITE PRODUCTS, PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION ON THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF DOC, ESTABLISH ITS OVERALL IMPORTANCE RELATIVE TO MARINE DOC AND HIGHLIGHT THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE LAND AND SEA CARBON CYCLES. THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK WILL REPRESENT A HOLISTIC ANALYSIS OF CARBON FLOW, THROUGH THE WATERSHEDS, RIVERS AND COASTAL WATERS; IT WILL FOCUS ON THE DOC MOBILIZATION/EXPORT FROM TERRESTRIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS TO RIVERS AND, ULTIMATELY, MARINE SYSTEMS, INTEGRATING THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATIC VARIABILITY, MICROBIAL PROCESSES, SOIL EFFECTS, ACID DEPOSITION, IMPOUNDMENTS, BURNED AREAS, EROSION ETC. THIS PROJECT IS MOST RELATED TO NASA SUB-ELEMENT 2.2 OF THE ROSES 2009 IDS ANNOUNCEMENT (EFFECTS OF CHANGING CLIMATE, LOCAL WEATHER, AND LAND USE ON WATERSHEDS AND THEIR CONNECTED COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS). IT ALSO HAS DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO THE OTHER SUB-ELEMENTS: 2.1) IMPACT OF EXTREME DISTURBANCES SUCH AS FLOODING (WHICH IS INTENSIFYING) 2.3) EFFECTS OF CHANGING SEASONALITY OF ICE AND SNOW MELT ON DOC MOBILITY (SNOWMELT IS OCCURRING EARLIER) 2.4) ROLE OF COASTAL EROSION INCREASINGLY ASSOCIATED WITH SEA LEVEL RISE IN BOTH WATERSHEDS AND 2.5) WATER AND ENERGY CYCLE IMPACTS OF BIOMASS BURNING (DUE TO LARGE FIRES COMMON TO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STUDY AREA).

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• $113,859 - Wednesday the 2nd of September 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE STATUS AND TREND OF PHYTOPLANKTON BIOMASS (TRADITIONALLY MEASURED BY CONCENTRATION OF CHLOROPHYLL, CHI) ARE IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING MARINE ECOSYSTEMS, AND CHI PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM SATELLITE OCEAN COLOR SENSORS (E.G. MODIS OF NASA, MERLS OFESA) ARE WIDELY USED FOR STUDIES OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS AND FOR DECISION MAKINGS. AT PRESENT THESE RESEARCHES AND ACTIVITIES (SUCH AS NOAA'S HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS OBSERVING SYSTEM) USE NEAR-DAILY AND SUBSEQUENT TEMPORAL CHI PRODUCTS OBTAINED DIRECTLY FROM SATELLITE SENSORS, OF WHICH ADVECTION IMPACTS FROM CURRENTS AND TIDES ARE IGNORED. SUCH TIME SERIES CAN RESULT IN AMBIGUOUS CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE TEMPORAL CHANGES (OR TRENDS) OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS, THUS LIMIT THE SUCCESS OF CORRECT DECISIONS AND ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS. TO OBTAIN A RELIABLE DESCRIPTION OF PHYTOPLANKTON STATUS AND TREND IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, AND ULTIMATELY TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKINGS, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE AND CHARACTERIZE THE UTILIZATION OF AN INNOVATIVE SATELLITE CHI PRODUCT. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL 1) DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF GENERATING NEW CHI PRODUCTS BY COUPLING EXISTING SATELLITE PRODUCTS WITH WIDELY USED CIRCULATION MODELS, 2) DEMONSTRATE THE APPLICATIONS OF SUCH NEW PRODUCTS IN ANALYZING PHYTOPLANKTON DYNAMICS AND IN DECISION MAKING ACTIVITIES, AND 3) CHARACTERIZE QUANTITATIVELY THE RESULTED IMPROVEMENTS IN DECISION MAKINGS. THIS EFFORT ADDRESSES NASA APPLIED SCIENCES PROGRAM AREAS "2.2.3 ECOSYSTEMS", AND IS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO PROVIDE "A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A CONCEPT(S) FOR POTENTIAL APP/ICATION(S) OF SPECIFIC NASA EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH RESULTS TO IMPROVE DECISIONMAKING ACTIVITIES." RESULTS FROM THIS EFFORT WILL BENEFIT BOTH NASA STRATEGIC SUBGOAL 3A "STUDY EARTHFROM SPACE TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING AND MEET SOCIETAL NEEDS" AND THE PRIORITY AREAS OF WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND ECOSYSTEM INTEGRATION AND ASSESSMENT, WHICH ARE IDENTIFIED BY THE GULF OF MEXICO ALLIANCE (GOMA) ACTION PLAN.

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