The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $37,773 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ONE OF THE MAIN FIELDS OF WORK OF THE WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER IS THE TERRESTRIAL CARBON BALANCE. THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IS TO REDUCE THE EXISTING UNCERTAINTIES, IN PARTICULAR WITH RESPECT TO THE MAGNITUDE AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CARBON STORED IN THE BIOMASS OF THE EARTH'S TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE WHRC'S WORK IN THIS FIELD OF SCIENCE IS THE WORK OF THE PI AND TECHNICAL TEAM ON THE MAPPING OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE USING SYNERGY OF FIELD, SAR, OPTICAL AND LIDAR DATASETS. AMONGST OTHER TYPES OF DATA, L-BAND SAR AND INSAR DATA ACQUIRED BY THE JAPANESE ALOS PALSAR MISSION ARE EVALUATED FOR THEIR USE FOR REGIONAL TO CONTINENTAL SCALE MAPPING OF FOREST COVER, BIOMASS AND CARBON STOCK CHANGE. ABOUT 20000 PALSAR IMAGES IN SINGLE AND DUAL-POLARIZATION MODES HAVE MEANWHILE BEEN OBTAINED FROM ASF THROUGH THE AMERICAS ALOS DATA NODE. THE DATA COVER THE ENTIRE TROPICAL ZONE AS WELL AS LARGE AREAS IN THE TEMPERATE FOREST ZONE. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK OF THE PI IN THE FIELD OF RADAR REMOTE FOR ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE MEASUREMENTS CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: 1) OPERATIONALIZATION OF LARGE VOLUME SAR AND INSAR DATA PROCESSING 2) DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ALGORITHMS FOR LARGE-SCALE FOREST COVER, BIOMASS AND CANOPY HEIGHT RETRIEVAL BY MEANS OF FUSION OF MULTI-DATE SAR, INSAR, OPTICAL AND LIDAR DATA. IN ADDITION, THE PI IS INVOLVED IN IDENTIFYING APPLICATIONS AND END USERS IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT AND ANTICIPATED FOREST MONITORING DEMANDS ASSOCIATED WITH POLICY MECHANISMS NOW BEING DEVELOPED AT REGIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL LEVELS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION (REDD). REDD RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE: 1) THE SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM OF THE NASA CARBON MONITORING SYSTEM (CMS) 2) THE GROUP ON EARTH OBSERVATIONS FOREST CARBON TRACKING (GEO-FCT) TASK 3) THE GEO-FCT'S NEWLY ESTABLISHED GLOBAL FOREST OBSERVATION INITIATIVE (GFOI) 4) FORMAL AND INFORMAL TECHNICAL CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES FOCUSED ON FOREST MONITORING THROUGHOUT TROPICAL AMERICA, AFRICA, AND ASIA 5) THE SILVACARBON PROGRAM 6) THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) AND ITS SUBSIDIARY BODY FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE (SBSTA) WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE IN LARGE VOLUME DATA PROCESSING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAR BASED LARGE-SCALE FOREST MAPPING APPLICATIONS AS WELL THE INVOLVEMENT IN SEVERAL REDD-RELEVANT ACTIVITIES, THE PI AND TECHNICAL TEAM ARE VERY WELL PLACED TO 1) CONTRIBUTE ACTIVELY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF DESDYNI-R S SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES DURING THE MISSION DEVELOPMENT PHASE 2) BRING A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE TO THE DESDYNI SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM.

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• $35,669 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE RECENT EXPANSION OF PASTURES AND AGRICULTURAL MONOCULTURES HAS RESULTED IN 730,000 KM2 OF THE AMAZON BASIN BEING DEFORESTED. DESPITE RECENT DECLINES IN THE RATES OF FOREST CLEARING, THE DEFORESTED AREA OF THE AMAZON BASIN IS PROJECTED TO JUMP FROM ~18% TODAY TO AS MUCH AS 40% BY 2050 AS THE GLOBAL DEMAND FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES CONTINUES TO RISE. INFLUENCES OF LAND USE CHANGE (LUC) ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES ARE THUS EXPECTED TO BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THE REGION; FOREST CONVERSION INTO PASTURES AND CROPS TENDS TO REDUCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND ALBEDO, ALTERING THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE IN WAYS THAT INCREASE SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND ALTER PRECIPITATION PATTERNS. UNTIL RECENTLY, OUR ABILITY TO QUANTIFY THESE LUC EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES WAS CONSTRAINED BY THE LACK OF SPATIAL-TEMPORAL INFORMATION THAT CAPTURED THE COMPLEX LAND USE TRANSITIONS IN AMAZONIA. HOWEVER, WITH THE HIGH TEMPORAL RESOLUTION AND DECADE-LONG SPAN OF THE MODIS DATASET, WE HAVE NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO NOT ONLY MAP THESE COMPLEX DYNAMICS, IN SPATIAL AS WELL AS TEMPORAL DETAIL, BUT ALSO TO QUANTIFY THEIR CONSEQUENCES FOR THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE. HERE WE WILL USE MODIS PRODUCTS AND LATENT AND SENSIBLE HEAT FLUXES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AMAZON, WHERE DEFORESTATION RATES ARE GREATEST. THE OVERARCHING QUESTIONS WE ADDRESS IN THIS STUDY ARE: HOW DOES LUC (HISTORICAL AND FUTURE) AFFECT THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE AND PARTITIONING IN AMAZONIA? HOW DO THESE EFFECTS COMPARE WITH THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN THE RADIATIVE FORCING FROM INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CONCENTRATION? TO DO SO, WE WILL USE EXISTING MODIS PRODUCTS TO (I) MAP THE SPATIALTEMPORAL PATTERNS OF LUC FROM 2000-2012 IN THE BRAZILIAN STATES OF MATO GROSSO AND PAR AND (II) QUANTIFY LUC EFFECTS ON THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE (LATENT HEAT, SENSIBLE HEAT, AND ALBEDO). THIS INFORMATION WILL SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR PREDICTING HOW FUTURE (2012-2050) LAND USE TRANSITIONS WILL ALTER THE ENERGY BALANCE, USING SPATIAL MODELS THAT SIMULATE DEFORESTATION, CATTLE RANCHING, AND SOYBEAN EXPANSION. FUTURE RADIATIVE FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THESE CHANGES IN LAND USE WILL THEN BE COMPARED TO THE RADIATIVE FORCING CAUSED BY INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC CO2, PROVIDING AN ESTIMATE OF FUTURE NET RADIATIVE FORCING IN THE REGION. FINALLY, WE WILL SCALE UP THE ANALYSIS TO THE ENTIRE AMAZON BASIN, SIMULATING COMBINATIONS OF SEVERAL LUC AND CO2 EMISSIONS SCENARIOS. GLOBAL DEMAND FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE NEXT FEW DECADES AND TROPICAL REGIONS SUCH AS AMAZON ARE THE ONLY REMAINING AREAS WITH AVAILABLE LAND TO MEET THESE DEMANDS. THIS INCREASED INCENTIVE FOR DEFORESTATION MAY BE EXACERBATED BY PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE BRAZILIAN FOREST CODE, WHICH CURRENTLY REQUIRES PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO CONSERVE SUBSTANTIAL TRACTS OF FOREST. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO HOW THESE CHANGES MAY IMPACT RADIATIVE FORCING AND, ULTIMATELY, ALTER REGIONAL AND GLOBAL CLIMATE AND CARBON CYCLES.

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• $249,234 - Thursday the 7th of May 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  LINKING HIGH-FREQUENCY, AUTOMATED MEASUREMENTS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM SOILS WITH MICROWAVE-BASED ESTIMATES OF SOIL SATURATION IN AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST LANDSCAPES SOILS ARE IMPORTANT SOURCES AND SINKS OF CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2), METHANE (CH4), AND NITROUS OXIDE (N2O). SOIL MOISTURE CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY, AND IT IS ONE OF THE DOMINANT FACTORS CONTROLLING SOIL AERATION, AND HENCE THE BALANCE BETWEEN AEROBIC (CO2 PRODUCING) AND ANAEROBIC (CH4 PRODUCING) MICROBIAL RESPIRATION. PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF N2O ARE ALSO HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATION IN SOIL MOISTURE. HOWEVER, STUDIES OF SOIL FLUXES OF CH4 AND N2O AT HIGH TEMPORAL FREQUENCY HAVE BEEN HAMPERED BY LACK OF APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR IN SITU REAL-TIME MEASUREMENTS. FLUX ESTIMATES ARE SUBJECT TO LARGE ERRORS WHEN TEMPORAL VARIATIONS ARE INADEQUATELY SAMPLED. OPPORTUNITIES FOR MITIGATION TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS COULD BE MISSED DUE TO LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF TRANSIENT SPIKES IN EMISSIONS IN RESPONSE TO RAPIDLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ACROSS AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST LANDSCAPES. THE PROPOSAL RESPONDS TO RESEARCH THEME #1 ## INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LAND MANAGEMENT AND LAND CHANGE AND THE CARBON CYCLE ## AND IS ALSO RELEVANT TO MITIGATION ASPECTS OF THEME #4. NEW SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ARRIVING TO ESTIMATE SOIL MOISTURE, A KEY DRIVER OF SOIL EMISSIONS OF CO2, N2O AND CH4. THE OPERATIONAL ADVANCED LAND OBSERVING SATELLITE (ALOS) AND ANTICIPATED SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE (SMAP) MISSION AND DEFORMATION, ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF ICE (DESDYNI) MISSION ALL FEATURE MICROWAVE INSTRUMENTATION WITH THIS CAPABILITY. WE PROPOSE TO COUPLE TRACE GAS FLUX MEASUREMENTS TO ESTIMATES OF SEASONAL AND INTERANNUAL VARIATION OF SOIL MOISTURE AND THE AREA OF SATURATED SOILS USING L-BAND RADAR OF THE ALOS SATELLITE. OUR STUDY SITES IN NORTH DAKOTA INCLUDE A COMMERCIAL-SCALE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTAL SITE AND A MOSAIC OF UPLAND AGRICULTURE THAT DRAINS TO PRAIRIE GLACIAL WETLANDS. SIMILARLY, THE HOWLAND FOREST, LOCATED IN A REGION OF ACTIVELY MANAGED FORESTS OF CENTRAL MAINE, INCLUDES SOILS RANGING FROM WELL DRAINED TO VERY POORLY DRAINED OVER RELATIVELY SMALL AREAS. HENCE, THE DAILY, SEASONAL AND INTERANNUAL VARIATION OF SOIL MOISTURE AND OF AREA OF SATURATED SOILS WILL LIKELY AFFECT LANDSCAPE-SCALE FLUXES OF CO2, N2O AND CH4 IN THESE AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST SYSTEMS. THE ADVENT OF NEW CAVITY RING-DOWN SPECTROSCOPY IS ABOUT TO TRANSFORM SOIL GREENHOUSE GAS FLUX MEASUREMENT METHODOLOGY. HERE WE DESCRIBE HOW AN EXISTING AUTOMATED SYSTEM THAT MEASURES SOIL CO2 EFFLUX AT HALF-HOURLY INTERVALS CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH NEW INSTRUMENTS TO PRODUCE SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS OF SOIL CO2, N2O, AND CH4 FLUXES. GIVEN THE EXCEPTIONAL STABILITY, SENSITIVITY, AND FAST RESPONSE TIMES OF THE NEW GENERATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR DETECTING CHANGES IN N2O AND CH4 CONCENTRATIONS, WE ANTICIPATE NOT ONLY GREATLY INCREASING THE FREQUENCY OF MEASUREMENTS THROUGH AUTOMATION, BUT ALSO IMPROVING SENSITIVITY AND REDUCING UNCERTAINTY IN FLUX MEASUREMENTS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE HOW A COMBINATION OF NESTED HIGH AND LOW TEMPORAL RESOLUTION FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF TRACE GAS FLUXES AND SOIL MOISTURE CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH SOIL MODELS AND WITH REMOTELY SENSED L-BAND MICROWAVE DATA FOR A RANGE OF TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SCALES. WE WILL EXPLORE THE BIASES AND UNCERTAINTIES OF MODEL SIMULATIONS BASED ON ##SNAPSHOTS## OF RADAR-BASED SOIL MOISTURE ESTIMATES AT SPATIAL SCALES FROM 15M (ALOS) TO AGGREGATIONS OF ALOS DATA AT 3000M RESOLUTION TO SIMULATE A SMAP PIXEL. USING HOURLY AUTOMATED CHAMBERS AT INTENSIVELY STUDIED SITES AND A TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY CLUSTERED DESIGN OF MANUAL MEASUREMENTS ACROSS A 3-KM LANDSCAPE, WE WILL COMPARE THE TEMPORAL VARIATION IN MEASURED AND SIMULATED FLUXES AND SOIL MOISTURE CONTENTS TO THOSE LIKELY TO BE CAPTURED BY FUTURE SMAP AND DESDYNI ESTIMATES OF SOIL MOISTURE USED TO DRIVE SOIL MODELS. THIS TYPE OF ANALYSIS IS MADE

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• $142,113 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE RECENT EXPANSION OF PASTURES AND AGRICULTURAL MONOCULTURES HAS RESULTED IN 730,000 KM2 OF THE AMAZON BASIN BEING DEFORESTED. DESPITE RECENT DECLINES IN THE RATES OF FOREST CLEARING, THE DEFORESTED AREA OF THE AMAZON BASIN IS PROJECTED TO JUMP FROM ~18% TODAY TO AS MUCH AS 40% BY 2050 AS THE GLOBAL DEMAND FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES CONTINUES TO RISE. INFLUENCES OF LAND USE CHANGE (LUC) ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES ARE THUS EXPECTED TO BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THE REGION; FOREST CONVERSION INTO PASTURES AND CROPS TENDS TO REDUCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND ALBEDO, ALTERING THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE IN WAYS THAT INCREASE SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND ALTER PRECIPITATION PATTERNS. UNTIL RECENTLY, OUR ABILITY TO QUANTIFY THESE LUC EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES WAS CONSTRAINED BY THE LACK OF SPATIAL-TEMPORAL INFORMATION THAT CAPTURED THE COMPLEX LAND USE TRANSITIONS IN AMAZONIA. HOWEVER, WITH THE HIGH TEMPORAL RESOLUTION AND DECADE-LONG SPAN OF THE MODIS DATASET, WE HAVE NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO NOT ONLY MAP THESE COMPLEX DYNAMICS, IN SPATIAL AS WELL AS TEMPORAL DETAIL, BUT ALSO TO QUANTIFY THEIR CONSEQUENCES FOR THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE. HERE WE WILL USE MODIS PRODUCTS AND LATENT AND SENSIBLE HEAT FLUXES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AMAZON, WHERE DEFORESTATION RATES ARE GREATEST. THE OVERARCHING QUESTIONS WE ADDRESS IN THIS STUDY ARE: HOW DOES LUC (HISTORICAL AND FUTURE) AFFECT THE REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE AND PARTITIONING IN AMAZONIA? HOW DO THESE EFFECTS COMPARE WITH THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN THE RADIATIVE FORCING FROM INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CONCENTRATION? TO DO SO, WE WILL USE EXISTING MODIS PRODUCTS TO (I) MAP THE SPATIALTEMPORAL PATTERNS OF LUC FROM 2000-2012 IN THE BRAZILIAN STATES OF MATO GROSSO AND PAR AND (II) QUANTIFY LUC EFFECTS ON THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL ENERGY BALANCE (LATENT HEAT, SENSIBLE HEAT, AND ALBEDO). THIS INFORMATION WILL SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR PREDICTING HOW FUTURE (2012-2050) LAND USE TRANSITIONS WILL ALTER THE ENERGY BALANCE, USING SPATIAL MODELS THAT SIMULATE DEFORESTATION, CATTLE RANCHING, AND SOYBEAN EXPANSION. FUTURE RADIATIVE FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THESE CHANGES IN LAND USE WILL THEN BE COMPARED TO THE RADIATIVE FORCING CAUSED BY INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC CO2, PROVIDING AN ESTIMATE OF FUTURE NET RADIATIVE FORCING IN THE REGION. FINALLY, WE WILL SCALE UP THE ANALYSIS TO THE ENTIRE AMAZON BASIN, SIMULATING COMBINATIONS OF SEVERAL LUC AND CO2 EMISSIONS SCENARIOS. GLOBAL DEMAND FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE NEXT FEW DECADES AND TROPICAL REGIONS SUCH AS AMAZON ARE THE ONLY REMAINING AREAS WITH AVAILABLE LAND TO MEET THESE DEMANDS. THIS INCREASED INCENTIVE FOR DEFORESTATION MAY BE EXACERBATED BY PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE BRAZILIAN FOREST CODE, WHICH CURRENTLY REQUIRES PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO CONSERVE SUBSTANTIAL TRACTS OF FOREST. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO HOW THESE CHANGES MAY IMPACT RADIATIVE FORCING AND, ULTIMATELY, ALTER REGIONAL AND GLOBAL CLIMATE AND CARBON CYCLES.

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