2 February 2010
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Aligned Research Program (ARP) of the UARC
Source: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), i.e., stimulus funds.
You are invited to submit a one-page proposal describing the scientific objective, rationale, significance and strategy for a research project. The period covered is
February 15, 2010 to July 1, 2011.
Two calls are described, both having relevance for Earth Sciences Instrument
Development. An investigator may submit a proposal for both calls but a separate proposal should be submitted for each one. Progress reports and financial reports will be required for each project.
Criteria for suitable proposals . Proposals must be : 1) in the suggested format (onepage description and one-page budget); 2) received on or before 10 February 2010; and
3) aligned as closely as possible with the projects described below.
Project 1. Research proposed for call #1 addresses the Enhanced MODIS Airborne
Stimulator (E-MAS) System (see Attachment 1 for additional information). The total award available is $83,498.00. The NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science
Technology Office is funding the development of an enhanced version of the MAS instrument (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer Airborne Simulator) which flies on the ER-2 aircraft, and is maintained and operated by UARC personnel at the NASA
Ames Research Center. The MAS has been used extensively over the last decade to provide high resolution imagery that mimics the channels of MODIS. Such datasets are critical to ongoing calibration and algorithm development and validation. The new system, called EMAS, will consist of a Mid- to Thermal Infrared imager, an imaging spectrometer in the visible and near infrared, as well as a solar calibration instrument.
This ARP call seeks faculty and students that are interested in developing new methods for providing laboratory or field calibration of these instruments to assist with improving the performance of this new instrument. It is anticipated that a significant portion of this award will fund field or laboratory infrared instrumentation, and training for faculty and students to make the relevant measurements. This equipment may include a fieldportable infrared radiometer, or a laboratory blackbody calibrator, to be used to establish the absolute accuracy of the MAS instrument to the level required of ongoing NASA climate studies. Anticipated direct costs are less than $50,000. Some local travel will be required to conduct field experiments in conjunction with MAS/ER-2 over-flights.
Contact Jeff Myers for additional technical information ( jeffrey.s.myers@nasa.gov
or phone: 650 604 3598).
Project 2. The second call addresses Airborne Network Infrastructure (see
Attachment 2 for additional information). The total award amount available is
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$72,880.00. The NASA Science Mission Directorate Airborne Science Program is developing the infrastructure to enable the exploitation of data products from complex instrument payloads operating anywhere in the world, in real-time by science teams on the ground. This system will consist of airborne Ethernet networks, data processors, satellite telemetry systems, and distributed, perhaps virtual, ground operations centers.
This integrated system will enable scientists to interactively interpret the data being collected by multiple aircraft and UAVs, and rapidly integrate it with information from satellites and ground-based sensors. The overarching goal of this capability is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of airborne earth science climate investigations. This
ARP call is for faculty and students to work with NASA Ames to improve the ground segment software that will enable scientists on the ground or in the air to visualize, integrate, manipulate, and share these data sets, within the context of other information from satellites, ground sensor webs, and models. Initial implementations include the
RTMM (Real-Time Mission Monitor) developed at Marshall Space Flight Center, the
CDE (Collaborative Decisions Environment) developed at Ames Research Center, and the new Global Hawk Operations Center at NASA Dryden. Proposers should have experience with geospatial information systems, data visualization, and the integration of disparate asynchronous data types.
If appropriate, an investigator may propose for both calls for the total award sum of
$156,378.00.
Application Process. To apply for funding, submit a one-page proposal to me by 10
February 2010, with a separate brief budget prepared by your Sponsored Projects (or
Contracts and Grants) office. Make clear the purpose of the research, relevance and alignment with the calls, NASA Ames collaborators (if any). Decisions on awards will be made on or before 15 February 2010.
Use of award money.
ARP awards can be used to support:
 Collaborative research efforts between UC and NASA Ames researchers
 Graduate student or Post-Doc research stipends
 Relevant travel
 Research supplies
 Purchase of equipment or instrumentation, if necessary and justified
ARP awards cannot be used to support

Faculty summer salaries

Research that imposes restrictions on publications or export control

Indirect costs, i.e., the host university cannot charge indirect costs on these awards

NASA Ames federal employees
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Questions. Contact Jeff Myers for additional technical information
( jeffrey.s.myers@nasa.gov
or phone: 650 604 3598). For questions about the suitability of your proposal, call or write Burney Le Boeuf at 831 459 5014 or leboeuf@ucsc.edu.
Burney J. Le Boeuf
Director, Aligned Research Program of the UARC
29 Clark Kerr Hall
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95604
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