FY12 Request for Partners Proposals for GOES-R Pre-Launch Products Research (updated 3/20/12)

Contents:
Background on GOES-R
GOES-R Proving Ground
RFP Goal
Eligible Participants
Partners Proposal Format and Contents
For More Information

Background on GOES-R

When the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) is launched in 2015, it will begin a new era in U.S. geostationary environmental remote sensing (see the GOES-R Website and Product Fact Sheets for more information).  Its instruments will produce over 50 times the information provided by the current GOES system and will offer a variety of unique environmental observations, with particular emphasis on hazardous weather in the Western Hemisphere and space weather impacts. The advances include increased spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions for Earth monitoring, improved space weather observations, and new operational observations such as lightning mapping.
The instrument packages on board the GOES–R satellites are:

• The 16–channel Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) for viewing of Earth's clouds, atmosphere, and surface
• The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) for monitoring hemispheric lightning flashes
• The Extreme Ultra-Violet and X–Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS) for measuring solar particles, and the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) for imaging the Sun
• The space environment monitoring suite that includes the Space Environment In–Situ Suite (SEISS) and Magnetometer (MAG) for monitoring Earth's space environment and geomagnetic storms, and
• The Unique Payload Services suite that includes:
• The GOES Re–Broadcast data service (or GRB) for transmitting real–time data products to users
• The Low Rate Information Transmission service (LRIT) for providing data from a variety of satellites and other environmental data to users
• The Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) containing data specifically to meet the needs of emergency managers
• The Data Collection System (DCS) for relaying environmental data from remotely located platforms, and
• The Search and Rescue Satellite–aided Tracking service (SARSAT) to help locate mariners, aviators, and others in distress

More information about GOES-R is available in the COMET training module, GOES-R:  Benefits of Next-Generation Environmental Monitoring, available at http://www.meted.ucar.edu/goes_r/envmon/ (free registration is required).

GOES-R Proving Ground

In preparation for the launch, the GOES-R Satellite Proving Ground project has joined with the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast and warning community to conduct pre-operational demonstrations of selected capabilities anticipated from this next generation of satellite systems. The objective is to ensure that users of the GOES-R system can immediately take advantage of these capabilities as soon as the system is operational, resulting in an effective transition of GOES-R research products to the operational weather community. More information about the Proving Ground is available at:

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes_r/proving-ground.html

Until now, the Proving Ground’s efforts have focused on testing new ideas, technologies, and products developed by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), and the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) via SPoRT in partnership with a variety of users shown in the graphic below.

(Click for full-size graphic)

Simulated GOES-R products are generated using combinations of currently available GOES data and EUMETSAT’s Meteosat data, along with higher resolution data provided by instruments on polar-orbiting satellites such as MODIS on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites, as well as model synthetic satellite data.
Products currently being tested in the Proving Ground are shown in the table below:

Current products (routinely available in AWIPS):

RFP Goal

Since 1989, the COMET Outreach Program has worked to improve local forecast and warning services by providing financial support to universities for applied meteorological and hydrological research. The Outreach Program funds collaborative projects between NWS offices and universities that typically lead to the adoption of a new or improved forecast technique and an increased understanding of local meteorology. Since its beginning, the program has sponsored over 300 projects involving more than 90 different universities and over 100 NWS forecast offices.

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to broaden the Proving Ground’s activities to encourage university researchers with satellite expertise to partner with current Proving Ground participants and/or new NWS offices in testing, validating, or finding innovative uses for GOES-R products.

Proposal topics could include (but are not limited to):

• Training NWS forecasters to use new products
• Identifying different utilities of each product
• Identifying weaknesses or errors with each product
• Integrating GOES-R products with other data, products and models
• Using products to improve forecasting of:
• Lightning
• Convective storm initiation and evolution
• Hurricane structure and intensity
• Fog formation and dissipation
• Dry lines and gravity waves
• Volcanic ash paths and trajectories
• Winter snow bands

Eligible Participants

Funding is available to universities not affiliated with SPoRT, CIRA, or CIMSS.  All projects must also have an NWS partner(s) who will actively collaborate in the research. NWS partners may be at a Weather Forecast Office (WFO), River Forecast Center (RFC), Regional Headquarters, or a National Specialized Center, and we encourage the participation of offices not currently involved in the Proving Ground.

GOES-R Partners Proposals

GOES-R Partners Projects last one year and have an average funding level of ~$20,000 per project. Proposals must be collaborative efforts with NWS offices that will advance the goals of the Proving Ground in innovative ways. These proposals can be submitted any time, will be reviewed individually within approximately 1 month of receipt, and funded based on the selection criteria until funds have been expended.

Partners Proposal Format:
The proposal must contain the following components (links go to additional information or .doc templates):

1. NWS Endorsement Letter: Obtained from the Scientific Services Division (SSD) Chief of the appropriate NWS Region or the NCEP Principal Scientist (for NCEP proposals) for the NWS office involved. See the section below, NWS Preliminary Review of Partners Proposals.
2. Cover Page: Signed by the appropriate university and NWS officials. Attach additional sheets for NWS signatures if more than one NWS office is involved.
3. Main Proposal: This portion of the proposal should be about 5-10 pages in length.
• Statement of Work: Describe the proposed project, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.
• Task Description: Summarize the tasks to be conducted and describe the work that each of the participants (NWS and university) will perform. NOTE: Proposals are usually rejected when the participation of the NWS office(s) is minimal. Merely providing data is not considered a significant NWS role.
• Schedule: Provide a schedule for the project year.
• Expected Benefits: Discuss the benefits to both science and operational forecasting. Describe any products or forecasting tools that may be developed as part of the project and any training that will be conducted to ensure they are used by forecasters.
4. Budget: In addition to the budget form, provide a short explanation of the budget. Describe university and NWS contributions to the project. Provide justification for any unusual budget requests.
5. Summary of Current and Pending Funding: Provide source of funds, amount, project duration and % time of PI.
6. Curricula Vitae: Please limit to two pages for each person.
7. University's Indirect Rate Agreement: Include the most recent copy from the cognizant auditor.
8. NWS Checklist: Completed by the NWS SSD Chief or NCEP Principal Scientist.

Proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Extent to which the project meets the GOES-R Proving Ground goals
• Extent to which the project meets Outreach Program objectives of forming collaborative partnerships in applied research
• Technical and scientific merit
• Cost effectiveness

Partners Proposal Budget:
Annual project budgets cannot exceed $20,000 for the 1-year project.

A budget summary sheet must be provided for the proposed project. The first column lists annual expenses for the university, beginning at the start of the project. The following items cannot be funded in NWS Partners Projects:

• Faculty salaries exceeding 1 month of support (note—this is a change from the previous year when no faculty salary was allowed)
• Computers and related hardware (requests for exceptions must include justification and must be approved by the COMET director)
• Foreign travel (requests for exceptions must include justification and must be approved by the COMET director)
• Journal publications with an NWS co-author (costs will be paid directly by the NWS and should be indicated on the NWS column on the budget sheet)

The second column itemizes NWS funds (not part of the funding to the university) that may be required by the NWS to support the project. This column should be completed by the NWS partner(s). The following items will be funded by the NWS (usually by the office or the region) and should be listed under the NWS column:

• NWS computers and related hardware
• Travel for NWS or other federal employees
• Journal publication charges for papers co-authored by NWS employees
• Staff time (this estimated number is used to evaluate the extent of the collaboration with the NWS office(s) in the proposed project)

A copy of the contracting language is available here. We recommend that your contracts office review this page during the proposal process and identify any major discrepancies your institution and UCAR may have (attach separately to proposal). This will help shorten the contracting process if your project is selected.

NWS Preliminary Review of Partners Proposals:
All proposals must go through a preliminary review by the regional NWS SSD Chief in which the participating NWS office(s) is located. The NCEP Principal Scientist will review projects involving collaboration with any of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). They will suggest revisions and work with you to resolve any problems. Once the SSD Chief or Principal Scientist is satisfied with the proposal, the Regional Director will provide the endorsement letter that is submitted with the proposal package.

Submission Procedures for COMET Final Review of Partners Proposals:
Final proposals, including all signatures and the Regional Director’s endorsement letter, can be submitted to the Outreach Program at any time up until the funding for 8 Partners Projects has been expended.
The complete proposal package consists of:

• NWS Endorsement Letter
• Signed Cover Page
• Main Proposal including Statement of Work, Task Description, Schedule, Expected Benefits Discussion
• Budget Summary Page
• CVs
• Current and pending funding
• University's indirect rate agreement
• NWS Checklist

The electronic proposal should be emailed to the Outreach Program Manager; please also cc the Outreach Program Administrative Assistant:

Dr. Vickie Johnson
Outreach Program Manager
vjohnson@comet.ucar.edu

Michelle Harrison
Outreach Program Administrative Assistant
mharrison@comet.ucar.edu

Partners Proposals Review Process and Timeline:
Proposals will be reviewed by the Director of COMET, Outreach Program Manager, and GOES-R Program Scientist in the order they are received. Projects will be funded if they meet the review criteria. Once all the funding has been expended, a notice will be posted on the Outreach Program Website that the submission process is closed.

Partners Project Milestones and Deliverables:
Awardees will be required to submit a semi-annual report and a final report, which will be posted on the COMET Outreach Program Website and will also be referenced in the MetEd Website satellite topic area.

For More Information

Please contact Dr. Vickie Johnson by telephone at (303) 497-8361 or by e-mail at vjohnson@comet.ucar.edu. Contact the SSD Chiefs or NCEP Principal Scientist (phone and e-mail list) to discuss project ideas.