Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU | G19AS00119

Opportunity Information: Apply for G19AS00119

This funding opportunity, offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Colorado Plateau network, supports a focused research effort to measure and better understand mountain snow albedo, meaning the snowpack's relative reflectance and its influence on how much solar energy is absorbed versus reflected. Because snow albedo can swing quickly as snow accumulates, ages, becomes dirty, or melts, it can dramatically change the surface energy balance across a landscape, which in turn affects melt timing, runoff, and broader water resource conditions. The core problem the opportunity is trying to solve is that albedo varies a lot over both time and space, and existing measurement approaches tend to be either very local (in situ sensors at fixed points) or very broad (satellite products). That mismatch creates persistent scaling issues when scientists try to calibrate and validate raw Earth observation signals from space using ground-based measurements.

The project centers on using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), essentially drones, to fill the gap between fixed, point-based measurements and coarse-resolution satellite imagery. Satellites like NASA's MODIS and Landsat provide important, widely used albedo products that cover large areas, but those products still depend on accurate calibration and validation, and they can struggle to capture fine-scale variability caused by terrain, vegetation, post-fire changes, and patchy snow conditions. By deploying UAS-mounted albedo sensors, the work aims to produce high-resolution, spatially continuous albedo measurements that can be collected repeatedly across different sites and conditions. Recent improvements in sensor technology are a key enabler here, since albedo instruments have become small and light enough to be flown on a single UAS platform while still capturing useful radiometric information.

The funded effort is organized around three main deliverables. First, the project will deploy a UAS and refine the workflows needed to quantify scale-dependent controls on snow albedo. In practice, this means developing a repeatable approach for planning flights, collecting albedo measurements, processing the data, and analyzing how albedo changes with factors like snow condition, topography, and disturbance. The work explicitly targets both undisturbed areas and post-fire montane landscapes, since fire can alter surface characteristics and introduce soot and debris that darken snow, reduce reflectance, and accelerate melt. A central part of this first objective is comparing the UAS-derived albedo measurements to established satellite albedo products from MODIS and Landsat to understand where they align, where they diverge, and what that implies for improving satellite calibration and validation.

Second, the project will evaluate how these UAS-based methods could be transitioned into operational protocols that improve water resource monitoring and forecasting. The practical motivation is that better, higher-resolution albedo information can improve understanding of energy inputs to snowpacks and help anticipate melt dynamics, which matters for streamflow timing, reservoir operations, drought planning, and hazard awareness. This objective is about moving from a research demonstration to something that could realistically be adopted by agencies or monitoring programs, including identifying what procedures, repeatability, and data standards would be needed for routine use.

Third, the opportunity requires that the resulting albedo measurements be archived on USGS ScienceBase, supporting transparency, reproducibility, and long-term data stewardship. ScienceBase serves as a platform for making datasets discoverable and accessible, which increases the value of the work beyond the immediate study locations by allowing other researchers, resource managers, and modelers to use the measurements for additional analyses or for future satellite product development.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, issued as a cooperative agreement under Funding Opportunity Number G19AS00119 and CFDA 15.808. The opportunity anticipated a single award with an award ceiling of $50,000. The original posting date was July 10, 2019, with an original closing date of July 26, 2019. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with clarification referenced in the opportunity's eligibility details, consistent with CESU-based competitions that often involve academic and research partners aligned with the CESU network.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at producing a practical, high-resolution bridge between ground measurements and satellite observations of snow albedo, with direct relevance to USGS mission areas tied to land resources, ecosystems, and water resources. The underlying public benefit is improved understanding of how albedo and energy budgets evolve across changing landscapes, especially in sensitive mountain environments and disturbed post-fire regions, so that decisions about water supply, ecosystem conditions, and natural hazards can be made with better information.

• The Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 10, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 26, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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