Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU | G20AS00082

Opportunity Information: Apply for G20AS00082

This grant opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G20AS00082), is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC) funding call for a single CESU partner to conduct research focused on California-wide analysis of long-term climate and surface water monitoring data. The work is framed as science and technology research and development and will be issued as a cooperative agreement, meaning the USGS is likely to have substantial involvement in the project as it is carried out, rather than simply providing funds and stepping back. The intent is to strengthen understanding of how climate conditions relate to changes in surface water extent over time, with practical downstream value for hazard mitigation and water resource management.

The core scientific focus is linking two major monitoring streams. On the surface water side, USGS has been conducting long-term monitoring of surface water inundation using satellite imagery from Landsat and MODIS. On the climate side, project partners are working with daily gridded climate datasets, specifically PRISM and DAYMET, which are widely used products for analyzing temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables at consistent spatial grids through time. The main research need is to connect these datasets in a rigorous, multi-temporal way to identify relationships between observed surface water changes and climate variability or trends. That linkage is positioned as a way to better characterize the climatic drivers behind wetting and drying patterns and to improve understanding of impacts that matter for decision-making in California, including drought and flood-related hazards and broader water management challenges.

A key feature of the opportunity is the emphasis on modern, cloud-based raster processing workflows, especially the use of Google Earth Engine (GEE). The announcement highlights that advances in large-scale raster processing, like those available in GEE, can expand both the geographic coverage and the time span of analyses. This matters because the relevant datasets are large, multi-decadal, and multi-sensor, and traditional workflows that require downloading and storing imagery locally can become expensive and slow. By working in a cloud environment, the project can avoid the significant costs and logistical burdens of managing massive archives of satellite and climate data covering roughly 1985 to the present, while also enabling more efficient, repeatable analyses across broad areas and long time periods.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was created on June 15, 2020, with an original closing date of June 28, 2020. It is offered by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, under CFDA number 15.808. The funding is discretionary, with an award ceiling of $80,000 and an expectation of one award total, indicating a relatively focused, single-project effort rather than a multi-award program. Eligibility is limited to CESU partners (listed as "Others" with clarification in the eligibility text field), which signals that applicants generally need to be part of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit network and, specifically, aligned with the Colorado Plateau CESU structure referenced in the title.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at supporting applied research that brings together multi-decadal satellite-derived surface water inundation records and daily gridded climate datasets to produce clearer, more actionable insights into climate-water relationships across California, using scalable cloud computing methods to handle the size and complexity of the data.

• 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 Jun 15, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 28, 2020. (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 $80,000.00 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).

Apply for G20AS00082

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