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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

ABoVE

NASA Research Announcement - Important Information

The Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences for 2021 (ROSES—2021) NASA Research Announcement (NRA) is soliciting research for Terrestrial Ecology: Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment – Phase 3 NNH21ZDA001N-TE

Solicitation: 16 August 2021
Notice of Intent Due: 15 September 2021
Proposal Due: 17 November 2021

For those new to ABoVE, the following resources will provide an introduction and overview of the organization, objectives, research findings, and knowledge gaps, as of August 2021.

  • ABoVE Review and Synthesis Papers
    • Goetz et al, 2021, An overview of NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE): Development, implementation, advances and knowledge gaps (submitted to Environmental Research Letters)
    • Miller et al, 2019, An overview of ABoVE airborne campaign data acquisitions and science opportunities, Environ. Res. Lett. 14 080201
    • Fisher et al, 2018, Missing pieces to modeling the Arctic-Boreal puzzle, Environ. Res. Lett. 13 020202
    • Environmental Research Letters Focus Collection
      This on-going focus collection addresses the influence and impact of environmental changes, including climate change, taking place across the high northern latitudes and their influence on Arctic and boreal ecosystems. Not all papers were contributed by ABoVE authors.
    • Searchable database of Publications resulting from ABoVE projects
  • 7th ABoVE Science Team Meeting (May 2021)
    Those new to ABoVE may want to review selectively some of the summary materials found in the Working Group and Synthesis Activity Reports given on Tuesday and Thursday of the meeting, and in the Partner Presentations given on Tuesday. Recordings of the sessions and copies of the presentations can be found in the online agenda.
  • 2021 Field Season
    Following consultations with project leads and partner organizations, the 2021 L-band SAR (UAVSAR) and AVIRIS-ng Airborne Remote Sensing Campaigns were postponed until 2022 because of continuing COVID-related travel constraints on conducting the essential supporting fieldwork. Nevertheless, a number of teams have still been able to conduct field work in 2021, as summarized here.

Additional supporting material (as mentioned in the 2021 Solicitation)

  • Solicitations 2012 – 2018 (solicitation page A.4-4)
    ABoVE resulted from a 2008 solicitation by the Terrestrial Ecology program for white papers for a new field campaign. A number of workshops and the efforts of a formal Science Definition Team resulted in a Concise Experiment Plan. Solicitations for pre-ABoVE data product creation were done in 2012 and 2013. Solicitation for Phase 1 was done in 2014; for the Airborne Campaign in 2016; and for Phase 2 in 2018. The detailed timeline has links to these milestones, selection announcements, and science team meetings.
    • Pre-ABoVE Phase (2013-2016), was solicited in ROSES-12, and funded 5 projects to provide data for the field campaign.
    • Phase 1a (2015-2018) was solicited in ROSES-2014, and funded 22 projects focused primarily on field studies addressing ABoVE's ecosystem dynamics objectives, but also included a limited number of projects focused on modeling and ecosystem services objectives.
    • Phase 1b (2017-2020) was solicited in ROSES-2016, and funded 9 projects that continued the focus on ABoVE's ecosystem dynamics objectives through projects that acquired and/or utilized the remote sensing data collected during the 2017 ABoVE Airborne Campaign.
    • Phase 2 (2019-2021) was solicited in ROSES-18, and funded 18 projects that continued addressing ABoVE's ecosystem dynamics research objectives, with an increased interest in projects that advance the ecosystem services and modeling objectives.
  • Concise Experiment Plan and Implementation Plan   (solicitation page A.4-4)
    The ABoVE Science Definition Team completed the Concise Experiment Plan in 2014. This report refined the science questions and rationale for ABoVE, posed a next tier of science questions, and laid out a top-level study design. The Phase 1b Science Team and the CCE Office created the Implementation Plan in 2016. The parts of those efforts most relevant for those new to ABoVE are identified here.
  • Project Data Management Plan and Guidelines  (solicitation page A.4-15)
    The Data Management Plan (DMP) for an ABoVE proposal is a short document that describes (1) the investigator’s commitment to the ABoVE Data Policy and (2) how the investigator plans to manage the data generated by the proposed research during and after the project.
  • ABoVE Projects   
    ABoVE Projects listed by theme with links to the Project Profiles, which contain details about participants, measurement strategies, data products, and publications.
  • Collaborators: Interagency & International Partnerships  (solicitation page A.4-9)
    Numerous organizations are engaged in research and monitoring activities within the ABoVE Study Domain. Investigators preparing proposals for ABoVE may wish to consider developing synergistic research collaborations with investigations sponsored by these organizations.
  • Data Products   (solicitation page A.4-7)

    Data products from field, airborne, spaceborne and modelling efforts by projects sponsored by NASA as part of ABoVE; from partner projects sponsored by DOE NGEE-Arctic and Polar Knowledge Canada; and other affiliated projects.
  • Airborne Science (solicitation page A.4-10)
    An overview of ABoVE airborne campaign data acquisitions, flightlines, and data products.
  • ABoVE Science Cloud   (solicitation page A.4-8)
    The ABoVE Science Cloud combines high performance computing with emerging technologies and data management with tools for analyzing and processing geographic information.
  • Research and Logistics Support Organizations 
    There are several organizations in the ABoVE study domain that may provide fee-for-service logistical support (e.g., permitting, site access, accommodations, field equipment, vehicles, etc.) for researchers.
  • Organizational Structure & Contacts  
    Includes contacts who can provide additional information on ABoVE and/or guidance on the preparation and submission of proposals.