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Seed Proposals

The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping surveys up to seven projects every year (each covering no more than 40 km2) for graduate student PIs from accredited U.S. institutions who desire to incorporate Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) data in their research. Graduate student proposals must define a basic research question in the geosciences (broadly defined). No financial support is provided to the student, but it is hoped that the data from projects selected in this program will enable new research opportunities and lead to successful proposals for future research.

Applications for proposals for the NCALM seed projects typically open in September or October each year, with a deadline no later than January of the following year. They are submitted online at the Seed Proposal Submission Site. Final selections from the proposals are made by the NCALM Steering Committee. The NCALM website is the primary source of information for NCALM seed projects. However, announcements may also be made through OpenTopography and various email lists.

Go to the NCALM Data Tracking Center to find examples of past seed projects and what coverage already exists. The website shows the locations of past and current NCALM projects and specifically identifies the seed projects. Papers published using the data are linked to each project. The data can be downloaded from OpenTopography.

For 2023, proposals will not be solicited. NCALM's facility grant from NSF expires on September 30th, and our facility renewal proposal is not scheduled to be reviewed until late 2023.

Requirements

Due Date

Friday, January 13th, 2023 at midnight Central Standard Time

Contents

Proposals should be three pages or less, including any figures and references, and must contain:

  1. A description of the science, why research-grade ALSM data are needed, and the broader impact(s) of the study.
  2. A statement of how this study relates to ongoing projects.
  3. A location map showing target area, which must be in the contiguous United States (or within 100 mi of Anchorage/Fairbanks) and no more than 40 km2.

Additional submission information:

  1. This is a single project/single year proposal. Repeat data collection proposals will not be supported.
  2. Seed proposals are for ALSM (airborne topographic lidar) data and do not include other types of data collection (e.g., bathymetry, aerial photography, terrestrial lidar, or hyperspectral imaging).
  3. Proposals that do not follow the format outlined in the NCALM Format Guidelines and Proposal Form will be returned without review.

Note: NCALM does not provide rankings or evaluations to graduate student PIs or their advisors.

Data Distribution Policy

Seed project data will be made public six months after the delivery of the data to the graduate student.

Report

Awardees are required to submit a report, not exceeding three pages including figures, one year after the delivery of the data. In addition to the report, awardees should submit one MS PowerPoint slide outlining the most important discovery from their ALSM data collection.

Budget

NCALM seed projects do not provide any financial support to the student. NCALM collects and provides lidar data to a student only if the project is awarded.

Restrictions

Projects outside of the contiguous United States and/or in regions higher than 2,500 m elevation cannot generally be funded under the seed proposal program.

Additional Information

For information beyond this page, the Format Guidelines, the Selection Criteria, and the FAQ page, please contact the NCALM staff:

ncalm [at] egr.uh.edu (ncalm[at]egr[dot]uh[dot]edu)