Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2021)
Recipient: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2018-08-01 to 2023-05-31
Current total value of award: $49982274
Description: SUPPORT FOR THE SNOW AND ICE DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER (DAAC) FOR THE EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM DATA AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (EOSDIS) NASA HAS ESTABLISHED, UNDER ITS EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM, THE EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM DATA AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (EOSDIS), WHICH IS A COMPREHENSIVE DATA SYSTEM MANAGING THE DATA FROM EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH SATELLITES AND FIELD MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS.  THE SI DAAC IS ONE ELEMENT OF EOSDIS. THE SI DAAC FOCUSES ON THE RECEIVING, ARCHIVING, TRANSFORMING, VALIDATING, AND DISTRIBUTING DIGITAL AND ANALOG SNOW AND ICE DATA PRODUCTS GENERATED FROM NUMEROUS EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE INSTRUMENTS, AIRBORNE INSTRUMENTS, AS WELL AS IN SITU DATA SETS.  THE SI DAAC ALSO MAINTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT SNOW COVER, AVALANCHES, GLACIERS, ICE SHEETS, FRESHWATER ICE, SEA ICE, GROUND ICE, PERMAFROST, ATMOSPHERIC ICE, PALEO GLACIOLOGY, AND ICE CORES. THE TASKS ASSIGNED TO THE SI DAAC UNDER THE SUBJECT CONTRACT INCLUDE SCIENCE DATA PLANNING AND PRODUCT GENERATION, SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, AND USER SUPPORT.  THESE TASKS INCLUDE IDENTIFYING AND MAKING AVAILABLE SOURCES OF SNOW AND ICE DATA, SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT AND GENERATION OF NEW INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ORIENTED TO RESEARCHERS WHO UTILIZE THESE DATA, AND PROVIDING THESE INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO A SPECTRUM OF USERS INCLUDING FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCHERS, OPERATIONAL USERS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THE CONTRACT WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS: -  IMPLEMENT IMPROVED GEOPHYSICAL ALGORITHMS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE USER COMMUNITY FOR  CRYOSPHERIC AND POLAR PROCESSES INCLUDING ICE CONCENTRATION AND TYPES, ICE SURFACE TEMPERATURE, SURFACE ALBEDO, SNOW EXTENT, AND SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT -  DEVELOP AND IMPROVE METHODS FOR ACQUIRING AND ASSIMILATING DATA STREAMS AND PRODUCING RESEARCH QUALITY DATA PRODUCTS TO MEET SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR THE CRYOSPHERE AND POLAR REGIONS -  IMPROVE THE ABILITY TO FORECAST AND ASSESS RISKS BY PROVIDING SNOW COVER (AND WATER EQUIVALENT) AND SNOWMELT FORECASTING -  WORK WITH NASA TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF COMMERCIAL CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS TO INGEST, ARCHIVE, AND DISTRIBUTE SNOW AND ICE DATA INCLUDING SPECIALIZED SCIENCE DATA SERVICES -  TRANSITION CURRENT ON-PREMISE SYSTEMS, OPERATIONS, PROCESSES, PROCEDURES AND POLICIES TO THE EOSDIS CUMULUS CLOUD FRAMEWORK -  DEVELOP GREATER SUPPORT BY SCIENTISTS FOR BROAD SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION EFFORTS -  COORDINATE ACTIVITIES AS NECESSARY WITH EOSDIS, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, AGENCIES, DAACS, NASA CENTERS, INSTITUTIONS AND USER WORKING GROUPS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THIS CONTRACT.  THIS INCLUDES DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING INTERFACES WITH OTHER EOSDIS ORGANIZATIONAL ELEMENTS, OTHER NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES WITH WHICH EOSDIS MUST COOPERATE