Date

Call for Planning Letters for FY2002

Letters should be received at ONR by: 28 February 2001

To most effectively plan the High-Latitude Dynamics Program (Code 322HL)
for FY02 and beyond, it is requested that investigators seeking funding
for that period submit a letter providing advance intention of proposal
submission. Planning letters need to be submitted both by investigators
who would be new to the ONR program and by those whose grants or
contracts are anticipated to be renewed during the FY02 program year.
Investigators who are already incrementally funded for the period need
not submit letters. Letters should be received at ONR at the following
address by 28 February 2001; letters received by that date will receive
a response no later than 13 April 2001.

Send Planning Letters to:

High Latitude Dynamics, Code 322HL
Office of Naval Research
800 North Quincy Street, BCT No. 1
Arlington, VA 22217-5660

Responses to the letters will consist of expressions of encouragement or
discouragement. Encouragement can be taken to mean that your intended
proposal will be of interest to the program and will have a reasonable
(say, at least 50-50) chance of funding. Discouragement means that the
chances of funding are lower, though you are always free to submit a
formal proposal.

A planning letter should be no greater than two pages in length and
should:

a. clearly describe the nature and objectives of the work being
proposed; and
b. indicate the resources (time, equipment, funding) needed to carry
out the work.

Investigators who would be new to the ONR program must submit a
biographical sketch not to exceed two pages in length.

All letters should be headed with the following information:

  • Title of proposed research activity
  • Name(s) of PI and co-PI(s)
  • Mailing address
  • City, State, Zip, Country
  • Telephone number
  • E-mail address

Preferred word processing formats: MS Word 97, WordPerfect 5.0, Rich
Text Format (*.rtf) or PDF.

The High-Latitude Dynamics program investigates processes, primarily of
a physical, biological, or chemical nature, that are active in the
Arctic. The emphasis is on the continental margins, including marginal
seas and the adjacent slopes. The overarching program goal is to support
the ongoing development of environmental models capable of supporting
future fleet activities in the Arctic. Contributing objectives are to
improve the Navy's understanding of ice mechanics and dynamics,
air-sea-ice exchange processes, cross-shelf transport mechanisms, and
turbulent mixing processes as they influence both upper-ocean mixing and
deep convection.

A joint effort is underway with the ONR Ocean Modeling Program (ONR
322OM) to develop the next generation Polar Ice Prediction System (PIPS
3.0) for operational use by the Navy/National Ice Center. Investigators
wishing to participate in this effort should send planning letters to
both ONR322HL and ONR322OM.

An announcement of opportunity (AO) for the field Phase II of the
Western Arctic Shelf-Basin Interaction (SBI) program, joint with NSF
Arctic System Science (ARCSS), will be published later this winter, but
probably not in time for this planning letter process. Investigators
wishing to participate in this program must meet all requirements stated
in that AO and should, in addition, submit a planning letter to ONR in
anticipation of proposal submittal.

A new phase of the Submarine Ice Exercise (SCICEX) program was initiated
in FY2000 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the DoD
and the NSF. This phase will not allow for accommodation of scientists
on submarine deployments or for significant alterations to the vessels;
however, opportunities are anticipated for measurements using expendable
CTD probes and for obtaining water samples during transects across the
Arctic Ocean. Scientists interested in receiving or processing data from
these measurements should submit a planning letter expressing their
interests.

Finally, Phase III of a joint program with NSF Arctic System Science
(ARCSS) is underway to carry out the final data analysis and modeling
phase of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) program.
Information on SHEBA can be found on the web site at:
http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf0019