Date

Dear Colleague Letter from SEARCH
NASA Solicitations


Dear Colleagues,

The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) Science Steering
Committee (SSC) encourages members of the arctic research community to
respond to three relevant NASA Research Announcements: (1)
Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (NASA Solicitation
NNH12ZDA001N-IDS), (2) Sea Level Rise (NNH13ZDA001N-SLR), and (3)
Cryospheric Science (NNH13ZDA001N-CRYO), with particular emphasis on
those SEARCH science goals and objectives that overlap with the focus of
the solicitations. We would like to highlight a few resources that may
be useful in linking proposal topics to identified priorities from the
science community, including those referenced in the “Arctic Research
Plan: FY 2013-2017” recently released by the Interagency Arctic Research
Policy Committee (IARPC).

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCE (NNH12ZDA001N-IDS)
Notices Of Intent Due: 1 March 2013

According to the NASA Solicitation, research investigations will meet
the following criteria: a) offer a fundamental advance to our
understanding of the Earth system; b) be based on remote sensing data,
especially satellite observations, but including suborbital sensors as
appropriate; c) go beyond correlation of data sets and seek to
understand the underlying causality of change through determination of
the specific physical, chemical, and/or biological processes involved;
d) be truly interdisciplinary in scope by involving traditionally
disparate disciplines of the Earth sciences; and e) address at least one
of five specific themes:

- Understanding Earth System Vulnerabilities to Climate Extremes
- Impacts of Changing Polar Ice Cover
- Water and Energy Cycle Impacts of Biomass Burning
- Impacts of Population growth on watersheds and coastal ecology
- Role of Permafrost in a Changing Climate.

For further information on this solicitation, please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/NASA-InterDiscEarthScience.

SEA LEVEL RISE (NNH13ZDA001N-SLR)
Proposals Due: 31 May 2013
This solicitation calls for proposals to support the following:

- Interdisciplinary research required to improve the accuracy and
spatial resolution of current and future sea level change estimates;
- Development of a web portal to serve as a central hub for the
effort, including communicating results in a simplified manner to
the scientific community and general public; and
- Establishment of the NASA Sea Level Change Team (N-SLCT) to foster
this work.

For further information on this solicitation, please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/NASA-SeaLevelRise.

CRYOSPHERIC SCIENCE (NNH13ZDA001N-CRYO)
Proposals Due: 17 June 2013
This solicitation calls for proposals to understand the mechanisms of
change in ice in the polar regions and their implications for global
climate, sea level, and the polar environment. Proposed studies should
use space-based, aircraft based, and other remote sensing techniques to
understand the factors controlling the retreat and growth of the world’s
major sea- and land-based ice sheets and their interactions with the
ocean, atmosphere, solid earth, and solar radiation. To this end, NASA
is soliciting studies of (a) the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to
understand the controls on their mass balance, and (b) the northern and
southern hemisphere ice-covered oceans to determine their response to
climate change. Field studies are considered only if closely tied to
remote sensing efforts.

For further information on this solicitation, please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/NASA-CryosphericScience.

Much of the focus in these solicitations align with SEARCH’s
interdisciplinary approach as well as the four SEARCH science goals,
which are:

-Improve Understanding, Advance Prediction, and Explore Consequences
of Changing Arctic Sea Ice
-Document and Understand How Degradation of Near-Surface Permafrost
Will Affect Arctic and Global Systems
-Improve Predictions of Future Land-ice Loss and Impacts on Sea
Level
-Analyze Societal and Policy Implications of Arctic Environmental
Change

The full text of the goals and objectives, as well as framing science
questions, can be found at: http://www.arcus.org/search/goals.

A SEARCH white paper outlining approaches to “Understanding Arctic
Change” can be found at: http://www.arcus.org/search/understanding.

Note that this letter does not represent NASA or other agency positions.

These SEARCH resources can facilitate ideas and potential partnerships
to strengthen proposals. Please do not hesitate to contact members of
the SEARCH SSC
(http://www.arcus.org/search/sciencecoordination/ssccommittee.php) to
further explore these topics and identify areas where we can help.
Inquiries may also go to Helen Wiggins, Arctic Research Consortium of
the U.S. (ARCUS), at: helen [at] arcus.org.

Sincerely,

Hajo Eicken, SEARCH SSC Chair

Helen Wiggins, SEARCH Project Office, ARCUS


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