Research infrastructure: polar geophysical facility

The National Science Foundation awarded Earthscope Consortium Inc. a cooperative agreement totaling $2,003,309 on May 15, 2026, under the Polar Programs initiative (CFDA 47.078) to support operations and maintenance of the National Geophysical Facility's polar geophysical infrastructure.

The award funds operation and maintenance of persistent polar sensor networks in the Arctic and Antarctic, engineering support for temporary sensor deployments, maintenance of open data from a century of polar exploration, and real-time data products on space weather and global earthquakes. The facility provides a pool of geophysical sensors available to scientists, supports research expeditions to polar regions, and delivers educational and training activities in polar science. These services advance basic earth science research, hazard monitoring, polar exploration, and U.S. polar facility operations.

Earthscope Consortium operates as Iris, a nonprofit university consortium specializing in seismological instrumentation and geodetic equipment for geoscience research. The award carries no planned sub-recipients. Period of performance runs through September 30, 2030, with place of performance in Washington, DC.

Abstract

The national geophysical facility (NGF) provides scientific instruments, data, and workforce training for many disciplines and applications, from earthquake physics to space weather. By sharing these resources, the national facility increases both operational efficiency and scientific advancement. This award is to fund the NGF to support activities in the polar regions. The facility will support research trips to the arctic and antarctic, a pool of sensors for scientists to use, and the maintenance of data from a century of polar research. The NSF?s national geophysical facility (NGF) provides infrastructure supporting geophysical sensors, open data, data products, and workforce development. Specialized capabilities for experiments in the arctic and antarctic are built on the NGF foundation. NGF-polar will enable scientific discoveries and multi-use deployments that explore ICE dynamics, polar oceans, polar ecosystems, and polar phenomena that impact lower latitudes. Activities directly or indirectly supported by this award include the operation and maintenance of persistent polar sensor networks, engineering support for temporary sensor deployments, maintenance of open data from a century of polar exploration, sharing of real-time data products quantifying space weather, global earthquakes, and other phenomena, and support for educational and training activities related to polar science. These services and products advance basic earth science, cosmology and astrophysics, national security and hazard monitoring, polar exploration for economic purposes, and operations of US polar facilities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.