This cooperative agreement, funded with $440,000 from the infrastructure investment and jobs act, provides old dominion university research foundation with incremental funds of $300,000 to provide the…

This cooperative agreement, funded with $440,000 from the infrastructure investment and jobs act, provides old dominion university research foundation with incremental funds of $300,000 to provide the chesapeake BAY program partnership with the data and protocols needed to evolve the BAY-wide submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) monitoring program towards satellite remote sensing methods and to advance efforts to meet the goals of the chesapeake BAY watershed agreement. Federal funds of $140,000 are contingent upon availability. Activities:the activities that will be performed under this award include (1) generating maps of the density and distribution of SAV throughout the mesohaline habitats in the chesapeake BAY using planet imagery to inform BAY-wide SAV assessment efforts; and (2) developing and documenting a repeatable method of generating vector-based polygons that represent SAV beds from the pixel-based SAV classifications developed under activity 1.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:this project supports achievement of the SAV outcome of the chesapeake BAY watershed agreement, which aims to sustain and increase the habitat benefits of SAV in the chesapeake BAY. IT will contribute to an improved understanding of how reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads delivered to tidal BAY waters are impacting SAV acreage and density through time and space, thereby resulting in more informed decision-making. Beneficiaries include the chesapeake BAY program partnership, environmental decision-makers and leaders, and residents of the chesapeake BAY watershed.