FY25 Observation NOFO Final 09.13.24.pdf

FY2025 Weather Program Office Research Programs

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: FY2025 Weather Program Office Research Programs Announcement

Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-WPO-2025-28602

Federal Assistance Listings Number: 11.459, Weather and Air Quality Research

Funding Opportunity Website: wpo.noaa.gov/nofo

IMPORTANT NOTE: Applicants will need an eRA Commons Account PRIOR to full application submission. Registration for an eRA Commons account can take up to 10 business days. It is recommended to start this process six weeks before the application deadline to allow ample time for registration.

Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission Date: Pre-proposal Letters of Intent (LOIs) are strongly encouraged for potential applicants and must be received by 5:00 pm ET on October 2, 2024 in order to receive a pre-proposal review.

Full Application Submission Date: Full applications must be received by 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) on December 2, 2024. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered. Award notifications are expected by June 2025. Financial awards for this competition will be for a maximum of two years in length. Estimated award start dates and further details are described in Section II.B “Project/Award Period.”

Funding Opportunity Description:

NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO, wpo.noaa.gov/nofo) is soliciting proposals for the Observations grant competition from this funding opportunity notification. The program competition's approximate total award funding per year is $2,100,000.00.

http://wpo.noaa.gov/nofo

In alignment with the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-25), this funding opportunity will allow NOAA to support new weather, water, and earth system observing and forecasting applications, including improved analysis techniques, better statistical or dynamic forecast models and techniques, development of calibrated, probabilistic forecasts, and communication of that information to better inform the public. In particular, this NOFO will seek projects that are responsive to the priorities articulated in the Science Advisory Board's 2021 Priorities for Weather Research Report (https://sab.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/PWR-Report_Final_12-9-21.pdf) as well as the National Weather Service’s strategic priority to advance probabilistic forecasting and decision support services (https://www.weather.gov/media/wrn/NWS-2023-Strategic-Plan.pdf).

For the purposes of NOAA-funded projects, the maturity of projects is broadly classified using Readiness Levels (RLs), as adopted by NOAA and other federal agencies. The numerical RL scale from 1 to 9 is designed to track project maturity across a progressive spectrum from research to development to demonstration to deployment. Some science priorities in this announcement may target research at a specific maturity level and restrict proposals to specific RL ranges. Additional information can be found in the Program Objectives (Section I.A) and Priorities (Section I.B), and definitions of RLs can be found in the WPO FY25 General Information Sheet (herein referred to as the “General Information Sheet”) accompanying this announcement.

NOAA, OAR, and WPO encourage applicants and awardees to write their proposals and perform their work in a manner consistent with NOAA’s core values, including those on diversity, inclusion, accessibility, civil rights, and scientific integrity. Promoting diversity and inclusion improves creativity, productivity, and the vitality of the weather and water research community in which WPO engages. Further information can be found at https://www.noaa.gov/organization/inclusion-and-civil-rights/diversity-and-inclusion and https://research.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FinalDraft-OAR-DEI-StrategicPlan-07Se p2021.docx.pdf.

Included under the ‘Related Documents’ tab of this announcement are several Information Sheets as well as external forms required to be submitted with proposals. If there is any conflicting information between the NOFO announcement and the attached Information Sheets, then the NOFO announcement takes priority and should be followed over any external attachments.

https://sab.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/PWR-Report_Final_12-9-21.pdf https://www.weather.gov/media/wrn/NWS-2023-Strategic-Plan.pdf https://www.noaa.gov/organization/inclusion-and-civil-rights/diversity-and-inclusion https://research.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FinalDraft-OAR-DEI-StrategicPlan-07Sep2021.docx.pdf https://research.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FinalDraft-OAR-DEI-StrategicPlan-07Sep2021.docx.pdf

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Observations Program Objectives

The aim of this competition is to develop, demonstrate, and/or analyze innovative sensor and observing technologies and strategies that have high potential for advancing an observation systems portfolio that is mission-effective, integrated, adaptable, and affordable. Proposed projects should document clear relevance and support to the weather enterprise.

Observations from the surface through the troposphere serve as critical inputs for the analysis and forecasts of the operational weather enterprise for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy. High resolution surface and planetary boundary layer/tropospheric observations in both the vertical and horizontal dimensions are limited, which impedes progress in skillful predictions of high-impact and disruptive weather. Proposals should focus on technologies and strategies with the potential to improve the accuracy, reliability, spatial coverage, cost effectiveness, deployability, safety, and sustainability of observations for eventual use by the operational weather enterprise including NOAA, the National Mesonet Program, the private sector, and other government sectors.

The scope includes weather-related observations and observing strategies targeting the surface through the planetary boundary layer/troposphere. Satellite-based sensors are not included in this scope except to calibrate, validate, or integrate with in-situ observations as a secondary objective.

Engagement with, and participation by the operational weather commercial sector is also encouraged.

The strongest proposals should (1) include substantial collaboration with one or more operational weather stakeholder(s) with the potential to benefit from the work, (2) include collaboration with other relevant R&D partners to help accelerate results, (3) clearly document linkage to operational weather needs, and (4) demonstrate potential to transition to operations, applications, commercialization, or a final product, and, if applicable (e.g., the path to operations is not commercialization), explain how NOAA can sustain the observational capabilities and outcomes of the proposed work in an operational capacity.

Projects appropriate for this competition range from Readiness Level (RL) 4 to RL 7 and have potential to transition to operations, application, commercialization, final product, or knowledge at either NOAA or the weather enterprise within the next 3 to 6 years. The NOAA Readiness Levels are defined in the General Information Sheet.

For additional information on this WPO Observations Program funding opportunity, including complete, detailed descriptions for each priority, please review the supplemental Information

Sheet for the Observations competition in the grant package associated with this announcement at https://www.grants.gov.

B. Observation Program Priorities

NOAA’s highest priorities for the competition funded through this announcement are identified below. Applicants must clearly indicate and address in their proposal one or more of the associated priorities for the Observations competition. Proposals not directly associated with one or more of these priorities are discouraged.

The WPO Observations Program, in collaboration with the NWS and other NOAA stakeholders, developed the following four priorities.

Priority OBS-1:Weather Buoy Mitigation Vehicle - Weather buoys provide observational data that are critical in the monitoring and the prediction of the weather across oceans and coastal areas. Outages in weather buoys cause observational data gaps that impact the monitoring and prediction of maritime weather. This priority seeks research that aims to develop and demonstrate a high endurance, modular construction and portable Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV) that is combined with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) User Interface (UI) and easy payload integration capability. The vehicle will be used to quickly mitigate weather buoy outages to reduce observational data gaps until a long-term moored buoy solution is available. Using AI, automated station keeping will provide more consistent maritime weather observations.

Priority OBS-2: Rainfall Estimate Improvement - Specific Differential Phase (KDP) is a critical dual polarization weather radar parameter used to estimate rainfall rates in the presence of hail, identify regions of ice crystal growth within the Dendritic Growth Layer, and determine the location of thunderstorm downdrafts. This priority seeks research aiming to develop and demonstrate an improved derived KDP product by separating the contributions of propagation from backscattered components of the total differential phase, filtering measurement variance to rid of unwanted signals but retain resolution, and identifying return data corrupted by artifacts to ultimately improve rainfall, particularly heavy rainfall, estimates.

Priority OBS-3: SFMR Improvement - The Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) delivers surface wind speed and rain rate estimates along the track of the reconnaissance aircraft around and within a tropical cyclone. There is a critical need to further improve the understanding and processing of SFMR retrievals to ultimately provide trustworthy data to forecasters and decision-makers. This priority targets activities aiming to develop and demonstrate software to process SFMR brightness temperature measurements and deliver more reliable rain rates and surface wind speeds from all SFMR instruments on reconnaissance aircraft. Additionally, projects may seek to leverage other in-situ and remotely sensed tropical cyclone observations for SFMR validation.

Priority OBS-4 Tropical Cyclone Reconnaissance Data Advancements:

Tropical cyclone aircraft reconnaissance missions investigate tropical cyclones and collect data that play a vital role in improving tropical cyclone forecasts. To continue advancing tropical https://www.grants.gov cyclone reconnaissance efforts, this priority seeks the use of the NOAA Unified Forecast Systems (UFS), including the Global Forecast System (GFS) and Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS) to develop and demonstrate:

● Improved use of airborne reconnaissance observations of tropical cyclones already in the operational data stream, through methods such as super-obbing of high-resolution reconnaissance data;

● Assimilation of existing experimental tropical cyclone reconnaissance data that is not already in the operational data stream;

● Assimilation of other new or experimental data, in-situ and remotely sensed, from poorly sampled regions that pertain to improving tropical cyclone forecasts; in particular, examine how new or experimental data can be coordinated with tropical cyclone airborne reconnaissance data;

● Improved Quality assurance/Quality control (QA/QC) procedures for tropical cyclone airborne reconnaissance data.

C. Program Authority

Public Law 115-25 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, 15 U.S.C.

8512(c).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

The total available funding and total per-project (or per-project-per-year) funding limits for each project under this competition are identified below. These estimates are based on either actual or anticipated NOAA funding availability, and may not divide evenly depending on project submissions. For the case of collaborative multi-institution projects, the amounts identified below are per-project (or annual project total) amounts and not per-institution amounts. Please confirm that the requested funding amounts in your application’s budget satisfy these stated maximum limits before submitting your application to this competition. Any proposal that exceeds the stated per-project or per-project-per-year funding limit for this competition will be rejected and not reviewed.

Funds allocated for this competition may be altered depending on the number and quality of proposals submitted within this competition, and federal funding appropriations. Funding of any proposal is contingent upon the availability of these NOAA funds. “M” refers to millions of U.S.

dollars. “K” refers to thousands of U.S. dollars.

Observations Anticipated total Observations competition funding per year: $2.1M Expected number of funded projects: 7 projects Maximum funding limit per project per year: $300K

In the event of a lapse in government appropriations, any changes to this published timeline will be posted to Grants.gov. Pre-award spending is authorized 90 days prior to the start date of the award. However, all costs incurred before NOAA makes the award are at the recipient's risk (i.e., NOAA is not required to reimburse such costs if for any reason the recipient does not receive an award or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover such costs).

B. Project/Award Period

The maximum time period of awards and recommended project start date for this competition are outlined below. Any proposal that exceeds the stated project award period will be rejected and not reviewed. Applicants are advised to use the recommended award start date in their project schedule and other planning materials in their proposal.

Observations Maximum Award Length: 2 years Start Date: August 1, 2025

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The funding instrument for these awards will be either a grant or a cooperative agreement. If it is proposed or anticipated that NOAA employees will be substantially involved in the research or implementation of the project, the funding instrument will be a cooperative agreement. Examples of substantial involvement may include, but are not limited to, collaboration between NOAA scientists and a recipient scientist or contemplation by NOAA of detailing federal personnel to work on proposed projects. NOAA will make decisions regarding the use of a cooperative agreement or grant on a case-by-case basis based on the nature of the work proposed in the application package. All awards that fund projects intending to use one or more of NOAA’s testbeds are expected to be awarded as a cooperative agreement due to the planned involvement of NOAA staff in the testbed demonstration testing. Funding for contractual arrangements for services and products for delivery to NOAA is not available under this announcement.

Approved funding allocated for collaborators at federal NOAA institutions shall be awarded using the Line Office Funds Transfer or the Direct Cite Process. Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA) fund transfers to non-NOAA federal agencies, or non-NOAA Federally Funded R&D Centers (FFRDCs) that are not legally authorized to receive financial assistance awards, are not permitted under the funding opportunities in this notice. See Section III.A for more details. Non-NOAA federal collaborators are permitted to partner with eligible applicants as unfunded collaborators.

http://grants.gov

For multi-institutional proposals involving investigators from separate institutions, awards for federal assistance will be issued to each separate institution that submits an approved proposal.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they are eligible for this competition and identify with the appropriate title listed hereafter. The following entities are eligible and encouraged to participate in this funding opportunity, in conjunction with the Weather Program office: any public or private corporation, partnership, or other association or entity or any State, political subdivision of a State, Tribal government or agency or officer thereof. Non-NOAA federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition;

however, federal scientists and other employees can serve as uncompensated partners or co-Principal Investigators on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities or equipment to applicants but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use, nor can the value of such assets be used as a match. If any applicants requesting funding are ineligible, the application(s) will be rejected without review.

To be eligible to apply or receive an award, applicant organizations must complete and maintain three system registrations and access to include: SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. For each, the complete registration process can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants must begin this activity as soon as possible and well before the proposal due date. For more information on how to meet these registration and application submission requirements without errors, we advise all to carefully review relevant eRA Applicant and Grantee Training modules:

https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training. Additionally, we advise that all applicants carefully read “Additional Application Package Forms” within the “Full Proposal Required Elements” section below.

No foreign applicants based outside of the U.S. may request funding.

Applicability to Federal Employees and Federal Contractors: Federal employees (hereafter referred to as “federal collaborator(s)”) may serve as co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs) or co-Investigators (co-Is) but their salary costs are ineligible expenses to be covered by awards from this NOFO. NOAA Federal applicants are required to partner with one or more eligible non-federal institution(s) who would submit the application for the competition through Grants.gov per instructions in Section IV.K “Other Submission Requirements.” Eligibility also depends on the statutory authority that permits NOAA to fund the proposed activity. For the purposes of this funding announcement, prospective PIs that are also employed as federal contractors have the same eligibility restrictions as Federal employees.

Costs incurred by NOAA federal collaborators are eligible for funding through this NOFO only if they fit into one of the categories listed below. Further details are provided in the attached General Information Sheet.

https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training

● Allowed: NOAA federal collaborator travel is only eligible in critical project-dependent cases. Other allowable expenses include project-critical equipment, indirect costs for NOAA affiliate institutions, infrastructure, and testbed-related costs.

● NOT Allowed: Conference and workshop travel. Any other direct funding for federal institutions, including employee salaries or other costs not listed as eligible in Section III.A, will not be considered as part of this funding opportunity.

All funded investigators must assure and verify, if requested, that they will not be allocated for greater than 100% of their annual employment time should their proposal be selected for funding. NOAA will verify this requirement if the proposal is recommended for funding.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

No cost sharing is required under this announcement.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

None.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Application packages for full proposals are available at:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html. There is no similar official application package for Letters of Intent (LOI) other than the requirements identified below in Section IV.E.

B. Content and Form of Application

Applicants are required to submit a full application and are strongly encouraged to submit an LOI. Applications must adhere to the provisions under the "Full Proposal Required Elements" section below. Failure to adhere to these provisions may result in a delay in award processing or rejection of the application, based on the extent of the noncompliance. Some helpful resources for applicants can be found at this website: http://wpo.noaa.gov/nofo.

C. Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

The submitting applicant must redact all PII in the application materials prior to final submission to grants.gov. PII that must be redacted from the application includes, but is not limited to, social security number, date of birth, student identification number (from transcripts) or other information which if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html

D. Special Information

1. MULTI-INSTITUTION PROPOSALS

For joint projects involving applications from multiple institutions, a PI must be identified for each institution submitting an application. All applications for that project must have the same title and identify the same Lead PI, co-PIs, and co-Is on the applications’ title pages. The designated Lead PI and their associated institution will then be responsible for additional documents as described in Section IV.D.3.

For multi-institutional proposals that include multiple applications, each partner or PI institution wishing to receive funds directly from NOAA is responsible for submitting to Grants.gov a separate proposal package with identical project titles, title pages, project narratives, and project start dates. If any non-federal institution proposed to receive funding directly from NOAA as part of a multi-institution collaborative project fails to submit a full application package, then all partner proposals may be rejected without review. Federal institutions may not submit an application; please refer to the section below for NOAA Federal Collaborators.

All external proposal package components must be identical among all separate proposal submissions to Grants.gov for a multi-institution collaborative project, with two exceptions: 1) each institution’s separate budget information tables and budget justification (which will apply only to their own institution’s portion of the collaborative project and not the budgets for any other funded institution); and 2) any other institution-specific documents. Each identical title page must list all funded and unfunded investigators and their institutional affiliation(s), even if from a separate funded institution, for a given joint project.

2. SUBAWARDS

If a subaward agreement has been arranged with the funded co-PIs such that the full award amount will be distributed directly from NOAA to one institution, then only one application package must be submitted (by the Lead-PI’s institution) to Grants.gov. Any institutions receiving funding through a subaward by another institution and not directly from NOAA should not submit an application package. However, the subaward should be clearly listed in the full application package’s budget justification immediately below the budget table (Section IV.D.3.n).

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR NOAA FEDERAL COLLABORATORS

Any NOAA federal employee listed as a co-PI, co-I, or collaborator on the title page of a proposal (if eligible) must have provided explicit pre-approval to the PI to be identified as a contributor to the proposed project. Proposals including a federal co-PI, co-I, or collaborator who is requesting funding should include a signed Request for NOAA Federal Support (see Section III.A for a list of allowable and non-allowable expenses).

Request for NOAA Federal Support for Federal collaborator’s funding request(s) should be signed by the NOAA collaborating organization’s Director outlining the funding request(s).

Additionally, Federal collaborator costs should be included in the budget summary on each application’s title page and be identified in the Lead-PI institution’s budget summary and budget justification described in Section IV.D.3. However, federal institution costs should not be included in the non-federal PI’s SF-424 budget documents.

If institutional indirect (overhead) charges are included in the budget, the applicant must have an approved negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement and must include it as a part of the application package. Any NOAA Laboratory overhead costs at this pre-agreed-upon rate (such as those required of affiliated NOAA Cooperative Institutes) may be requested as part of the proposal’s budget.

All eligible funding requested by a NOAA institution, to cover overhead or otherwise, will count against the maximum total project cost as specified for the competition (Section II.A), and the proposed project-total cost must not exceed that limit. Requested costs for NOAA federal collaborators (excluding indirect overhead costs) must not exceed 20% of the project total cost.

The request for these funds will be considered by the WPO Program Manager and, if approved, will be provided directly to the NOAA organization if the proposal is selected. If this proposed funding is not properly and clearly documented, the application may be rejected without review.

E. Letter of Intent (LOI)

Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission Date: Pre-proposal Letters of Intent (LOIs) are strongly encouraged for potential applicants and must be received by 5:00 pm ET on October 2, 2024 in order to receive a pre-proposal review. Letters of Intent should include the following information listed below. For further information please reference Section IV.

Prior to submitting a full application package (proposal) for the competition identified in this announcement, all PIs are strongly encouraged (but not required) to submit an LOI for each planned project. Only one LOI should be submitted by the Lead PI for multi-institution projects.

There is no limit to the number of unique LOIs that may be submitted by a single applicant.

The purpose of the LOI process is twofold: 1) to provide the funding agency with a description of the projects that PIs are considering submitting for funding, and 2) to inform potential applicants whether their proposed project aligns with the competition objectives and priorities.

Full applications will be encouraged only for LOIs deemed to be most aligned with program objectives and priorities. Applicants who have not been encouraged may still submit a full application. While LOIs are strongly encouraged, applicants are not required to submit them and may submit a full application even if they did not submit an LOI.

LOIs will be reviewed by WPO against the Program Objectives and Priorities of this funding competition to assess potential value of the proposed research and relevance to stated program goals. PIs will be provided a concise summary of the review that led to the non-binding recommendation.

Each LOI should be submitted through the smartsheet form at the following address:

https://tinyurl.com/FY25WPOCompetition, or by email to oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov

The LOI should include the following information:

1. Proposal Title;

2. The name(s) of all PI(s), co-PIs, and co-Investigators, as well as each of their home institution(s);

3. The NOFO competition to which the proposal is applying, and that competition’s priority(ies) the proposed work will address;

4. Planned products/outputs;

5. Planned impacts/benefits/outcomes;

6. Planned methodology and timelines;

7. The proposed starting and ending Readiness Levels (RLs), any proposed use of NOAA

Testbeds, HPC resources, and whether a NOAA Transition Plan has been developed for earlier work on this topic;

8. Potential operational, commercial, or other end-user adopter(s) of the project outputs; and

9. A simple budget table to summarize the funding allocation.

F. Full Application Package

Full Application Submission Date: Full applications must be received by 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) on December 2, 2024. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered. Award notifications are expected by June 2025. Financial awards for this competition will be for a maximum of two years in length, and are recommended to begin in August 2025, as described in Section II.B “Project/Award Period.”

FORMAT. All pages should be single-spaced and set in 12-point font with one-inch margins on

8.5 x 11 inch paper. The proposal should be submitted as a PDF file, dated, display page numbers and organized in the order listed below.

● PROJECT NARRATIVE (items with asterisk (*) are not included in the 14 page limit)

○ Title Page

○ Abstract page

○ Problem/Opportunity Statement

○ Methods and Activities

○ Products/Outputs

○ Impacts, Benefits, Outcomes, & Recipients

○ Schedule with Key Milestones

○ Outreach and Education

○ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

○ Data Management Plan*

○ Reference List*

○ Curricula Vitae (CV)* https://tinyurl.com/FY25WPOCompetition mailto:oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov

○ Current and Pending Support*

○ Underserved Groups Information Request (VOLUNTARY)

○ Letters of Support (if needed)*

○ Other Attachments (see section IV.D.3.(m))

● BUDGET*

○ Budget table

○ Budget justification

● STANDARD FORMS*

○ Standard Form 424 - Application for Federal Assistance

○ Standard Form 424A - Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs

○ Standard Form 424B - Assurances - Non-Construction Program

○ Form CD-511 - Certifications Regarding Lobbying

○ Standard Form LLL - Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

PROJECT NARRATIVE: (14 pages plus additional attachments)

The project narrative shall not exceed 14 pages, including Sections IV.D.3.(a–i) below (including the title page, abstract, and figures). All other required attachments identified in Section IV.D.3.j–o are not included in this 14 page limitation (i.e., the Data Management Plan, Curricula Vitae (CVs), reference list, Underserved Groups Information Request, Letter(s) of Support, and Budget Documents). Project narratives (sections a-i listed below) that exceed 14 pages will be rejected without review. Proposers are encouraged to indicate in the project narrative the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop their proposal.

For multi-institution projects, each institution is required to submit an identical project narrative clearly describing the work contributions of each funded investigator. For the purposes of compliance in the eRA system, this is a requirement to chronicle how each institution contributes to the overall project scope of work.

The Application, including the Project Narrative (sections a - i), supplementary material (sections j - m), budget information (section n), and standard forms (section o) must contain the following elements:

a) TITLE PAGE (one page): Provide the following information:

● For each PI, co-PI, and co-Investigator (co-I) as well as each respective institutional representative, include their full name, title, organization, telephone number, email address; the mailing address for the institution’s Lead PI;

● The total requested funds for each annual period for the project as a whole, and for each individual institution (including each internal federal and external non-federal institution), including indirect costs;

● The Funding Opportunity Number, NOFO Competition to which the proposal is applying, and the relevant competition’s priority(ies); and

● The starting and ending Readiness Levels (RLs).

For an example title page template, please visit wpo.noaa.gov/how-to-apply/

For a multi-institution proposal, each institution’s respective application must include the names of all institutions along with the PI information for each institution and total requested funding for each annual period for each institution on the title page. If the requested information does not fit onto a single title page with reasonable effort, then a second title page that does not count against the proposal page limit may be added. Additional information, including examples, can be found in the General Information Sheet.

b) ABSTRACT: The abstract must appear on a separate one page document. Instead of using a single paragraph format to write the body of your abstract, we ask that you provide a concise response to several prompts. Each response should be a maximum of 50 words (not to exceed 1-2 sentences). Please ensure your descriptions are clear, concise, and informative. If funded, NOAA may, at its own discretion, make publicly visible the abstract or components of it to increase public awareness of research knowledge. Therefore, avoid technical jargon, use plain-language, and focus on the key points that highlight the significance and impact of your project. Please provide concise responses to the following prompts:

● Project Goal: Describe the primary goal or purpose of the project.

● Problem/Opportunity Statement: Explain the specific operational problem you are aiming to address or the opportunity you are exploring.

● Methodology/Activities to be Performed: Summarize the approach, methods, or activities you will use to conduct the research.

● Primary Project Products/Outputs: Describe the main output(s) or product(s) you expect to result from your project.

● Expected Results, Outcomes, and Benefits: Outline the expected results and outcomes of this project, as well as the intended operational and/or societal benefits.

● Intended Beneficiaries and Recipients: Include who you anticipate will use the outputs and how they will (or may) be applied.

Additional information, including examples, can be found in the General Information Sheet and by visiting wpo.noaa.gov/how-to-apply/.

c) PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT: Identify the problem and/or the opportunity and its relevance to one or more of the competition’s science priorities identified in Section I.B.

Please reference the priorities listed under this competition. If appropriate, concisely cite results from prior relevant research and/or previously-funded NOAA projects that contributed to the proposed research concept, and if applicable, provide the NOAA project award number, title, and period of performance for any previously-funded NOAA projects performed either by you or other researchers. Additionally, please indicate if a NOAA Transition Plan has been developed for earlier work on this topic.

d) METHODS AND ACTIVITIES: Concisely describe the method(s) and key activities that will be conducted to successfully complete the project. This may include information on model http://wpo.noaa.gov/how-to-apply/ http://wpo.noaa.gov/how-to-apply/ frameworks, simulations, HPC availability, data collection, analysis, collaborations needed (including needed operational collaborations for transition), and necessary travel (associated with data collection, project meetings, testbed planning meetings, testbed experiments, and the presentation of results at scientific conferences, as appropriate). Applicants are encouraged to consider contingencies in the event of scenarios that restrict travel or completion of other project activities, such as those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

If applicable, the methods section should also include information on:

● Institutional Review Board (IRB): Applicants submitting proposals that involve the use of human subjects should state so clearly in their Methods, and also include appropriate milestones in the schedule for completion of the IRB process. If the recipient seeks agency assistance conducting or sponsoring any collection of information, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)/Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance will be needed. Applicants should take this factor into account in planning their project.

Additional information about requirements for the inclusion of human subjects, including applicability to focus groups and testbed experiments, can be found in the General Information Sheet;

● High-performance computing (HPC): The availability of HPC the project has access to ensure success; and

● Use of Testbeds: Any proposed testing in one or more of the NOAA Testbeds.

e) PROJECT PRODUCTS/OUTPUTS: Identify the primary planned products/outputs. Outputs could include, but are not limited to: research-guided recommendations, methodologies, tools, software applications, algorithms, other technologies, knowledge to enhance a product or service, training materials such as user manuals, guidance and other documentation, data sets, code, and outreach materials. Provide the current/starting and target/project-completion readiness levels (RLs) with an explanation of how each level was determined.

f) PROJECT IMPACTS, BENEFITS, OUTCOMES, & RECIPIENTS: Clearly describe the planned impacts, benefits, and outcomes of the project. Specify the weather enterprise groups or organizations that will be the ultimate recipient(s), beneficiary(ies), or end users of the projects’ outputs and outcomes (e.g., local weather or river forecast offices, a national operational forecast center, community code repository, a state mesonet, a commercial organization). Include any relevant metrics or success indicators as appropriate.

g) SCHEDULE WITH KEY MILESTONES: Provide a table or chart with a schedule for completing key milestones, products/outputs, and expected progression of or iteration through RLs.

h) OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Describe how the project team plans to share project progress and results with the scientific community and/or general public, including but not limited to, publications, presentations, websites, hosting workshops, developing training materials, code repositories, or other engagement activities. Also describe any activities that promote the education and field experience of undergraduate and graduate students, and/or provide opportunities to share with K-12 students and educators, as well as any educational scholarship or internship opportunities presented by this project.

i) DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, ACCESSIBILITY (DEIA): In accordance with Executive Order 13985, which mandates a comprehensive federal approach to advance equity for all and support for underserved communities, WPO recognizes that it has a particular and unique opportunity to support NOAA’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) by taking an intentional step that encourages applicants to consider DEIA as part of their scientific projects. In this section, articulate how the proposed project broadens the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geography, etc.)

including, but not limited to, how the project advances the organization or institution’s commitment to diversity and advances full participation of women, persons with disabilities, underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and other underrepresented populations in STEM. Underserved or underrepresented populations are defined as populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. A strong DEIA statement communicates that creating and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce is a priority for the applicant and their institution. Proposals should include, and will be evaluated on (among other criteria; see Section V.A) specifics of ongoing or planned project activities that encourage diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the research environment, including, but not limited to:

● Utilization of educational and research partnerships with institutions serving minority and underrepresented populations (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, NOAA Cooperative Science Centers, and institutions that work in underserved communities; Minority Serving Institution is defined and qualifications are listed in the General Information General Information Sheet);

● Utilization of collaborative programs seeking diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM);

● Involvement with existing education and outreach programs (e.g., the NOAA Educational Partnership Program);

● The provision of accommodations and modifications to ensure equal access to employment and participation in activities for people with disabilities, the reduction or elimination of physical and attitudinal barriers to equitable opportunities, a commitment to ensuring that individuals with disabilities can independently access every outward-facing and internal activity or electronic space, and the pursuit of best practices such as universal design;

● Project team or individual training, such as for awareness and prevention of sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH); and

● Any other initiatives that build the capacity of and foster a diverse and inclusive research team and environment.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS (REQUIRED)

j) DATA AND/OR SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT PLANS: Proposals submitted in response to this announcement must include a Data Management Plan with details on how data collected during the project will be made publicly available. See Section VI.B., Administrative and National Policy Requirements, below for additional information on what the plan should contain.

Also refer to your institution’s data storing and sharing policies and regulations. In addition, if software is developed as part of the proposal, a separate Software Management Plan is required, as described in Section VI.B. The Data Management Plan and/or Software Management Plan does not count towards the 14-page proposal limit.

k) CURRICULA VITAE (CV): A CV of 3 pages or less for all PIs, co-PIs, and co-Is listed on the title page must be included in the full application package. The CV should include a reference list of all publications and conference presentations relevant to the proposed work within at least the last three years, and if applicable, the investigator’s Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID). CVs are not required for collaborators. The CVs included in the full application package do not count towards the 14-page proposal limit.

l) CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT: Each PI, co-PI, and co-I requesting funding support must submit a current and pending support list that includes project title, supporting agency, funding period of performance to include the month that performance will begin and end, investigator months, and total dollar value. Amounts requested as part of the current proposal must be included as pending support. The current and pending support lists provided in the full application package do not count towards the 14-page proposal limit.

m) OTHER ATTACHMENTS: Additional attachments described below do not count towards the 14-page count defined above. The 14-page count only applies to Sections IV.D.3.(a–i).

i. Underserved Groups Information Request (VOLUNTARY): NOAA will not provide collected underserved groups information to reviewers for any purpose, including evaluation, and will not consider underserved groups information during selection. Information collected from applicants will be used to measure WPO’s progress on nurturing a diverse scientific research community. If you choose to provide information, each named investigator on your proposed who wishes to participate should complete a separate Underserved Groups Information Request Form (attached under the related documents section of this announcement); OMB approved for PRA under DOC generic clearance information collections, 0690-0030 and 0690-0035). The Underserved Groups Information Request Form will be accessible to applicants on Grants.gov under this announcement number () in the related documents section.The decision to submit or not submit this information will not affect the selection process.

Do you or any named investigators on this proposal identify with any of the following groups that the federal government, in Executive Order 13985, has identified as underserved? Please list all that apply.

a) Black

b) Latino

c) Indigenous and/or Native American

d) Asian American

e) Pacific Islander

f) Other person of color

g) Members of religious minorities

h) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons

i) Persons with disabilities

j) Persons who live in rural areas

k) Persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality

l) No, I do not identify with any of these groups nor does any named investigator on this proposal

ii. Request for Federal Support (Required if applicable): Request(s) for Federal Support are only required to chronicle funding requests by NOAA federal collaborators.

iii. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): This announcement does not require any NEPA questions to be answered as part of the application. A NEPA evaluation will be completed after project selection. The applicant(s) may be required to answer additional NEPA-related questions if NOAA needs additional information beyond what is described in the proposal package. For additional information on NEPA, see section VI.B.

n) BUDGET: In addition to the title page, budget table, and SF-424A Budget Information Form, each individual proposal must include a Budget section that includes a full Budget Table and corresponding Budget Justification. The information in the Budget Table, Budget Justification, and SF-424A Budget Information form must match the corresponding information provided on the SF-424 form. Only include budget information for PIs and co-Is from your institution in the Budget Table in this section and the SF-424A. Do not include budget details for those from other institutions contributing to a multi-institutional project. Unlike the title page, neither the Budget Table in this section nor the SF-424A should include budget information for PIs or co-Is at other institutions who may be contributing to a joint project. The Budget Narrative must include:

(1) A detailed itemized budget table organized by year; and

(2) The budget narrative should explain the budget items by federal object class category in sufficient detail to enable review of the appropriateness of the funding requested. In addition, it is encouraged that applicants provide separate budgets for each sub-award. Additional budget narrative guidance can be found at: NOAA Grants Management Division's Budget Narrative Guidance located at NOAA Grants Management Division's Budget Narrative Guidance

For multi-institution projects, each institution should provide its own budget table, justification, and SF-424A in its application. The multi-institution project’s Lead PI should include an additional, separate summary budget table in their application with a breakout of the budget for all partners on the multi-institution project in addition to the detailed budget for their own institution. Total funding requested by other institutions (including any federal institutions) must be included in the budget summary table on the title page (see Section IV.D.3). Any subaward agreements should be clearly identified in the budget justification and listed immediately below the budget table.

https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/document/2019/Jun/gmd_budget_narrative_guidance_-_05-24-2017_final.pdf

If indirect charges are included in the budget, the applicant must have an approved negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement and must include it as a part of the application package. Materials, equipment, and travel expenses are not appropriate to classify as indirect costs. If an applicant has not previously established an indirect cost rate with a federal agency they may choose to negotiate a rate with the Department of Commerce or use the de minimis indirect cost rate as allowable under 2 C.F.R. §200.414. The negotiation and approval of a rate is subject to the procedures required by NOAA and the Department of Commerce Standard Terms and Conditions Section B.06. The NOAA contact for indirect or facilities and administrative costs is:

Jennifer Jackson, GMD jennifer.jackson@noaa.gov

o) STANDARD FORMS: The full application package includes the information described above as well as the required federal forms:

1. Standard Form 424 - Application for Federal Assistance

2. Standard Form 424A - Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs

3. Standard Form 424B - Assurances - Non-Construction Program

4. Form CD-511 - Certifications Regarding Lobbying

5. Standard Form LLL - Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

For guidance on finding and entering your Congressional District correctly, please review the information found here:

https://grantsgovprod.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/how-to-find-your-congressional-district-for-the -sf-424-form/

Applicants must use the Standard Form SF-424A Budget Information-Non Construction Programs that is contained in the standard NOAA Grants and Cooperative Agreement Package.

Pay careful attention to show the yearly budget breakout on page 1A of the SF 424A for multi-year proposals.

G. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) has replaced the DUNS number and is now the primary means of identifying entities registered for federal awards government-wide in the System for Award Management (SAM), which may be accessed online at https://www.sam.gov. The UEI is important for enhancing the quality of information available to the public as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). If your entity is already registered in SAM, it has been assigned a UEI and is viewable in SAM.