[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1204-1206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-500]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice 02-07; 
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of 
the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby 
announces its interest in receiving applications for experimental and 
theoretical studies of radiation and clouds in conjunction with the 
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program as part of the U.S. 
Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). This notice requests new 
applications and renewal applications of grants currently funded by DOE 
under previous ARM Program notices that are relevant to the terms of 
reference for this announcement and responsive to the particular needs 
defined below.

DATES: Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to submit a brief 
preapplication for programmatic review. The deadline for submission of 
preapplications is March 15, 2002. Early submission of preapplications 
is encouraged to allow time for meaningful responses.
    Formal applications submitted in response to this notice must be 
received by 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., April 11, 2002, to be accepted for merit 
review and to permit timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice 02-07 may be sent 
to the program contact, Dr. Wanda Ferrell, via electronic mail at: 
[email protected] or by U.S. Postal Service Mail at: Office 
of Biological and Environmental Research, Dr. Wanda Ferrell, 
Environmental Sciences Division, SC-74, U.S. Department of Energy, 
19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290. Electronic mail is 
recommended to speed up response to preapplications.
    Formal applications referencing Program Notice 02-07 should be 
forwarded to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Grants and 
Contract Division, SC-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, ATTN: Program Notice 02-07. This address also must be used when 
submitting applications by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail, any 
commercial mail delivery service, or when hand-carried by the 
applicant. An

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original and seven copies of the application must be submitted; 
however, applicants are requested not to submit multiple application 
copies using more than one delivery or mail service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Wanda Ferrell, Office of 
Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental Sciences Division, 
SC-74, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 
20874-1290, telephone (301) 903-0043, fax (301) 903-8519, Internet e-
mail address: [email protected]. The full text of Program 
Notice 02-07 is available via the World Wide Web using the following 
web site address: http://www.sc.doe/production/grants/grants.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program

    Two of the major scientific objectives of the Environmental 
Sciences Division (ESD) are to improve the performance of predictive 
models of the Earth's climate and to thereby make predictions of the 
response of the climate system to increasing concentrations of 
greenhouse gases. The purpose of the ARM Program is to improve the 
treatment of radiation and clouds in the models particularly the 
General Circulation Models (GCMs) used to predict future climate. This 
program is one component of a major interagency effort to improve the 
quality of current models and to support the development of sets of 
climate models capable of simulating and predicting climate and climate 
change. The major component of the ARM Program is an experimental 
testbed to gather data for the study of models of the terrestrial 
radiation field, properties of clouds, the full life cycle of clouds, 
and the incorporation of these process-level models into climate 
models. This facility is referred to as the Cloud and Radiation Testbed 
(CART).
    The ARM program has established CART sites in three climatic 
regimes. The first site, Southern Great Plains (SGP), began operation 
in calendar year 1992, with instruments spread over an area of 
approximately 60,000 sq. km., centered on Lamont, Oklahoma. The second 
site, the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), is the area roughly between 
10 deg. N to 10 deg. S of the equator from Indonesia to near Christmas 
Island. This region of the world plays a large role in the interannual 
variability observed in the global climate system. The first and second 
of the TWP Atmospheric Radiation and Clouds Stations (ARCS) are 
operating on the islands of Manus, Papua, New Guinea and the Republic 
of Nauru respectively, and a third station at Darwin, Australia will be 
operational in early 2002. Similar instrumentation is gathering data in 
the vicinity of Point Barrow, on the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) and an 
inland site near Atqasak. Program information is available on the DOE/
OBER WWW site using the URL: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/OBER/GC/arm.html.

Request for Grant Applications

    This notice requests applications for grants, both new and renewals 
that address the broad ARM goal of improving cloud and radiation 
parameterizations in climate models.
    Successful applicants for renewal of previously awarded grants, 
shall demonstrate: (a) continued relevance of their work to the goals 
of the ARM Program; (b) the contribution of work conducted under 
previous support to the goals of the ARM Program, including a listing 
of publications and presentations; and (c) relevant contribution to the 
development of the ARM Program, particularly the design and development 
of ARM facilities, as a result of previous funding. Renewal 
applications should include a special section covering items (b) and 
(c) entitled ``Accomplishments Under Previous Support.'' (See http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/App.html.)
    Applications are requested in one or more of the following three 
areas: (a) The development of models and parameterization of radiative 
transfer or cloud processes, including aerosol effects, or the testing 
of these models in climate GCMs or in process-level models; (b) 
experimental studies at ARM facilities to test elements of process-
level models and their performance; or (c) the analysis of existing 
data, including field data and satellite data, to support model 
development or testing. Applicants should specifically describe the 
role of their proposed research in the improvement of climate GCMs and/
or related models and delineate the path that their results will take 
to make those improvements.
    The efforts proposed must have as a focus the conduct of research 
using the ARM data streams or ARM sites. Successful applicants for 
research on either parameterization development and evaluation or data 
assimilation will be encouraged to cooperate with the Initial Tendency 
Error Analysis (http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/itea/) effort at DOE's 
Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI). 
Successful applicants will participate in the continuing development of 
the detailed experimental approaches for the ARM.
    Efforts that request funding to support the development of an 
instrument or to prove the scientific utility of an instrument will not 
be considered.
    Specific areas of interest to the ARM Program include, but are not 
limited to:
     Use of ARM data to test quantitatively cloud and radiation 
parameterizations used in GCMs
     Development of new cloud and radiation parameterizations
     Determination of the concentration and advection of cloud 
water and ice on the regional scale
     Statistics of cloud fields and their interaction with 
atmospheric radiation
     Realistic retrievals of the 3D structure of clouds on 
scales of 10 to 100 km
     Retrieval of ice water path and ice cloud microphysics 
using remote sensing measurements from the ground or ground and 
satellite
     Calculation of heating rate profiles in realistic cloud 
fields
     Climatological properties of aerosols over the SGP site 
using ARM data
     Combining ground-based and satellite remote sensing data 
to provide improved characterization of the atmospheric column above 
and surrounding the ARM sites, particularly at the remote sites in the 
TWP and NSA
    To ensure that the program meets the broadest needs of the research 
community and the specific needs of the DOE ESD, successful applicants 
are expected to participate as ARM Science Team members in the 
appropriate working group(s) relevant to their efforts. Costs for 
participation in ARM Science Team meetings and subcommittee meetings 
should be based on two trips of 1 week each to Washington, DC, and two 
trips of 3 days each to Chicago, Illinois.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that approximately $2,000,000 will be available 
for awards in Fiscal Year 2003, contingent upon the availability of 
appropriated funds. Multiple year funding of awards is expected, with 
out-year funding also contingent upon the availability of appropriated 
funds, progress of the research, and programmatic needs. The allocation 
of funds within the research areas will depend upon the number and 
quality of applications received.

[[Page 1206]]

Collaboration

    Applicants are strongly encouraged to collaborate with researchers 
in other institutions, such as: universities, industry, non-profit 
organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded Research and 
Development Centers (FFRDCs), including the DOE National Laboratories, 
where appropriate, and to include cost sharing wherever feasible. 
Additional information on collaboration is available in the Application 
Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program that is 
available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html.

Preapplications

    Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a brief 
preapplication that consists of two to three pages of narrative 
describing the research objectives and methods of accomplishment. These 
will be reviewed relative to the scope and research needs of the ARM 
Program. Principal Investigator (PI) address, telephone number, fax 
number and e-mail address are required parts of the preapplication. A 
response to each preapplication discussing the potential program 
relevance of a formal application generally will be communicated within 
15 days of receipt. Use of e-mail for this communication will decrease 
the possibility of delay in responses to the preapplication.
    The deadline for the submission of preapplications is March 15, 
2002. Applicants should allow sufficient time so that the formal 
application deadline is met. SC's preapplication policy can be found on 
SC's Grants and Contracts Web Site at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/preapp.html.

Merit Review

    Applications will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) 
and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria which 
are listed in descending order of importance codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):
    1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project;
    2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach;
    3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources;
    4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
    The evaluation process will include program policy factors such as 
the relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement 
and the agency's programmatic needs. Note, external peer reviewers are 
selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence 
of conflict-of-interest issues. Both federal and non-federal reviewers 
will often be used, and submission of an application constitutes 
agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the 
submitting institution.

Submission Information

    Information about development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605 and in the 
Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program. Electronic access to the Guide and required forms is made 
available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs 
associated with the preparation or submission of applications if an 
award is not made.
    The technical portion of the application should not exceed twenty-
five double-spaced pages and should include detailed budgets for each 
year of support requested. Awards are expected to begin on or about 
November 1, 2002. On the grant face page, form DOE F 4650.2, in block 
15, also provide the PI's phone number, fax number and e-mail address. 
Attachments include curriculum vitae, a listing of all current and 
pending federal support, and letters of intent when collaborations are 
part of the proposed research. Curriculum vitae should be submitted in 
a form similar to that of NIH or NSF (two to three pages), see for 
example: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/cpo/gpg/fkit.htm#forms-9.
    In addition to the original and seven copies of the application 
that must be submitted, the applicants are asked to submit an 
electronic copy of the abstract in ASCII format to: 
[email protected]. The abstract should include the 
following information: PI and co-PIs, their institutions, and a brief 
summary of research.
    For researchers who do not have access to the World Wide Web (WWW), 
please contact Karen Carlson, Environmental Sciences Division, SC-74, 
U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, phone: (301) 903-3338, fax: (301) 903-8519, e-mail: 
[email protected]; for hard copies of background material 
mentioned in this solicitation.
    Technical information on ARM is available on the WWW at the URL: 
http://www.arm.gov and the ARM Program Office at the Pacific Northwest 
National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, 
telephone: (509) 375-6964.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 
CFR Part 605.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 28, 2001.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 02-500 Filed 1-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-02-U