[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12687-12690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6281]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-22: AmeriFlux Research in Support of North American Carbon 
Program (NACP)

AGENCY: 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 enhancement of the 
AmeriFlux Research Program.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 p.m., 
e.d.t., May 5, 2003, to be accepted for merit review and to permit 
timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 2003.

[[Page 12688]]


ADDRESSES: Formal applications referencing Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-22 must be sent electronically by an authorized institutional 
business official through DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement System 
(IIPS) at: http://e-center.doe.gov (see also http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html). IIPS provides for the posting of 
solicitations and receipt of applications in a paperless environmental 
environment via the Internet. In order to submit applications through 
IIPS your business official will need to register at the IIPS Web site. 
The Office of Science will include attachments as part of this notice 
that provide the appropriate forms in PDF fillable format that are to 
be submitted through IIPS utilizing no more than four files. Color 
images should be submitted in IIPS as a separate file in PDF format and 
identified as such. These images should be kept to a minimum due to the 
limitations of reproducing them. They should be numbered and referred 
to in the body of the technical scientific application as Color image 
1, Color image 2, etc. Questions regarding the operation of IIPS may be 
E-mailed to the IIPS Help Desk at: [email protected], or you may call 
the help desk at: (800) 683-0751. Further information on the use of 
IIPS by the Office of Science is available at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
    If you are unable to submit the application through IIPS, please 
contact the Grants and Contracts Division, Office of Science at: (301) 
903-5212, in order to gain assistance for submission through IIPS or to 
receive special approval and instruction on how to submit printed 
applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Roger C. Dahlman, Program Manager, 
SC-74, OBER/Germantown Bldg, U.S. Dept of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Ave, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290 (301) 903-4951, E-mail: 
[email protected], fax: (301) 903-8519. The full text of 
Program Notice DE-FG01-03ER03-22 is available via the Internet using 
the following Web site address: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
    Applicants are strongly encouraged to match their research 
applications to the terms of scope for this announcement, and therefore 
preapplications are not required. Brief questions for clarification can 
be addressed to Dr. Dahlman, by e-mail, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The North American Carbon Program (NACP) is 
a framework for providing scientific information on sources and sinks 
of CO2, CH4 and CO for North America. It is a 
planned field program of experiments, flux measurements, data analysis, 
and modeling that will be implemented by various Federal Agencies. The 
NACP is discussed briefly as an element of Carbon Cycle Chapter of the 
Climate Change Research Program Strategic Plan posted on the Web site, 
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/straplan2003/ccspstratplan2003-11nov2002.pdf (pp 100-111), and reviewed by the December 2002 Workshop 
in Washington DC. A discussion of NACP is available from the U.S. 
Global Change research Office (see reference below). The initial phase 
of NACP will start in the 2003-2006 time frame, and will include 
measurement and modeling of carbon sources and sinks of North America. 
The NACP is an important component of U.S. Federal Agencies' research 
on carbon cycle science.
    Carbon dioxide flux measurement is one key approach for estimating 
net carbon gain or loss by terrestrial ecosystems of North America. 
Such measurements are currently carried out at a network of AmeriFlux 
sites that are partially representative of different ecosystems of 
North America. As described in the NACP Report (2002), AmeriFlux 
measurements are expected to contribute significantly to the goals of 
NACP, and a ``high priority enabling development'' calls for the 
``transformation of the AmeriFlux network into an integrated, near-real 
time network'' that will support goals of the NACP. With upgraded 
instrumentation and advanced measurement technology, it is anticipated 
that atmospheric CO2 concentration can also be determined at 
an accuracy and precision that can augment real-time and flask sampling 
networks. Augmented measurement capability offers the potential of 
substantially increasing knowledge of terrestrial carbon budgets and 
atmospheric CO2 concentration for important regions of North 
America.
    The intent of this solicitation therefore is to augment the 
AmeriFlux network and enhance CO2 and carbon measurement 
capabilities in support of the NACP. This solicitation requests 
applications that will address the following technical requirements.
    (1) Creation of selected new AmeriFlux sites for obtaining 
micrometerological data on the exchanges of CO2 and energy 
using the eddy covariance technique, where it is determined that new 
sites would provide essential and critical support for initial field 
program(s) of NACP. New AmeriFlux sites must be compatible with 
observation and intensive field programs of NACP, which are designed to 
measure and understand sources and sinks of CO2 and 
CH4 in North America. Expanded AmeriFlux research will also 
support development and testing of intensive field program 
methodologies, and will participate in different approaches for 
estimating CO2 and fluxes and carbon sinks. An initial phase 
of NACP intensive research is planned for the upper Midwest region of 
the USA, which is approximately bounded by Minnesota/Wisconsin on the 
north, Missouri/Oklahoma on the south, Indiana on the east and Nebraska 
on the west. It is possible that NACP field programs may be restricted 
to only a portion of this region. This solicitation is requesting 
applications for new AmeriFlux research in the Midwest region.
    The NACP envisions a number of intensive field studies possibly at 
other geographical locations in the south east, north east, and western 
United States, and ultimately decisions on location and phasing of 
future intensives will guide the selection of new AmeriFlux sites. 
Strong consideration in the selection of new sites will be based on 
potential contributions to NACP priorities, particularly those that 
fill geographical or biogeographical gaps within the region of the 
first intensive field program, and with critical biomes and/or climatic 
zones that currently lack coverage. Pending availability of funds, 
applications for creating new sites at other geographical locations of 
the U.S. may be supported in Fiscal Year 2004 or later.
    New-site applications must, of course, be based on representative 
vegetation, and demonstrate that sites possess appropriate physical 
attributes amendable to producing high-quality net ecosystem exchange 
(NEE) or CO2 data. Diversity of regional ecosystem types, 
and the inclusion of types that theoretically represent terrestrial 
carbon sinks are important considerations for new site selection. New-
site selections that involve agricultural ecosystems will be 
coordinated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) because a 
companion Agriflux intramural program has been proposed by USDA as 
another component of NACP. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review 
the current extant and properties of AmeriFlux sites, and proposed new 
sites responsive to these criteria. Information about current research 
strategy of the AmeriFlux

[[Page 12689]]

network can be obtained from the Web site, http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux/Participants/Sites/Map/index.cfm.
    (2) Upgrading micrometeorological and biological measurements at 
existing AmeriFlux sites within the upper Midwest region that are 
currently co-located with planned field program(s) of NACP, as noted in 
item (1) above. Upgrades that will be considered include: 
Instrumentation for better quantifying CO2 fluxes; precise 
measurements of atmospheric CO2; enhanced measurement 
capacity to deliver the full suite of core measurements recommended in 
the AmeriFlux science plan, http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux/About/scif.cfm; improved availability, calibration, quality control and 
documentation of site data; redundancy of equipment to minimize data 
gaps; and systemic corresponding biological measurements for 
independent estimation of net ecosystem productivity (NEP). Priority 
will be given to requests that improve cohesion of network 
measurements. With improved precision and accuracy of atmospheric 
CO2 concentration measurements, emphasis will be placed on 
sites that will augment initial phases of NACP intensive field programs 
and observing networks. In addition, since the overall value of the 
AmeriFlux network and its contribution to NACP depend on data sharing 
and data inter-comparison, only those existing AmeriFlux sites that 
have made NEE, biological and NEP data available to the science 
community through the AmeriFlux network data system (Carbon Dioxide 
Information Analysis Center) will be eligible for upgrade awards.
    For both items (1) and (2) applicants are strongly encouraged to 
review NACP goals and major elements (NACP, 2002), and explain and 
justify how proposed research will likely contribute to the overall 
NACP research strategy, and specifically how the research will improve 
measurements of carbon flux measurements and estimates of carbon 
budgets and sinks. Importantly, the proposed research must demonstrate 
a capability to produce high-quality measurements and provide seasonal 
and annual estimates of net ecosystem exchange of CO2. 
Additionally, best efforts of the proposed research are expected to 
produce core AmeriFlux measurements (e.g., NEE, carbon budgets and 
fluxes of ecosystem components, including uncertainty estimates) in 
quantities and format that would be compatible with related NACP land-
based carbon inventories and with atmospheric CO2 
concentration and profiling data. For item (1) upgraded capacity might 
include investments in instrumentation, references gases, more 
systematic measurement protocols, for example.
    (3) Support of selected Science Team AmeriFlux activities that 
would contribute most effectively to science goals in NACP. This could 
include, for example, participation in priority field programs that 
require synthesis and integration using measurements and modeling of 
AmeriFlux results as part of intensive campaigns and NACP biological 
inventories. For reference, applicants may wish to review current 
AmeriFLux activities (http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux/Participants/Sites/Map/index.cfm). Applications addressing this technical 
requirement must identify how proposed augmentation of current research 
and analysis would contribute to the NACP.
    NACP Reference: The North American Carbon Program (NACP), A Report 
of the NACP Committee of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Steering Group, 
Steven C. Wofsy and Robert C. Harriss, Co-chairs, 2002. Available from 
the USGCRP Office, 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 250, 
Washington, DC 2006.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that approximately $2.0 million will be available 
for grant awards in Fiscal Year 2003, contingent upon availability of 
appropriated funds. Previous awards for the creation and operation of a 
new site have ranged from $100,000 up to $300,000 per year, with most 
not exceeding $200,000. Each site application must provide a 
``facility'' budget and an ``operational'' budget. Applications to 
create a new AmeriFlux site may be eligible for a multi-year award, 
where the first-year budget would include costs of site development and 
instrumentation, and successive-year budgets would include nominal 
operational costs. Applications to upgrade measurement capacity at an 
existing AmeriFlux site would be limited to a one-year award because 
most of the investment is expected to be for equipment. Sustaining 
operational budgets would be reflected in existing grants or renewal 
applications. Multi-year applications may not exceed 3 years in 
duration. Most awards are expected to meet these criteria; however, 
applications with exceptional budgeting circumstances should discuss 
them with the Program Manager for this solicitation. Funding of 
multiple year grant awards is contingent upon availability of 
appropriated funds.

Merit Review

    Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer 
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria 
listed in descending order of importance as 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 agency's programmatic needs. Note that external peer reviewers are 
selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence 
of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-Federal reviewers may 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 the 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 research project description must be 15 pages or less, 
exclusive of attachments and must contain an abstract or summary of the 
proposed research. On the SC 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).
    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-PI's, their 
institutions, brief summary of research, including identification of 
principal subcontractor/collaborators even if no funds are requested 
for their support.

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    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 March 7, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-6281 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M