[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47901-47902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12165]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Earth and Space-Based Sensors for Environmental Measurements: 
Calibration, Standards, and Testbeds

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of workshop; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an 
agency of the United States Department of Commerce, is planning a gaps 
analysis workshop to assess the present state-of-the-art of sensors 
used to measure and quantify the local, regional, and global state of 
the environment and how it is changing in time and in response to 
natural and anthropogenic forcings. In advance of the workshop, NIST is 
seeking public input on agenda topics and priorities. Such topics may 
include, but are not limited to, needs in the following areas of 
environmental measurement: measurement capabilities, sensors, modeling, 
documentary and artifact standards, calibration services, traceability, 
and testbeds. Additionally, NIST is interested in assessing whether 
there is a need for new measurement technologies, testbeds, calibration 
services, Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), and documentary 
standards to advance the breadth, accuracy (short-term and long-term), 
sustainability (including cost factors), and comparability of 
environmental measurements [nationally, internationally, and over time 
aided by measurement traceability to the International System of Units 
(SI)].

DATES: NIST will accept written responses to this request for 
information until 10 p.m. (EST) on August 31, 2024. Submissions 
received after that date may not be considered. All submissions, 
including attachments and other supporting materials, may become part 
of the public record and may be subject to public disclosure. NIST 
reserves the right to publish relevant comments publicly, unedited and 
in their entirety. Personal information, such as account numbers or 
Social Security numbers, or names of other individuals, should not be 
included. Do not submit confidential business information, or otherwise 
sensitive or protected information. Comments that contain profanity, 
vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate language or content will not 
be considered.
    A public workshop will be held from Tuesday, September 10, 2024, to 
Thursday, September 12, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time, both 
in person at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in 
Rockville, MD, USA and virtually by web conferencing. Interested 
parties will need to register for the workshop. A fee will be required 
for in-person attendance. Please email [email protected] prior to 
midnight (EST) August 16, 2024 if you are interested in attending in 
person or virtually. If you would like to present at the meeting, 
please indicate your interest and the subject of your presentation in 
the email.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Ms. Amy Grafmuller, 
Administration Specialist, Mail Stop 8400, 100 Bureau Drive, 
Gaithersburg, MD or by electronic mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mail: Dr. Julia Marrs, Special 
Programs Office, Mail Stop 2100, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, 
Maryland 20899. Email: [email protected] Phone number: 301 975-2379.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Multiple concurrent environmental challenges 
presently exist, driven by human activity. Environmental challenges 
include global warming, biodiversity loss, disease emergence and 
spread, topsoil loss, environmental contamination, altered 
biogeochemical cycling, and habitat range shifts. These challenges have 
documented economic impacts reaching into the hundreds of billions of 
dollars annually and are highly relevant to business interests, due to 
the continued need for access to the natural resources and ecosystem 
services on which industrial profitability relies. Furthermore, many of 
these challenges present broader threats to society, including the 
potential for food shortages, pandemics, and extreme weather. NIST 
seeks to advance the science and artifact and documentary standards for 
the measurement of the physical, chemical, biological, and ecological 
parameters needed for understanding complex, natural systems undergoing 
short and long-term change. Such understanding will improve the 
forecasting of the rate and extent of change and aid the mitigation of 
such change if intervention is implemented.
    Engagement of NIST, the environmental sensor industry, and the 
sensor user community is critical to ensure the adoption of effective 
standards to promote a competitive and resilient market and to enable 
optimal investment in tackling environmental challenges. The standards 
must include the development of best practices for measuring key 
parameters and methodologies for ensuring the accuracy of the 
measurements. Without effective standards, organizations wishing to 
invest in addressing environmental challenges will be unable to 
effectively direct resources. To address these needs, NIST is planning 
a gaps analysis workshop for the environmental measurement community, 
to learn more about current limitations in making measurements of the 
environment, including terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, coastal 
zones, agriculture, and managed and urban areas. This workshop will 
entail a community dialogue on needs related to new and improved 
sensors, standardized measurement methods, measurement testbeds, and 
artifact and documentary standards for ecosystem measurement.
    The workshop aims to facilitate engagement among sensor 
manufacturers, calibration laboratories, standards organizations, 
academic researchers, Federal agencies, nonprofits, and regional and 
state agencies. NIST is seeking public comments on current gaps in the 
field of environmental measurement and on priorities for the upcoming 
workshop agenda. Sensors of interest for workshop discussion may 
include point and area sensors (including imaging systems) deployed in 
aquatic (e.g., buoys, submersibles), subsurface, surface, air (e.g., 
conventional aircraft, drones, and

[[Page 47902]]

balloons), and space (small CubeSat-style satellites to large 
environmental satellites) environments. In addition to these proposed 
topics, NIST is soliciting public input on gaps in measurement 
capabilities for other physical, chemical, biological, and ecological 
parameters relevant to environmental monitoring, management, and hazard 
mitigation applications. Focal areas of particular interest may include 
environmental measurement testbeds, including gaps in current 
measurement capabilities at available testbeds, and discrepancies 
between sensor performance in laboratory versus field settings. 
Additionally, we solicit community input on current gaps and future 
needs related to standards development for new and emerging sensor 
technologies used to monitor aspects of environmental change, including 
the particularly difficult task of measuring extremely small annual 
changes in the environment over decadal time periods, a significant 
challenge for sensors and data analysis protocols given the large 
diurnal and seasonal changes in temperature, humidity, and 
precipitation seen in many environments of interest.
    The above-listed agenda topics are not intended to limit the areas 
that may be addressed by respondents so long as they address a topic 
that would be useful in NIST's planning relative to our future work on 
supporting the environmental measurement community. When addressing the 
topics above, respondents may describe the practices of their 
organization or organizations with which they are familiar. Providing 
such information is optional and will not affect NIST's full 
consideration of the comment.

Alicia Chambers,
NIST Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-12165 Filed 6-3-24; 8:45 am]
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