Funding Wizard

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is issuing this announcement for various research and development topic areas. The ERDC consists of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL), the Environmental Laboratory (EL) and the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, and the Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/ chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes.This announcement is continuously open; pre-proposals may be submitted and will be reviewed at any time throughout the year. The availability of funds may limit the ability of the U.S. Government to make awards in specific areas, nevertheless pre-proposals are sought under this announcement for all research areas identified.For additional details on the research topic areas and how to submit pre-proposals, please go to:https://www.erdcwerx.org/u-s-army-engineer-research-and-development-cen…

As part of the SHEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepared a Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan (MAMP) that outlines numerous projects and processes that will be carried out to assess project-induced impacts on the environment. One project, or component of the MAMP, included creating a baseline data bank. This data collection, integration, and analysis was initiated in September 2013 and drew upon prior research, readily available data, and new research in the Savannah River Basin and Estuary, located in Georgia and South Carolina, to develop and implement a web-based geographic information system (GIS), which is accessible to the public (http://www.shep.uga.edu/#&panel1-1). This information includes data on the resources of concern such as water quality, fisheries, groundwater, wetlands, etc. Monitoring data and the data integration/analysis conducted as part of the work will be used to evaluate the physical, chemical and biological impacts of the SHEP as discussed in the MAMP. Data will be used to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation features that will be constructed as part of the SHEP to ensure the levels of environmental effects predicted in the Environmental Impact Statement are not exceeded. A. Program Description/Objective: (brief description of the anticipated work) To evaluate the effectiveness of the mitigation features constructed for the SHEP, data must be collected to establish a baseline databank. In addition to the data that will be generated from various pre-construction monitoring studies, existing data on resources in Savannah Harbor must be collected. A literature search would be conducted to identify previous applicable surveys and projects. In addition to locating existing data, resources such as, but not limited to, USACE published reports and surveys that would contain data useful in establishing the SHEP post-construction impacts will be reviewed. Data for resources of concern such as water quality, fisheries, groundwater, wetlands, etc. would be collected. The data will be combined with SHEP monitoring data and integrated into an existing online GIS and web portal.

This research project focuses on quantifying basic forest stand metrics through the application of ML to remotely sensed data. The project will leverage global data to develop understanding of forest growth and successional conditions at a local level. Numerous environmental variables and forest inventory data must be incorporated to train ML algorithms on high performance computing systems (HPCs) to achieve resolutions that lead to understanding of carbon stores at a local level (e.g., a single DOD installation). Knowing that understanding dominant forest habitat type and forest volume (as calculated from tree height, diameter, and density) will yield significant understanding to forest carbon storage, the purpose of this work is to demonstrate that basic forest inventory metrics (e.g., tree diameter and density) may be effectively quantified from ML. The Government is not expecting the periods of performances to overlap. Objectives: The objectives of the project for the initial year are as follows:1. Develop technical team and identify initial study area(s) of interest.2. Develop and test a proof of concept outlining novel methods to quantify basic forest stand metrics.3. Compile a repository of forest inventory data from national and international partners. 4. Validate accuracy of resulting, prototype forest stand metrics. The objectives of the project for Optional Year 1 are as follows:1. Expand the study area(s) and refine the prototype novel methods (developed during initial year) to quantify basic forest stand metrics.2. If required, expand the repository of forest inventory data from national and international partners to cover the second year’s study area.3. Validate accuracy of resulting, large area forest stand metrics by prioritized areas of interest. 4. Generate peer-reviewed journal article with ERDC researchers to describe the application of novel methodologies to quantify basic forest stand metrics developed during initial year of the project. The objectives of the project for Optional Year 2 are as follows:1. Conduct a final accuracy assessment and if required, refine the established methods to increase basic forest stand metric accuracy.2. Generate a peer-reviewed journal article(s) in conjunction with ERDC researchers integrating all study conclusions.3. Develop and present public seminars based on study findings. Successful applicants should have expert knowledge of: 1) forestry, natural resources, and carbon storage; 2) field data collection capabilities; 3) compiling national and global forest inventory databases; 4) experience developing novel approaches to machine learning of forest characteristics. Areas of expertise that may be required in combination to perform this study include:1) Capacity to collect and/or compile forest inventory data at up to global scales.2) Advanced computing capabilities for ML applications to characterize forest metrics.3) Development of novel ML approaches to improve forest inventory, forest characterization, and/or forest carbon storage research with local and global applications.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, (USACE) intends to enter into a cooperative agreement with a non-federal, nonprofit entity for the management and enhancement of natural resources and assistance in the water safety program at the Raystown Lake Project (RLP). The USACE anticipates an opportunity for two Conservation Interns. Activities include (1) wildlife management, threatened and endangered species monitoring, fisheries management, wildlife habitat enhancement, forest management, and boundary inspection/maintenance; and (2) activities in water safety promotion, updating bulletin boards; maintaining life jacket loaner stations; organizing special events; conducting interpretive programs and roving interpretation; writing news releases; possibly conducting media interviews (radio); promoting USACE safety campaigns; developing public service announcements and interacting with park visitors. This agreement is an opportunity to provide training and education opportunities for conservation interns (two-2) with fish and wildlife, forestry, or education studies backgrounds.

Background:There are hundreds of reservoirs and thousands of miles of navigation channels that provide invaluable flood control, commercial transport of materials, water supply, recreation, and stream flow regulation. This navigation and flood control infrastructure protects millions of Americans who work and live beside these control structures. This protection of life and property is threatened by large-scale wildfires across the western United States” (Haring, et al. 2021). In 2021, 58,968 wildfires impacted 7.1 million acres and burned nearly 6,000 structures nationwide, 60% (3,577) of which were residences (USGS website). Also, in January 2018, directly following the nearby Thomas Fire, a storm struck Montecito, California, resulting in several landslides that killed 23 people. Wildfires damage watersheds by denuding landscapes, reducing infiltration rates, and increasing runoff rates. “Immediately following a wildfire, [the ground is void of] vegetation, the organic soil horizons are reduced to ash, and the soil remaining is altered such that it repels [instead of absorbs] rainwater. These effects dramatically increase the potential for erosion, which destabilizes stream channels, and increases infilling of reservoirs thus reducing their capacity. Together these adverse ground conditions significantly increase runoff, discharge, sediment transport, and subsequently increase the risks of flash flooding and destructive debris flows, as described above.” (Haring, et al 2021). As the climate has changed, fire seasons around the world have grown longer. According to Wibbenmeyer and McDarris (2020), the period from 2000-2018 was the driest 19-year span that southwestern North America has experienced since the late 1500s, and the second driest since 800 CE. These trends will only increase the likelihood of more wildfires and subsequent increased risks to our nation’s environment and flood protection infrastructure. The primary technical objective of this project is to provide a sustainable, nature-based and cost effective soil treatment technology for improving the mechanical properties of wildfire-altered soils, to decrease erosion. The treatment of interest is Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP). Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a relatively new process that uses naturally occurring bacteria to bind soil particles together through calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation. MICP is a biologically driven precipitation technology that is sustainable, does not introduce contaminants into the soil, and is not a high-energy process. The MICP treatment is a relatively new technique used by geotechnical engineers for ground improvement (strength) of sandy soils, like those in the western regions of the US.In theory, this method would also lessen the drying effects of drought on soils. The treatment increases water content of the soil, which deters erosion, slows runoff, and flash flooding. Brief Description of Anticipated Work: Determine the efficacy of MICP to improve engineering properties of soils affected by wildfires through conventional laboratory soil testing and through field demonstrations. To accomplish this, the following is anticipated: Literature review on MICP and effect of wildfires on soils. This research, performed only by the ERDC, will provide the basis for identifying the best type of soils and soil conditions for MICP treatment as well as defining the effects of wildfire on soils. Information will be acquired through discussion with USACE Districts that commonly experience wildfires in their regional area of jurisdiction. The activities discussed below will be undertaken by the contractor, with guidance and consideration by ERDC Principal Investigator. Activity 1: Identify the source(s) for soil sampling and testing. The contractor will consider ERDC’s findings from the literature research and start communication with ERDC and USACE Districts in the arid southwestern States and determine which wildfire affected site(s) will be researched. Government offices such as the Sacramento District, and Albuquerque District where wildfire clean up and forest restoration activities are common are the likely regions for conducting this research. Research locations will be determined based upon quantity and availability of site data and government experience (NRCS, USGS, USACE) in the regions. Activity 2: Acquire soil samples/travel. This activity will involve Government and University personnel acquiring soil samples from wildfire-affected areas discovered in Activity 2. Soil samples will be shipped to ERDC and University soil laboratories. The volume collected will be approximately of nine 5-gallon buckets. Activity 3: Soil index properties testing and microscopic mineral identification. The soil collected will be tested for their index properties including: sieve analysis, specific gravity, organic content, triaxial and direct shear strength. The soil property testing requires standard equipment and must follow typical ASTM procedures. Activity 4: Optimize MICP treatment. The duration and frequency of treatment as well as the concentration of the bacteria and type of nutrients to grow the bacteria will be determined in the lab. This activity requires a bio-engineering specialist. Activity 5: Treat and test soil samples. Testing of treated soils will be performed by a civil engineering graduate student and supervised by a geotechnical faculty. Microscopic mineral identification will be performed by a junior ERDC engineer and supervised by the PI. Lab testing will include shear strength (direct and triaxial) infiltration properties, erodibility properties. The testing requires standard equipment and must follow ASTM procedures. Tests conducted in triplicates will ensure repeatability. Results and analyses will be documented in a data report or a technical paper. Activity 6: Field demonstration. Select one site of the sampled wildfire sites that is most suitable to demonstrate the treatment application and protocol through a number of field tests including infiltration, erodibility and plate load. ERDC and university team members will coordinate testing plans and on wildfire exposed and un-exposed (control) sections of the site. The duration of treatment and field testing will be determined after the above field tests have taken place. This activity involves travel to the site, application tools, media and bacteria strain. Field activities, test results, and analyses will be documented in a data report and/or a technical paper. Public Benefit: Engineering with Nature research program, is the intentional alignment of natural and engineering processes to efficiently and sustainably deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits that improve public’s quality of life through community collaboration. This project will investigate the implementation of a sustainable, economic and eco‐friendly treatment for mitigating post‐fire effects on the natural environment and communities downstream of wildfires. If successful, MICP treatment has potential to decrease the threat of flash flooding and debris flows that threaten communities and USACE flood protection projects downstream of wildfires. This project will involve a previous EWN research effort in the Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico. These are native American lands where engineering solutions to environmental problems should be consistent with the Native American culture.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recreation areas receive some of the highest visitation of any areas in the federal system. USACE is a participant in Recreation.gov, an online reservation service for the federal agencies. In both programs, USACE will benefit from up to date, accurate geospatial data. USACE will provide an opportunity for Conservation Interns to develop, verify, and improve spatial data representing recreation and transportation facilities in USACE Water Resource Projects (Project). This information will be used to meet program requirements and to provide better information to visitors regarding recreation on public land. Spatial data representing the network of publicly accessible roads and parking lots located on USACE fee owned property, and associated condition assessments, which are developed and maintained for use in GIS will assist in advancing USACE technological capabilities. Road network data may also be shared with local Emergency Management Agencies to advance public safety at USACE projects. The effort to verify and inventory recreation facility locations and attributes located on USACE fee owned land and managed by the USACE, will improve the spatial and descriptive accuracy of information used to manage the USACE recreation program and the information presented to current and potential visitors. Purposes: · Collect geospatial and related attribute data for recreation and transportation assets. · Improve transportation information available to key stakeholders, such as US DOT, local DOT agencies, and local emergency services. · Improve recreation facility information available on recreation.gov or on local division, district or project websites. · Use existing data and systems where possible for source and collection of data.

Background & Overview:The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is one of the most diverse engineering and scientific research organizations in the world. The ERDC conducts research and development (R&D) in support of the Soldier, military installations, and the Corps of Engineers civil works mission, as well as for other federal agencies, state, and municipal authorities, and with U.S. industry through innovative work agreements. The ERDC addresses R&D in four major areas: Battlespace Environment, Military Engineering, Environmental Quality/Installations, and Civil Works/ Water Resources through the capabilities of seven laboratories at four geographical sites in Vicksburg MS; Champaign IL; Hanover NH; and Alexandria VA.The ERDC is initiating a new Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), under the authority of 15 U.S.C. 3715, with a Partnership Intermediary to provide services for ERDC to increase the likelihood of success in the conduct of cooperative or joint activities with ERDC and small business firms, institutions of higher education as defined in 20 USC 1141(a), or educational institutions as defined in 10 USC 2194. This is a Request for Information (RFI) from eligible applicants who can provide the capabilities sought by ERDC as described in this RFI. The resultant award(s) will be for a period of up to 5 years and have an ordering capacity not-to-exceed $30M for all projects.In accordance with 15 U.S.C. 3715, eligibility to receive a PIA is limited to an agency of a State or local government, or a nonprofit entity owned in whole or in part by, chartered by, funded in whole or in part by, or operated in whole or in part by or on behalf of a State or local government, that assists, counsels, advises, evaluates, or otherwise cooperates with small business firms, institutions of higher education as defined in section 1141(a) of title 20, or educational institutions within the meaning of section 2194 of title 10, that need or can make demonstrably productive use of technology-related assistance from a Federal laboratory, including State programs receiving funds under cooperative agreements entered into under section 5121(b) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 278l). General Intent:ERDC is interested in creating a more efficient and effective defense laboratory that can be adaptive and responsive to the challenges of 21st century national security. It is widely acknowledged that innovation depends on bringing multiple disciplines together to engage in collaborative projects that often yield unpredictable, but highly productive results. Formal and informal interactions among scientists lead to knowledge-building and research breakthroughs. By bringing together academia, industry and government, the Army can enhance its performance through collocated R&D collaboration. ERDC’s Partnership Intermediary will provide services to assist ERDC in facilitating access to world-renown facilities and researchers; developing and maintaining synergistic relationships with the entrepreneur community; facilitating government partnerships to enhance the transition of knowledge and technology; and create, grow, and maintain the fluid collaboration spaces (physical and virtual) needed for collaborative business environments. Focus Area 1: Collaboration:The Partnership Intermediary is expected to enhance partnering, both domestic and international, between ERDC, academia, industry, other government agencies and entrepreneurs by identifying and facilitating the development of new R&D partnerships and stimulating early-stage partnership R&D activities. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to be well versed in the ERDC technology campaign portfolio as well as technology portfolios of proposed partners to facilitate match-making services that leverage the complementary capabilities and expertise of ERDC and each partner. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to identify and shape opportunities to share / develop collaborative research facilities at either ERDC or a partner organization. The Partnership Intermediary shall increase ERDC's visibility in online research communities via data hubs, blogs and other web strategies as part of ERDC's collaboration and technology transfer plan. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to facilitate opportunities for collaboration through the exchange of personnel / students, licensing of intellectual property (IP), and sharing and development of research facilities through vehicles such as educational partnership agreements (EPAs), cooperative R&D agreements (CRADAs), and cooperative agreements (CAs). Focus Area 2: Technology Transfer/Transition:Emerging cooperative relationships often lead to the initiation of collaborative R&D projects, business partnerships and joint ventures that benefit both organizations. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to be knowledgeable of all aspects of the technology transfer process between ERDC, academia, industry, other government agencies, and entrepreneurs. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to identify external partners to facilitate the use of ERDC IP with partners through vehicles such as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Cooperative Agreements (CAs), and patent license agreements (PLAs). The Partnership Intermediary is expected to develop strategies to create and incubate small business start-up opportunities for the purpose of federal engagement and partnership. Intermediary should actively assist with IP portfolio management, identify opportunities for ERDC to collaborate with partners using ERDC IP inventory and ERDC unique testing facilities/capabilities. Focus Area 3: Science & Engineering (S&E) Workforce Development: Recent years have seen an increasing need for lifelong learning based on the acceleration of technological change and the need to renew the skills and knowledge of the existing workforce. ERDC is committed to fostering and strengthening a culture of innovation. We wish to engage the ranks of the highly skilled S&T community and facilitate the cross-fertilization of ideas and learning. The Partnership Intermediary is expected to seek out opportunities to identify academic partners that wish to engage with ERDC on specific research areas of interest or in emerging areas with high potential payoff for the Army. The Partnership Intermediary is also expected to identify any virtual classrooms, data warehouse or educational laboratories which ERDC may augment in pursuit of STEM national readiness. Submission Request:Entities that may qualify as PIA partners can submit a White Paper (WP) to inform the ERDC requiring activity on the entities' capabilities.Requested information is detailed below:1.0 Specify how your entity qualifies as a PIA Partner in accordance with the statute 15 U.S.C 3715(c).1.1 Provide a brief description of each PIA your entity has had in the past 5 years. Include the following:-PIA identification number-Period of Performance-Government Partner(s)-Location(s) Where Primary Services Performed-Cumulative dollar value of each Agreement-Experience at operating and maintaining an Innovation Hub(s) that services DoD/Federal Laboratory technologies. An innovation hub is defined as a flexible and configurable space designed to foster creativity, encourage collaboration, generate and develop ideas and technological prototypes or advances. Identify the mechanism(s) of operation and maintenance to service the collaboration and partnerships between DoD/Federal, Private Industry and Academia partnership. -Brief summary of types of services provided and how those services align to ERDC’s Partnership Intermediary focus areas to enhance Collaboration, Technology Transfer/Transition, S&E Workforce Development, increasing the likelihood of success in the conduct of cooperative or joint activities.1.2 Sample Collaborative Project Order. Provide a brief discussion on your approach to accomplish the Sample Collaborative Project Order (Appendix A) and a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for the sample.2.0 Format: White Papers shall meet the following requirements:-Electronic format-Font: Times New Roman, 12 Point-Microsoft Office 2013 or compatible format and/or PDF format-Naming convention: Organization Name – White Paper Title - MMDDYYYY with no more than 50 characters and no special characters-Page Limit: White Papers addressing 1.0 & 1.1 shall not exceed five (5) pages and the response to the sample collaborative project order outlined in 1.2 shall not exceed five (5) pages; for a total of ten (10) pages. The cover page is not counted in this page limit. All pages other than the cover page shall be numbered.3.0 Submission: Responses to this notice shall be submitted NLT 12:00 PM, August 4, 2022 to: chelsea.m.whitten@usace.army.mil4.0 Disclaimers/Notifications: ERDC reserves the right to make multiple awards under this announcement.ERDC may request clarification of White Paper submissions when deemed necessary. Information Papers submitted for review purposes under this RFI will not be returned.ERDC is under no obligation to provide feedback with respect to any information submitted by an eligible applicant under this RFI. There is no guarantee that any submission in response to this RFI will result in the establishment of a PIA with an eligible applicant. Any information submitted by an eligible applicant in response to this RFI may be used to help ERDC further define its PIA needs. ERDC may select a Partnership Intermediary based solely on an RFI submission. ERDC may discuss the RFI submissions with one or more eligible applicants prior to the selection of a Partnership Intermediary.Any offeror selected from this announcement must meet the requirements of 2 CFR 200.305(b) in order to qualify for advance payments.Place of Contract Performance:Physical presence in the Vicksburg MS area is not required at the time of submission; however, during performance of any subsequent partnership (via PIA with ERDC), a major footprint in Vicksburg MS will be required.

Background: Rare earth elements (REE) are critical components of many advanced technologies including magnets in hard drives and components of lasers. Of the 17 rare earth elements, 16 (cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium) are designated critical minerals and are present in different combinations and concentrations depending on the primary (e.g. ores, red mud, geological deposits) and secondary (e-waste, coal ash and landfill leachate) sources of the critical minerals. Of these 16, all except for cerium and lanthanum, are in undersupply. Individual REE are used in different combinations to develop advanced technologies necessitating the isolation of elements from primary and secondary sources and the purification of defined REE mixtures or individual elements. However current approaches are energy and solvent intensive and do not easily separate the different REE from each other. Biotechnology applications such as bioleaching and biosorption are promising approaches for REE recovery but require further research and development to increase selectivity, efficiency, cost effectiveness and scalability. Brief Description of Anticipated Work: Required Work Objectives: This project will develop novel microbes with increased capability to dissolve and capture REE from solid sources such as crushed ore and e-waste. The project will also examine approaches to increase the selectivity and affinity of biomolecules for different REE. Additionally, the project will investigate different technologies/approaches that improve scalability of REE recovery processes (e.g. concentration and monitoring of REEs during processing). The ultimate goal of this effort is to develop methods that accelerate our ability to recover individual or discrete mixtures of REE from domestic primary and secondary sources. Objective 1: Increase the selectivity and affinity of biomolecules for different REE. Create semi-synthetic platforms for specific lanthanide-binding, with the reliance on modification of proteins and spores using designed chemical structures for chelation moieties. These platforms should improve the concentration of lanthanides by spores and proteins, while providing methods for tuning protein/spore affinity and selectivity. The specificities of both the semi-synthetic and protein-alone chelators should be further modified using computational models to design peptides and proteins with a variety of affinities and specificities for REE.Objective 2: Technologies/approaches that improve scalability of REE recovery processes. Surfaces of fluorescent proteins should be modified to create protein biosensors that can bind lanthanides with high affinity and selectivity, and also allow FRET detection both in vitro and in vivo of lanthanides (samarium, europium, terbium, and dysprosium). Such biosensors will serve as tools for monitoring the efficiencies of processing streams and of the efficacies of different technologies. The successful offeror work with ERDC researchers to examine novel approaches to condense process streams to increase efficiency of downstream processing events.Results from these objectives will be communicated to ERDC regularly in interim reports and transferred to the Public using conference presentations and the peer-reviewed literature. All methods and protocols will accompany the results and meet peer-review scrutiny for any interim reports. A successful application would likely include experience with genetic engineering of spores, molecular evolution and synthetic biology, and successful publication record of these methods. Public Benefit: Development of approaches to harvest critical minerals from domestic sources is essential to establishing secure domestic supply chains for REE. Furthermore, the environmentally friendly biotechnologies developed here will greatly lower adverse environmental and climate effects caused by existing REE mining approaches. Further, understanding how to selectively isolate REE from many sources will greatly increase our ability to isolate other critical minerals. This project will benefit the public by providing new approaches to harvest critical minerals, by educating the public about environmentally friendly approaches for mining/recycling, and by increasing availability of critical materials for development of advanced technology.

Background: Locally-available wood offers attractive environmental benefits when used in bank stabilization. However, engineers in much of the country are uneasy using wood in bank protection designs due to lack of standard design tools based on scientifically sound information. The Engineering With Nature program has funded the development of a software update in the USACE river analysis software HEC-RAS to facilitate design and analysis of large wood in rivers. This update will plug into existing work flows and utilize familiar software for bank stabilization design and will greatly facilitate the consideration of natural wood by many more river engineers. Major Tasks Are To: (1) Identify data gaps of using large wood design for rivers and provide potential methods for addressing gaps. The CESU non-federal partner will be tasked with reaching out to appropriate agency, university, and private experts. Part of this task will be to host a 1-day interagency meeting with invited experts. The venue itself will be provided by USACE or a partner agency free of charge. It is expected that information on state of the knowledge will be presented as launching points for discussion.(2) Using information gathered from Task 1, research how to calculate driving and resisting forces on large wood in rivers. Information on best materials and practices shall be reported as well as environmental variables that impact the use of large wood in rivers. A large part of this task will be to code stand alone software to be integrated into the USACE HEC-RAS software. Requirements of the software is that it must read from the 1D hydraulic model output files in order to compute driving forces, resisting forces, and factors of safety. The software application must provide simple visualizations in cross section and plan view. It must also read from tables of wood properties which will be provided by USACE. Data will flow one way, from HEC-RAS to the application. It is not required to write information back to RAS or include options within existing tools or displays. it is to be written using WinUI, utilizing Xamel islands in WinUI to use CSIchart. Close coordination with the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center is required, and prior experience reading HEC-RAS output is strongly desired, so the final tool can be seamlessly incorporated into RAS. In addition, the successful Recipient is to document ways the tool could be enhanced in the future for use with RAS2D.a. Note: USACE will select the equations to be coded based on feedback at the interagency meeting described above and will provide worked-out spreadsheet examples. The Recipient is not responsible to make the selection.(3) Provide a literature review and short scoping document on ways to automate high-level geomorphic assessments sufficient for deriving channel velocity and bank height. Previous experience automatically computing geomorphic values over large regions is strongly desired.(4) (Option for outyears) Develop and maintain an online platform to facilitate landowners in applying new bank stabilization methods, locating headcut locations within large watersheds, and generating stream centerlines and other enhancements to enable cross section analysis. Public Benefit: HEC-RAS is the most commonly used river analysis and design software in the world—standalone software applications added to HEC-RAS find quick adoption and use by the Public. The wood calculator will allow engineers to compute force and moment balances and factors of safety. By facilitating these computations, engineers will be more able to determine when additional anchoring is needed or when such features should not be implemented at all due to excessive hydraulic forces. This will increase the reliability and robustness of large wood designs, which should both reduce project failures and make engineers more comfortable to include wood features in bank stabilization and other projects.

Background: Understanding how Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are influenced by vegetation structure allows for the determination of how specific technologies might be affected in certain forested environments. The work we are seeking shall involve creating detailed vegetation structure models and assessment of GPS coverage to support assured position, navigation, timing (APNT) activities and tests in forested and mixed topographic relief areas. Brief Description of Anticipated Work: Provide detailed vegetation data analysis for assessment of loss and degraded GPS signals which could include canopy structure, speciation, and dimensionality. Applicant would create and supply these data prior to APNT field tests and would provide technical assistance in analyzing vegetation during tests. 2) Provide field base of operations for position, navigation, and timing experiments including outdoor space, laboratory space (computer, wet, dry), wooded and non-wooded terrain drives, and collaboration space. Facilities must have high speed internet and availability for web conferencing. Local geodetic control monuments to aid in measurements and terrain input for maneuvers are required. 3) Provide access to spatial data including current and detailed aerial imagery and other field systems (web based), to assist in identifying and “pre-delineate” areas that would not be suitable for navigation experiments. 4) Acquire and provide access to on-site real-time data for experiments including, continually operated reference sites/real-time kinematic (CORS/RTK) GPS and real-time meteorological data with known geodetic control. 5) Provide access to dormitory facilities for use in multiday experiments. 6) Provide vessel support and crew for testing sensors for aquatic navigation