Inflation Reduction Act: Improving Alaska Flood Monitoring with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imagery

Agency: DOC NOAA - ERA Production

11.440 -- Environmental Sciences, Applications, Data, and Education

Archived opportunityLast Updated: May 13, 2026

Description

The Alaska and Arctic regions are significantly affected by climate variability and change. Risks of flooding and inundation present the region with economic, health, safety, and security challenges. As part of its mission to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information from satellites and other sources, NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) is working to enhance flood monitoring capabilities in Alaska.

This award will provide Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding for grantees to acquire and evaluate the potential of using commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to help monitor the extent and impacts of flooding in Alaskan communities. NOAA’s current flood monitoring products for Alaska have significant limitations as compared to capabilities possible over the contiguous United States. Challenges include limited satellite data coverage, frequent cloud cover, snow melt, dense forest cover, ice jams, un-managed rivers, and limited user access. Acquisition and evaluation of SAR imagery through this award will explore how to address these challenges, improving utilization of satellite observations and enhancing data accessibility.

...

Satellites with SAR sensors measure how energy reflects off the Earth to map surface features such as rivers, land, and floodwaters. Currently, SAR observations in Alaska are limited to coastal areas. There is limited SAR imagery coverage over Central Alaskan rivers, delaying the ability for emergency management personnel and forecasters to address the flood impacts. Additionally, current SAR observations can lack the resolution, low latency, frequencies, polarizations, and swath width to provide the timely and actionable data needed to support flood hazards. Adding targeted SAR observations from commercial imagery may address observation gaps.

As authorized by the IRA, P.L. 117-169, Section 40004, this NOFO aligns with the direction to “accelerate advances in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of information to the public.” Funds will support products and information that are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), analysis-ready, actionable, and authoritative.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

Miscellaneous

Other

Additional information

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, international organizations, and state, local, and Indian tribal governments. Federal agencies or institutions are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this NOFO. Collaborations and partnerships with NOAA laboratories, cooperative institutes, and centers are allowed. Federal employees are not eligible to be Lead-PIs. However, federal employees could be co-PI, co-I, and/or collaborators using in-kind contributions from their agency. A letter of support acknowledging participation in the proposed project by federal employees or federal contractors must be included in the application. For-profit organizations may participate as contractors or through other arrangements pertinent to the project that do not involve the transfer of funds.

Grantor contact information

Description

Sean Helfrich, Water Surface Conditions (WSC)/SAR Applications Lead, at sean.helfrich@noaa.gov or (301) 683-3328 and Rachel Zinn at Rachel.C.Zinn@noaa.gov, Program Analyst.

Email

Business

sean.helfrich@noaa.gov

Documents

File name	Description	Last updated
NOAA-NESDIS-STAR-2025-28317.pdf	NOAA-NESDIS-STAR-2025-28317	Sep 17, 2024 07:41 PM UTC
GMD_Budget_Narrative_Guidance.pdf	GMD Budget Narrative Guidance	Sep 17, 2024 07:42 PM UTC

Link to additional information

Archived: January 22, 2025

Application process

This site is a work in progress. Go to www.grants.gov to apply, track application status, and subscribe to updates.

Award

$--

Program Funding

Expected awards

$100,000

Award Minimum

$300,000

Award Maximum

Funding opportunity number:

NOAA-NESDIS-STAR-2025-28317

Cost sharing or matching requirement:

Funding instrument type:

Cooperative agreement

Grant

Opportunity Category:

Discretionary

Opportunity Category Explanation:

Category of Funding Activity:

Business and commerce

Science technology and other research and development

Category Explanation:

History

Version:

Posted date:

September 17, 2024

Archive date:

January 22, 2025