Notice of Intent | USGS 17 FA 0363

Opportunity Information: Apply for USGS 17 FA 0363

This Notice of Intent (Funding Opportunity Number USGS 17 FA 0363) is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) focused on natural resources research related to wildfire danger prediction in Alaska. The planned project centers on assessing Alaska fire indices and how well they perform for predicting wildfire danger across different time horizons, specifically from daily conditions out to seasonal outlooks. The work is framed around both present-day climate conditions and future climate scenarios, meaning the project is expected to look not only at how current indices behave now, but also how their usefulness and reliability may change as Alaska experiences ongoing climate-driven shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, snow dynamics, and fuel conditions that influence fire activity.

The core purpose is to evaluate and potentially improve the scientific basis for using fire weather and fire danger indices in Alaska, with an emphasis on practical prediction of wildfire danger at multiple timescales. Daily prediction typically relates to near-term operational decisions, such as readiness levels and immediate fire potential based on current weather and fuel moisture conditions. Seasonal prediction relates more to broader planning questions, such as anticipated severity of the fire season, the timing of elevated risk periods, and resource allocation decisions. By explicitly including future climate scenarios, the opportunity indicates an interest in understanding whether commonly used indices remain robust under changing baseline climate conditions or whether recalibration, alternative metrics, or new modeling approaches may be necessary to maintain predictive skill.

The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which usually signals substantial involvement or collaboration with the awarding agency during the project. In practice, that can mean iterative coordination with USGS scientists or program staff, shared data or analytical approaches, alignment with agency priorities, and potentially joint interpretation of results. The activity category is listed as Natural Resources, and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number associated with the opportunity is 15.820, which corresponds to USGS research and cooperative programs.

Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, so the intended applicants are typically state universities or similar public academic institutions with research capacity in fields such as fire science, climatology, hydrology, ecology, atmospheric science, statistical modeling, or related areas. The opportunity anticipates a single award (Expected Awards: 1), indicating a competitive selection for one project team rather than multiple smaller grants. The award ceiling is $133,393, which effectively caps the maximum expected federal funding amount for the project under this announcement.

Key administrative details include a creation date of July 28, 2017, and an original closing date of August 11, 2017, reflecting a short response window typical of certain targeted or time-sensitive research needs. The title is listed as "Notice of Intent," which often implies an announcement that signals the agency's intent to fund a specific project or a narrow scope of work, sometimes in connection with an existing collaboration or a defined research gap the agency wants addressed quickly. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a focused, Alaska-specific fire danger research effort aimed at evaluating the performance of fire indices for operational and planning use, with a forward-looking component to ensure the findings remain relevant as climate conditions evolve.

• The Department of the Interior, Geological Survey in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.820.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 28, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 11, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $133,393.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for USGS 17 FA 0363

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