| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 18, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 5, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 1559691 |
| Award Instrument: | Cooperative Agreement |
| Program Manager: |
Vladimir Papitashvili
vpapita@nsf.gov (703)292-7425 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $11,180,051.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $18,914,586.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $2,602,471.00 FY 2018 = $5,153,070.00 FY 2019 = $3,228,075.00 FY 2020 = $2,706,280.00 FY 2021 = $2,706,570.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2221 UNIVERSITY AVE SE STE 100 MINNEAPOLIS MN US 55414-3074 (612)624-5599 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1954 Buford Ave. St. Paul MN US 55108-1062 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
ANT Instrum & Facilities, Antarctic Operations Support, ARCTIC RES & POLICY SUPPORT PR, ARC Rsch Support & Logistics, Integrat & Collab Ed & Rsearch, Leadership-Class Computing |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
Title: The Polar Geospatial Center: Community and Facility Support
Non-Technical Abstract
The Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) is a polar science and logistics support organization at the University of Minnesota. The research community finds itself in the midst of a scientific and geospatial revolution sparked by the availability of an unprecedented volume of open geospatial data, as well as access to high-resolution optical imagery made available by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). In support of NSF?s Polar science mission of understanding the earth and its systems, exploring the geographical frontier, and performing science enabled by in polar setting, PGC uses these data to provide mapping, GIS, and remote sensing solutions to researchers and logistics groups. PGC provides products and services including: mapping and GIS analysis; access to sub-meter commercial satellite imagery for the Antarctic and Arctic; expertise to task, manage, process and deliver high-level value-added products to the NSF polar community; domain and institutional knowledge to solve a broad range of geospatial problems; and educational courses including online material to transfer PGC?s knowledge and experience to the community. The PGC is collaborating with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to create a publicly available high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the entire Arctic from high-resolution satellite imagery. These data will be used by the Arctic community to support activities including transportation, national defense, land management, sustainable development, and scientific studies.
Technical Abstract
The Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) facilitates access to geospatial resources and knowledge for the polar community. PGC staff has a direct one-to-one relationship with each user, tailoring product delivery to the expertise and needs of the user?s specific science or logistics goals. To this end, PGC maintains an extensive online archive of sub-meter electro-optical commercial imagery licensed through the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency?s (NGA) EnhancedView program. PGC works to automate labor-intensive processing workflows using the Extreme Science and Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and Blue Waters high performance computing infrastructures, and is developing a web-based imagery and geospatial product delivery system (FRIDGE; Federal Research Imagery Download and Geodata Exploration). This delivery system is based around a task management and queuing tool that interfaces with PGC?s user management database and PGC?s HPC cluster. Polar digital elevation models (DEM) will be produced using the Surface Extraction from TIN-based Search-space Minimization (SETSM) algorithm and the Ames Stereo Pipeline. These products have an expected accuracy of 4m without ground control and sub-meter accuracy when ground control is used. A key component of PGC's mission is training of today's young geospatial students in the use of imagery to solve scientific problems. PGC offers workshops, online instructional material, and collaborative imagery processing workflow development. PGC?s goal is to provide rapid and cost-effective access to geospatial data and education for the purpose of promoting polar science.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Intellectual merit:
The Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) at the University of Minnesota solves geospatial problems in the Arctic and Antarctic by working with researchers on mapping and remote sensing projects for the most remote locations on Earth. PGC provides an array of important services for the polar science and operations communities. These include: access to sub-meter, high-resolution satellite imagery for the Antarctic and Arctic for funded research proposals and logistics support; expertise to generate derived products from this imagery and other geospatial data; an archive of historical and contemporary polar geographic data and maps; and education of the polar community in how to maximize the value of data products served by PGC.
Broader impacts:
PGC promotes geospatial literacy through our students and engagement efforts. Guides and documentation published on the website provide information and training for students and scientists alike. PGC also distributes geospatial datasets, including the polar imagery-derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), to the wider public. PGC’s goal is to provide rapid and cost-effective access to geospatial data and education for the purpose of promoting polar science with a focus on communities traditionally left out of polar research and exploration.
PGC has supported polar science by facilitating the community’s implementation of innovative new techniques and products, such as measuring Earth’s topography, creating geologic maps, counting vertebrate populations, and quantifying meltwater on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet. Collectively, PGC’s polar data archive and user support has transformed the way researchers and support personnel plan and execute their work. PGC’s products help researchers address pressing gaps in scientific understanding of polar regions, including measuring polar ice loss, permafrost changes, climate-driven ecosystem shifts, and impacts of extreme weather events. PGC educates the next generation of polar researchers in the proper use and analysis of geospatial products through online educational material, accessible documentation, in-person workshops and student employment and mentorship. PGC also serves as a source of public geospatial data that empowers researchers, educators, and others from outside the NSF polar community to investigate the limits of the current understanding of earth surface processes. PGC’s partnership with industry (Google, ESRI) and other government agencies (NASA, NGA) further enhances availability and accessibility of geospatial data via these partners’ platforms. Most importantly, PGC’s innovative products and user-focused approach have (1) expanded what is possible for researchers to imagine and (2) elevated the tools the entire scientific community expects to have for their analysis.
Last Modified: 07/12/2024
Modified by: Jonathan W Pundsack
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