Award Abstract # 2129685
The Polar Geospatial Center: Community and Facility Support

NSF Org: OPP
Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
Recipient: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Initial Amendment Date: August 16, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: September 13, 2024
Award Number: 2129685
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: September 1, 2021
End Date: August 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $7,117,195.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $8,847,521.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $2,626,594.00
FY 2022 = $3,136,304.00

FY 2023 = $2,682,224.00

FY 2024 = $402,399.00
History of Investigator:
  • James Dickson (Principal Investigator)
    jdickson@umn.edu
  • Claire Porter (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Charles Nguyen (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Cole Kelleher (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Paul Morin (Former Principal Investigator)
  • Jonathan Pundsack (Former Principal Investigator)
  • Jonathan Pundsack (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Jonathan Pundsack (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
2221 UNIVERSITY AVE SE STE 100
MINNEAPOLIS
MN  US  55414-3074
(612)624-5599
Sponsor Congressional District: 05
Primary Place of Performance: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
1954 Buford Ave.
Saint Paul
MN  US  55108-1062
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
04
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): KABJZBBJ4B54
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): ARCTIC RESEARCH PROJECTS,
Human-Envi & Geographical Scis,
Instrumentation & Facilities,
ANT Instrum & Facilities,
Antarctic Operations Support,
Polar Cyberinfrastructure
Primary Program Source: 0100CYXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
0100CYXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002223RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 5294, 4444
Program Element Code(s): 520100, 141Y00, 158000, 164700, 514000, 540700
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050, 47.075, 47.078

ABSTRACT

The Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) is a polar science and logistics support organization at the University of Minnesota. By distributing and using high-resolution optical imagery made available by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to U.S. Government-funded researchers, PGC is able to solve various geospatial problems for scientists to study both the Arctic and Antarctic with mapping and remote sensing projects. This helps to support the National Science Foundation's mission to understand the Earth and its global and regional system by facilitating innovative new techniques and products - such as Digital Elevation Models for both polar regions, mapping seasonal changes of sea ice coverage and dynamics of continental ice sheets (e.g., ice loss due to global climate change and quantification of meltwater on the ice sheet surface in Greenland and Antarctica), preparing detailed topography maps for polar atmospheric and ocean studies, glaciology, geology, geophysics, and permafrost changes, identifying actual coastlines masked by ice or meltwater and impacts of extreme weather events, watching polar flora seasonal changes and climate-driven ecosystem shifts, and even counting vertebrate (e.g., polar bears, penguins, etc.) populations.

The PGC facilitates scientists' access to geospatial resources and respective domain knowledge by providing the following products and services to the NSF polar community: (1) Access to billions of square kilometers of repeat-coverage commercial satellite imagery licensed from multiple companies by U.S. Government agencies for the Antarctic and Arctic; (2) The PGC's specific institutional knowledge to solve a broad range of geospatial, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence problems; and (3) Geospatial educational courses and online materials to translate the PGC?s expertise and experience to the NSF polar science community and encourage diverse graduate and undergraduate students to participate in the polar remote sensing and geospatial science. PGC educates the next generation of scientists with the use and manipulation of geospatial products through online educational materials, accessible documentation, and student employment and mentorship. PGC will work to broaden participation in polar (and) geospatial science through partnership with minority-serving institutions. PGC is also 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 enhance availability and accessibility of geospatial data via these partners? platforms.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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