November 3, 2023
Dear Colleague:
NSF recognizes the unique contribution of offshore geodetic measurements and recently funded the construction of 48 seafloor geodetic transponders, their benchmarks, and 3 wave gliders. A community workshop and report https://www.seafloorgeodesy.org/post/future-directions-in-seafloor-geodesy-2021-community-workshop highlighted several recommendations for the application of seafloor geodetic techniques to constraining offshore geodetic measurements in different environments. A follow-on community workshop https://www.seafloorgeodesy.org/post/workshop-on-the-alaska-and-cascadia-seafloor-geodetic-community-experiment discussed the design of a community experiment to deploy a subset of this instrument pool in the Cascadia and Alaskan subduction zones.
The subduction community experiment will only use a subset of the instruments available which leaves enough instruments to address other science needs. Considering this, NSF invites proposals for field campaigns to deploy seafloor transponders from the existing instrument pool for 4 sites at tectonic settings consistent with priorities identified in the 2021 Community Workshop report. The geodetic instruments have a depth limit of 3000 m. A multi-year deployment is envisioned with requisite waveglider surveys. Of particular interest are proposals that target volcanic processes, transform processes, plate motions, or polar regions.
Projects can be PI-driven or Community-driven. Proposers should contact program officers Gail Christeson gchriste@nsf.gov or Michael Jackson mejackso@nsf.gov early in the proposal development process for seafloor geodetic facility budget preparation guidance. Proposals should be submitted by February 15, 2024, for full consideration.