The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is part of NASA's implementation of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report, Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space released in early 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the "Decadal Survey"). The PACE mission remains part of its Program of Record, to be executed as planned by NASA. Technical documents and presentations related to the mission, including its Science Definition Team report and a series of NASA Technical Memoranda, can be found on the PACE website. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) is the primary instrument on the observatory, and it is complemented by two small, multiangle polarimeters: the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter 2 (HARP2) and Spectropolarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone). Key characteristics of the PACE observatory and anticipated science data products can also be found on the website. PACE is anticipated to launch in January 2024.
The purpose of this opportunity is to formulate the next Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science and Applications Team (SAT), which will be in place for a three-year period (FY24-26) during the post-launch PACE era. This program element is specifically focused on further refinement of the existing algorithms for ocean color, aerosol, and cloud data product or suite of products, and the development of advanced products that will push the boundaries of where and how PACE science retrievals function. This team will pursue product development to further enable basic and applied research, as well as applications activities, using PACE data. This program element encourages proposals that develop data products, applications, or models, as described below, to help address existing informational gaps, science questions, or applications needs across research and management disciplines and at the different Earth System interfaces using PACE data. Neither question/hypothesis-driven investigations nor PACE data validation activities are solicited here.
Specifically, this opportunity welcomes proposals from prospective Science and Applications Team members who wish to pursue development of algorithms and approaches to retrieve new and/or improved oceanic, atmospheric, or terrestrial science data products and applications from OCI, HARP2, and/or SPEXone. All new products must be of additional value relative to those currently planned for generation. Examples of such products include but are not limited to the retrieval of novel geophysical variables, the integration of PACE data records into Earth System models, the crossinstrument or cross-platform generation of variables using the suite of instruments on the PACE observatory and from other platforms, and applied solutions to decision support problems across a wide range of end users. Any improvements to existing approaches must be demonstrated as superior to currently planned approaches.
Deadlines:
- Notice of Intent: Sep. 28, 2023
- Proposal: Dec. 5, 2023