Opportunity Information: Apply for P15AS01065
Apply for P15AS01065
- The National Park Service in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "High resolution hydrologic modeling of Glacier Bay National Park" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945 Cooperative Research and Training Programs Resources of the National Park System.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jun 27, 2015 and posted on Jun 27, 2015.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 11, 2015. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $42,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- This is a notice of intent to award to Oregon State University. Please see the attachment for more details.
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Park Service (NPS) grant opportunity titled "High resolution hydrologic modeling of Glacier Bay National Park" (Funding Announcement Number P15AS01065) is a notice of intent to award, meaning it is not open for applications and is posted strictly to inform the public that NPS plans to fund a specific recipient without full and open competition. The planned award is a new cooperative agreement to Oregon State University (OSU), led by Principal Investigator Dr. David F. Hill in OSU's School of Civil and Construction Engineering, with Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve staff serving key project management and technical roles. The anticipated federal funding is about $41,702 (roughly $42,000 total listed elsewhere), with no cost share requirement, and a performance window running from late August 2015 through early December 2016. The project sits under CFDA 15.945, within the Cooperative Research and Training Programs associated with the NPS Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network, and is supported under authorities including 54 USC 100703 and 54 USC 101702.
At its core, the project addresses a major data gap in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP): freshwater runoff is one of the main drivers shaping the bay's salinity, temperature, and density structure, and it heavily influences circulation patterns and water residence times. Those physical conditions, in turn, affect ecological dynamics across the system, so understanding runoff is not just a hydrology question but a foundational input to broader oceanographic and biological work in the park. However, streamflow monitoring in Alaska is sparse, and Glacier Bay is no exception, which makes it difficult or impossible to close the park's hydrologic budget using monitoring alone. The solution proposed here is a process-based modeling effort that can reconstruct and describe runoff across the entire watershed at a level of detail that field networks cannot realistically provide.
NPS and OSU plan to jointly develop a high-resolution, physically based hydrologic model for the GBNPP watershed that explicitly represents snow accumulation, snowmelt, and ice melt, and then routes the resulting runoff through terrain to the coastline. The model is designed to be fine-grained in both space and time, operating on a 100 to 500 meter spatial grid and a daily time step. That daily resolution is important because it allows the model to capture within-season variability and even individual rainfall events, rather than only broad seasonal averages. The model results will ultimately be checked against real-world measurements, with validation tied to physical oceanographic data collected by park staff, reflecting the idea that runoff signals should appear in coastal water properties and circulation patterns.
A major feature of the work is its explicit handling of uncertainty in weather and precipitation inputs, which are often the largest drivers of uncertainty in runoff modeling in remote, mountainous, glacier-influenced regions. Instead of relying on a single forcing dataset, the project will run the model using three widely used weather products: NARR (North American Regional Reanalysis), MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications), and PRISM (Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model). By producing an ensemble of runoff simulations driven by these different meteorological datasets, the project can quantify how sensitive runoff estimates are to the choice of forcing data, which helps users interpret results appropriately and supports more defensible downstream applications in ocean modeling and resource management.
The expected deliverables are strongly oriented toward practical reuse by scientists and park staff. The primary output is a 30-year hindcast dataset of runoff for the entire GBNPP watershed, provided at daily intervals and the stated high spatial resolution. The data will be delivered in netCDF format, a standard, platform-independent file structure commonly used for gridded environmental and climate data and well-suited for immediate integration into modeling workflows. In addition to watershed-wide outputs, the project will also produce derived files that extract runoff specifically at coastline grid cells, effectively packaging the freshwater inputs in a form that can be directly injected into a hydrodynamic or ocean circulation model of Glacier Bay. Alongside the technical datasets, the project will produce visual and interpretive materials, including still images and animations showing the behavior of snowfall, ice melt, and runoff over time. These outreach-oriented products will be shaped by input from park management and interpretation staff, and they are intended to support public communication about hydrology and climate-driven change in Glacier Bay.
Roles are split in a way that reflects the cooperative agreement structure and the "substantial involvement" expected from NPS. OSU's responsibilities include staffing (Dr. Hill as PI and a graduate student), participating in model-development coordination with NPS, building the hydrologic model, calibrating and validating it with available public field data, running the full set of 30-year simulations at the required resolution, conducting the three-product weather forcing comparison, packaging outputs in netCDF for broad accessibility, and delivering presentations, training, and a final technical report in an NPS Natural Resource Technical Series format (peer reviewed). OSU is also expected to maintain regular communication with NPS staff, comply with NPS quality control requirements for scientific products in the Pacific West Region, and properly acknowledge NPS and the Pacific Northwest CESU in all resulting products. NPS, for its part, provides the funding, assigns key staff (Scott Gende as Agreement Technical Representative and Lisa Etherington as Project Manager), supplies critical base data such as digital elevation model (DEM) layers used in model construction, participates in technical coordination and review, helps guide and select outreach products, and reviews drafts within set timelines while ensuring the project meets NPS scientific quality standards.
The reason this award is being issued as a single-source action rather than a competed opportunity is documented under the Department of the Interior single-source policy (505 DM 2) using the "Unique Qualifications" justification. NPS argues that Dr. David Hill is uniquely positioned to carry out this work because he has specialized in hydrologic modeling tied to Glacier Bay and the broader Gulf of Alaska since 2007, and he has already built a relevant foundation of tools, datasets, and local research connections. The justification highlights his prior peer-reviewed publications directly connected to Glacier Bay hydrology and the coupling of runoff to circulation modeling, as well as related work linking physical processes to wildlife habitat use and geomorphic development in recently deglaciated streams. It also notes his involvement in a Gulf-of-Alaska-scale freshwater discharge modeling effort using similar tools, and emphasizes that prior investments by other funders mean he can complete the Glacier Bay high-resolution work efficiently within a short timeline and modest budget.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is the title and funding announcement number for this grant opportunity?
The opportunity is titled "High resolution hydrologic modeling of Glacier Bay National Park" and it is identified as Funding Announcement Number P15AS01065.
2) Is this opportunity open for applications?
No. This is a notice of intent to award, which means it is not open for applications. It is posted to inform the public that the National Park Service (NPS) plans to fund a specific recipient without full and open competition.
3) Who is the planned recipient?
The planned recipient is Oregon State University (OSU), through a new cooperative agreement.
4) Who is leading the project at Oregon State University?
The project is led by Principal Investigator Dr. David F. Hill in OSU's School of Civil and Construction Engineering.
5) What roles will Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve staff play?
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve staff will serve key project management and technical roles. Named roles include Scott Gende as the Agreement Technical Representative and Lisa Etherington as the Project Manager. NPS staff will also coordinate technically, review deliverables, provide base data (such as DEM layers), and help guide outreach products.
6) What is the anticipated funding amount?
The anticipated federal funding is about $41,702 (also described elsewhere as roughly $42,000 total).
7) Is there a cost share or matching requirement?
No. The opportunity specifies no cost share requirement.
8) What is the performance period for the project?
The performance window is expected to run from late August 2015 through early December 2016.
9) What CFDA number is associated with this project?
This project sits under CFDA 15.945, within Cooperative Research and Training Programs associated with the NPS Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network.
10) What authorities support this cooperative agreement?
The opportunity references authorities including 54 USC 100703 and 54 USC 101702.
11) What problem or data gap is the project trying to solve?
The project addresses a major data gap in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: limited ability to measure and characterize freshwater runoff across the watershed. Runoff is described as a key driver of the bay's salinity, temperature, and density structure, influencing circulation patterns and water residence times, which then affect ecological dynamics. Because streamflow monitoring in Alaska (including Glacier Bay) is sparse, monitoring alone cannot realistically close the park's hydrologic budget.
12) What is the overall approach being funded?
NPS and OSU plan to develop a high-resolution, physically based hydrologic model for the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve watershed. The model will explicitly represent snow accumulation, snowmelt, and ice melt, then route runoff through terrain to the coastline.
13) What spatial and temporal resolution will the hydrologic model use?
The model is intended to operate on a 100 to 500 meter spatial grid and a daily time step. The daily time step is meant to capture within-season variability and individual rainfall events, not just seasonal averages.
14) How will the model results be checked or validated?
The results will be checked against real-world measurements, with validation tied to physical oceanographic data collected by park staff. The underlying idea is that runoff signals should be reflected in coastal water properties and circulation patterns.
15) Why does the project run multiple weather and precipitation datasets instead of just one?
The opportunity describes weather and precipitation inputs as a major source of uncertainty in runoff modeling for remote, mountainous, glacier-influenced regions. To handle that uncertainty explicitly, the project will run an ensemble using three widely used weather products to show how sensitive runoff estimates are to the forcing data choice.
16) Which weather products will be used to force the model?
The project will use NARR (North American Regional Reanalysis), MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications), and PRISM (Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model).
17) What is meant by an "ensemble" of runoff simulations in this project?
In this context, "ensemble" means producing multiple runoff simulations by driving the same hydrologic model with different meteorological datasets (NARR, MERRA, and PRISM). Comparing these outputs helps quantify uncertainty and sensitivity tied to weather forcing choices.
18) What are the primary deliverables?
The primary output is a 30-year hindcast dataset of runoff for the entire Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve watershed, provided at daily intervals and at the stated high spatial resolution. The deliverables also include derived coastline runoff files, visual products (still images and animations), presentations and training, and a final peer-reviewed technical report.
19) What does "30-year hindcast" mean here?
Based on the description provided, it refers to a reconstructed, model-based dataset describing runoff conditions over a 30-year historical period (a retrospective simulation rather than a future forecast).
20) In what file format will the runoff data be delivered?
The runoff dataset will be delivered in netCDF format, described as a standard, platform-independent structure commonly used for gridded environmental and climate data.
21) What are the "coastline grid cell" runoff outputs and why are they included?
In addition to watershed-wide outputs, the project will produce derived files that extract runoff specifically at coastline grid cells. These are intended to package freshwater inputs in a form that can be directly used in a hydrodynamic or ocean circulation model of Glacier Bay.
22) What outreach or interpretive materials are expected?
The project includes still images and animations showing the behavior of snowfall, ice melt, and runoff over time. These products will be shaped by input from park management and interpretation staff and are intended to support public communication about hydrology and climate-driven change in Glacier Bay.
23) What responsibilities are assigned to Oregon State University under the cooperative agreement?
OSU responsibilities include staffing (Dr. Hill and a graduate student), coordinating model development with NPS, building the hydrologic model, calibrating and validating it using available public field data, running the full 30-year simulations at required resolution, conducting the three-product forcing comparison, packaging outputs in netCDF, delivering presentations and training, and producing a final technical report in an NPS Natural Resource Technical Series format (peer reviewed). OSU is also expected to communicate regularly with NPS, comply with NPS quality control requirements for scientific products in the Pacific West Region, and acknowledge NPS and the Pacific Northwest CESU in resulting products.
24) What responsibilities are assigned to NPS under the cooperative agreement?
NPS responsibilities include providing funding; assigning key staff roles; supplying critical base data such as digital elevation model (DEM) layers; participating in technical coordination, review, and guidance; helping guide and select outreach products; reviewing drafts within set timelines; and ensuring the project meets NPS scientific quality standards.
25) Why is this being awarded as a single-source action rather than competed?
The opportunity states the award is justified under the Department of the Interior single-source policy (505 DM 2) using a "Unique Qualifications" justification. NPS argues Dr. David Hill is uniquely positioned due to his long-term specialization in Glacier Bay and Gulf of Alaska hydrologic modeling since 2007, existing tools and datasets, local research connections, and peer-reviewed publications linking Glacier Bay runoff to circulation modeling and related physical and ecological processes. The justification also notes prior investments by other funders that enable completion efficiently within a short timeline and modest budget.
26) What is the relationship to the CESU network?
The project is described as being within the NPS Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network and associated Cooperative Research and Training Programs (CFDA 15.945). The opportunity also states that products should acknowledge NPS and the Pacific Northwest CESU.
27) What kind of scientific quality standards apply to project outputs?
OSU is expected to comply with NPS quality control requirements for scientific products in the Pacific West Region, and NPS will review drafts and ensure the project meets NPS scientific quality standards. The final technical report is expected to be peer reviewed in the NPS Natural Resource Technical Series format.
28) What base data will NPS provide for model development?
NPS will supply critical base data including digital elevation model (DEM) layers used in model construction.
29) How is "substantial involvement" reflected in this cooperative agreement?
Substantial involvement is reflected through NPS staff participation in technical coordination, provision of key datasets (like DEMs), guidance on outreach products, formal review of drafts on timelines, and oversight to ensure compliance with NPS scientific quality standards, alongside OSU carrying out model development and dataset production.
30) What kinds of downstream uses are implied for the runoff outputs?
The opportunity specifically points to reuse in hydrodynamic or ocean circulation modeling of Glacier Bay by providing coastline runoff files, and it also frames the runoff dataset as foundational input to broader oceanographic and biological work in the park.
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