ROA 2009 C.3 NextGen Airportal Project (AP1R) (Recovery Act) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is the ROA 2009 C.3 NextGen Airportal Project (AP1R) opportunity?

It is a NASA Headquarters grant opportunity released under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for aeronautics research and technology development focused on the "airportal" domain (airport surface, terminal area, and closely connected metroplex airspace where traffic flows interact).

2) Which agency sponsors this funding opportunity?

The sponsoring agency is NASA Headquarters.

3) What is the Funding Opportunity Number?

NNH09ZEA001N AP1R.

4) What CFDA program is this associated with?

CFDA 43.004, Aeronautics, Recovery Act.

5) What is meant by the "airportal" domain in this announcement?

"Airportal" refers to the combined airport surface, terminal area, and the closely connected metroplex airspace where airport and airspace traffic flows interact and can create shared constraints and congestion effects.

6) What is the main purpose of the NextGen Airportal Project?

The program aims to advance foundational research and discipline-based technology development to improve how gates, taxiways, runways, and metroplex airspace are used, increasing capacity and throughput without compromising safety and while considering environmental constraints.

7) How does this effort connect to NextGen and JPDO?

The project is designed to coordinate closely with the broader NextGen Airspace Project and support the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) vision as defined by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO).

8) What is the core technical direction emphasized in the announcement?

The core direction centers on using 4D trajectories to plan and execute system-wide operations, integrating airborne and surface movement from "block to block" (including the path along the ground).

9) What are 4D trajectories in this context?

They are aircraft movement descriptions across space and time that span the full operation from "block to block," covering both airborne segments and ground movement.

10) What safety topics are explicitly highlighted?

The opportunity highlights wake hazard prediction and avoidance, including C-14 related wake considerations noted in the announcement, along with safe surface and terminal-area traffic management.

11) What kinds of operational improvements is NASA seeking?

The announcement describes improvements such as better efficiency and predictability at gates, taxiways, and runways; aligning surface capacity with arrival and departure flows; and improving throughput while maintaining safety and accounting for environmental constraints around airports.

12) What research activities are proposals expected to address?

The scope calls out activities including optimizing surface traffic, dynamic airport configuration management (for example, runway usage changes based on demand and weather), wake vortex hazard detection and avoidance technologies, and procedures for safe closely spaced and converging approaches at closer distances than current separation standards.

13) Does the opportunity include modeling and simulation work?

Yes. Modeling, simulation, and experimental validation are emphasized, including studies of single-airport operations and metroplex environments where multiple regional airports interact.

14) What is a metroplex in the context of this opportunity?

A metroplex refers to a regional environment where multiple airports operate in proximity and their operations interact, influencing congestion, capacity, and throughput across the region.

15) What are the three main Research Focus Areas (RFAs)?

The three RFAs are: Safe and Efficient Surface Operations (SESO), Coordinated Arrival and Departure Operations Management (CADOM), and Airportal and Metroplex Integration (AMI).

16) What is included under SESO (Safe and Efficient Surface Operations)?

SESO targets methods and tools for managing airport surface movement safely and efficiently to maximize throughput and capacity, treating the gate-to-runway system as an integrated whole.

17) What is included under CADOM (Coordinated Arrival and Departure Operations Management)?

CADOM focuses on concepts and technologies intended to reduce operational constraints that limit capacity at one airport or across multiple airports, emphasizing coordination of inbound and outbound flows to prevent bottlenecks from the terminal area to the surface.

18) What is included under AMI (Airportal and Metroplex Integration)?

AMI emphasizes metroplex operations management and crosscutting integration across the project, including human and system integration and concept analyses used for portfolio decisions, reflecting interest in real-world adoption and operational use.

19) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning it is open to any type of entity, subject to any clarifications provided in the full announcement text.

20) What types of partners does NASA intend to involve?

NASA intends to pair in-house research with external foundational research to close technology gaps, bringing in academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and industry through the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) mechanism.

21) Are Space Act Agreements mentioned, and what are they intended for here?

Yes. In parallel with NRA awards, NASA anticipates using Space Act Agreements with U.S. industry to build system-wide research partnerships, particularly for systems integration and operational applications.

22) What funding instruments may be used for awards?

The announcement indicates cooperative agreements, grants, procurement contracts, and other arrangements.

23) Is cost sharing or matching required?

No cost-sharing or matching requirement is stated in the provided opportunity information.

24) What are the key dates for this opportunity?

It was posted on Oct 20, 2009 (created Oct 22, 2009). The original and current closing date is Dec 1, 2009. The archive date is Dec 31, 2009.

25) Who are the listed contacts for questions or access issues?

The listed contacts are Leighton Quon (Principal Investigator, Leighton.Quon@nasa.gov) and Neil OConnor (Project Manager, c.j.oconnor@nasa.gov). The announcement requests questions in writing through the channel specified in the full announcement materials.

26) What is NASA trying to achieve regarding environmental constraints?

The opportunity indicates that research should balance environmental issues in and around airports while improving operational efficiency and capacity.

27) Does the announcement focus only on airborne operations?

No. A central theme is integrating airborne and surface operations, including ground movement and surface/terminal-area traffic management as part of block-to-block 4D trajectory operations.

28) What is meant by "dynamic airport configuration management"?

It refers to adjusting runway usage or other operational configurations based on demand, weather, and operational constraints, as described in the research scope.

29) What is meant by quantifying local benefits of "airportal transformation"?

The opportunity calls for modeling how changes to an airport configuration would affect operations and for quantifying local benefits that result from those changes.

30) What is the main operational end goal described?

To increase capacity and throughput and improve efficiency and predictability across the airport surface, terminal area, and metroplex airspace, without compromising safety and while accounting for environmental constraints.