Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00156

FAQs: USGS NGWOS Underwater Swarming and Wireless Data Transmission (G23AS00156)

What is this funding opportunity about?

This USGS opportunity supports research and development in two closely related technical areas: underwater swarming technology and wireless data transmission methods for aquatic vehicles. The goal is to advance coordinated fleets of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that can work together to collect water observation measurements more effectively than a single platform.

Which USGS program is sponsoring the work?

The opportunity is offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through its Water Mission Area (WMA) and the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS).

Why is USGS interested in underwater swarming?

Swarm-based AUV approaches can dramatically improve how water bodies are observed, especially when conditions change quickly or when fine-scale spatial variability needs to be captured for advanced modeling and decision support.

What are the two technical focus areas?

The two focus areas are:

• Underwater swarming technology (coordinated operation of multiple AUVs as a fleet)
• Wireless data transmission methods for aquatic vehicles (communications and data offload improvements)

What does "underwater swarming" mean in the context of this award?

In this context, underwater swarming refers to multiple autonomous underwater vehicles operating together as a coordinated fleet. This enables measurement strategies that a single vehicle cannot accomplish on its own.

How can underwater swarming improve water observing data?

The opportunity emphasizes improving data quality and usefulness by increasing temporal and spatial sampling resolution. Practically, swarming can enable simultaneous measurements across many locations or depths, support adaptive sampling where vehicles respond to changing conditions, and help collect new or hard-to-get measurements over a broader area during the same field window.

What does the opportunity mean by increasing temporal and spatial sampling resolution?

It refers to collecting measurements more frequently over time (temporal resolution) and collecting measurements more densely across different locations and depths (spatial resolution), so observations better represent fast-changing conditions and fine-scale variability.

What is adaptive sampling and why does it matter here?

Adaptive sampling is when vehicles adjust where or how they sample in response to changing conditions in the water body. The opportunity highlights this as a practical benefit of coordinated AUV fleets because it can improve the relevance of observations during dynamic events.

Why is wireless data transmission emphasized?

Communication and data offload are described as major operational bottlenecks in underwater work. Improved wireless links can make field operations more efficient by enabling quicker status updates, better coordination among vehicles, and faster access to collected data, reducing downtime and improving responsiveness during deployments.

How would better wireless links change field operations?

According to the opportunity description, better wireless links can allow quicker status updates, improve coordination among multiple underwater vehicles, and speed up access to collected data. This can reduce downtime and make deployments more responsive.

What type of award is this?

This award is offered as a cooperative agreement.

What does it mean that this is a cooperative agreement?

A cooperative agreement means USGS anticipates substantial involvement with the recipient during the project, rather than issuing a purely hands-off grant.

Is this a discretionary or mandatory funding opportunity?

This is a discretionary funding opportunity.

What is the activity category for this opportunity?

The activity category is science and technology and other research and development.

What program authority is this opportunity issued under?

The opportunity is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, a network of partnerships intended to support research, technical assistance, and education that benefit federal land and resource management and related science missions.

Which CESU must applicants be part of to be eligible?

Eligibility is limited to official partners in the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU).

Who is eligible to apply?

Only organizations that are official partners in the Gulf Coast CESU are eligible. Applicants must already be participating members of that specific CESU consortium to apply.

Can an organization apply if it is not a Gulf Coast CESU partner?

No. The opportunity states eligibility is limited to organizations that are official partners in the Gulf Coast CESU.

What is the maximum award amount?

The listed award ceiling is $240,000.

What is the funding opportunity number?

The funding opportunity number is G23AS00156.

What is the CFDA number?

The CFDA number listed for this opportunity is 15.808.

Which agency is offering this opportunity?

The agency is the Geological Survey (USGS).

When was the posting created?

The posting was created on January 12, 2023.

What was the original closing date?

The original closing date was February 13, 2023.

What is the overall purpose of developing coordinated AUV fleets for NGWOS?

The purpose is to improve water body observing capabilities by enabling coordinated measurements that better capture rapid changes and fine-scale variability, which supports advanced modeling and decision support.