The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) is offering this grant to support Atmospheric System Research aimed at improving understanding and modeling of key atmospheric processes.

Federally-affiliated entities must adhere to the eligibility standards below:

1. DOE/NNSA National Laboratories

DOE/NNSA National Laboratories are neither eligible to submit applications under this FOA nor to be proposed as subawards under another organization’s application.

2. Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs

Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDC s are neither eligible to submit applications under this FOA nor to be proposed as subawards under another organization’s application. Operators of FFRDCs may submit applications on their own behalf for work that will not be performed by the FFRDC.

3. Other Federal Agencies

Other Federal Agencies are eligible to submit applications under this FOA but are not eligible to be proposed as subawards under another organization’s application. Instead, they must submit their own application as a team member in a multi-institutional team. If recommended for funding, either as the sole applicant or in a multi-institutional team, funding will be provided through an Inter-Agency Award. Additional instructions for providing statutory authorization are found in Section VIII of this FOA.

Applicants that are not domestic organizations should be advised that:
• Individual applicants are unlikely to possess the skills, abilities, and resources to successfully accomplish the objectives of this FOA. Individual applicants are encouraged to address this concern in their applications and to demonstrate how they will accomplish the objectives of this FOA.
• Non-domestic applicants are advised that successful applications from non-domestic applicants include a detailed demonstration of how the applicant possesses skills, resources, and abilities that do not exist among potential domestic applicants.

Applications from for-profit organizations that propose research related to current commercial activity may be declined without merit review.

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for Atmospheric System Research (ASR) within BER’s Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (EESSD). ASR supports research on key cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiative transfer processes that affect the Earth’s radiative balance and hydrological cycle, especially processes that limit the predictive ability of regional and global models. This FOA solicits research grant applications for observational, data analysis, and/or modeling studies that use observations[1] supported by BER, including the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, to improve understanding and model representation of: 1) aerosol-cloud interactions, 2) aerosol processes, 3) warm boundary layer processes, 4) Arctic atmospheric processes from ARM’s Cold-Air Outbreaks in the Marine Boundary Layer Experiment (COMBLE) and Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) campaigns, and/or 5) convective cloud processes from ARM’s Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign. All research supported from awards under this FOA is intended to benefit the public through increasing our understanding of the Earth system.

[1] All references to observations supported by BER mean those from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, the overall ASR program, AmeriFlux, and/or the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL).