Evaluation of Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UASs) as an Alternative Data Collection Platform for Monitoring Marine Mammals | P19AS00240

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00240

This grant opportunity, titled "Evaluation of Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UASs) as an Alternative Data Collection Platform for Monitoring Marine Mammals" (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00240), is a National Park Service project under the U.S. Department of the Interior focused on testing whether drones can reliably support long-term monitoring of marine mammals in Alaska. The work is centered on Glacier Bay National Park (GLBA) and Wrangell St. Elias National Park (WRST), with a particular emphasis on species and conditions that are challenging to survey using traditional methods, including harbor seals, sea otters, and related habitats such as glacier ice.

The overarching goal is to develop and validate practical methods for using unoccupied aircraft systems as an alternative data-collection platform that can improve population monitoring while also improving safety and efficiency. In these environments, standard surveys often rely on occupied aircraft or other field methods that can be expensive, logistically difficult, weather-limited, and higher risk for crews. By evaluating drones as a monitoring tool, the project aims to determine whether they can produce data that are comparable in quality to conventional approaches while reducing operational hazards and potentially expanding the range of conditions under which surveys can be conducted.

The first major objective is technical and methodological: identify appropriate UAS platforms and sensor combinations, design sampling and survey methods, and carry out flight surveys that collect digital imagery of harbor seals, sea otters, and their habitats, including glacier ice. This involves choosing aircraft types (for example, multirotor versus fixed-wing, depending on endurance, maneuverability, and takeoff and landing constraints) and pairing them with suitable sensors for image collection. The emphasis on digital imagery suggests the project will assess whether aerial photographs or similar products can support reliable counts, distribution mapping, and habitat characterization in complex coastal and glacial settings, where animals may be clustered, partially obscured, or closely associated with dynamic ice features.

The second objective is to document and publish the results in a structured evaluation, including at least one peer-reviewed publication. This evaluation is intended to directly compare UAS-based monitoring to occupied platforms used for similar survey tasks. In practice, that comparison typically involves looking at factors such as detection and counting performance, data resolution, repeatability, coverage per unit time, cost, logistical effort, weather tolerance, and data-processing requirements. The inclusion of glacier ice as a habitat focus indicates the comparison is not limited to animal detection alone, but also considers how well each platform can capture habitat context that may influence marine mammal distribution and behavior.

The third objective is implementation-oriented: once the evaluation identifies what works best, the project will select the most appropriate UAS and sensor setup for current park needs and then collaborate with the National Park Service to create standard operating procedures (SOPs). Those SOPs are meant to turn research findings into an operational playbook for future monitoring in GLBA and WRST. In a field setting, SOPs typically cover consistent survey design, flight planning, data-collection standards, quality assurance, data management, and safety practices, so that future staff can repeat surveys in a consistent way and generate comparable results year after year.

Administratively, this opportunity is issued as a discretionary cooperative agreement within the "Information and Statistics" activity category (CFDA 15.945). The listed eligible applicants are private institutions of higher education, but this specific notice is a notice of intent to award to Duke University, with an explicit statement that applications will not be accepted from any other entity. The opportunity was created on June 6, 2019, with an original closing date of June 17, 2019, and it anticipates a single award. The award ceiling is $49,917, reflecting a small, targeted research-and-methods project designed to produce actionable guidance and publishable results rather than a large multi-year monitoring program.

Taken together, the project is essentially a focused pilot and evaluation effort: it tests drone platforms and sensors in real park conditions, measures how well they perform relative to traditional occupied surveys for both animals and habitat features, and then converts the results into formal procedures the parks can use to safely and consistently monitor harbor seals, sea otters, and key habitat elements over the long term.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Evaluation of Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UASs) as an Alternative Data Collection Platform for Monitoring Marine Mammals" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 06, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 17, 2019 This is a notice of intent to award to Duke University. Applications will not be accepted from any other entity.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $49,917.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Private institutions of higher education.

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