CEDAR email: MURI BAA released

Thu Mar 27 12:57:56 MDT 2025

I am excited to share that the FY26 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the MURI is out on grants.gov. Here is a direct link: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/358533.

The topic of particular interest to the Aeronomy community is:
Topic 1: (AFOSR) Characterization and Modeling of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere
Background: The mesosphere and lower thermosphere, at about 50- 120 km altitude, is often called the "ignorosphere" due to being too high for investigations using balloons and too low for probing with satellites. The addition of significant and increasing quantities of human-made materials to the region, primarily via ablation of spacecraft during reentry and emissions from spacecraft fuel systems due to the increase in launches and mega-constellations to LEO, is requiring scientists to quantify how increased human activity is modifying the upper atmosphere. Reliable and accurate models of the upper atmosphere will be increasingly essential to manage potential VLEO assets, to predict or adapt to abrupt changes to atmospheric plasma concentrations and must account for these new materials present in the atmosphere. Yet, currently, no effective model of thermospheric winds exists, and the reactivity of new materials now being added in the upper atmosphere is unknown. Reactions of such metals are complicated by the multiplicity of electron spin states they possess whose effects on reactivity are not well understood or described by existing theoretical and computational chemical methods. These spin-effects can create large barriers to some metal-atom reaction pathways creating the need for experimental and theoretical studies to determine what forces control this reactivity, hence determining the dominant reservoir species and the chemical mechanisms and networks that control them. There is a gap in information about the chemical composition, size distribution, movement, and abundance of novel elements introduced to the thermosphere in this altitude range which cannot be addressed in a scalable way with existing techniques. While several methods have been developed to monitor upper atmospheric winds, temperatures, and component densities from the ground, including meteor radars, rockets, and various lidar methodologies, new remote sensing methods and tools are needed to make this probing more accessible to many US scientists, and provide the large streams of data needed for improved assimilative modeling at a larger range of altitudes. Current atmospheric models do not include the possible chemistry and radiative transfer effects of black carbon particles or introduced metals, particularly aluminum, to the mesosphere or stratosphere. Predicted impacts from the first estimates of these species to the upper atmosphere are both not well understood and expected to be large. Developing a fundamental understanding of the forces that control the sources of materials in this region, and their behavior, is essential to properly model the behavior in this region based on solid foundational information. A wide-ranging, collaborative, multidisciplinary effort is needed to expand and improve ground- or satellite-based monitoring of chemical concentrations and dynamics in the upper atmosphere, to determine relevant chemistries via laboratory studies, to incorporate such data into existing or improved atmospheric models, to use those models to better specify current and future atmospheric conditions (e.g. density, temperature, chemical composition), and to understand the impacts of those conditions on Earth systems and LEO and VLEO space resiliency.
Objective: The objective of this program is to develop the fundamental and comprehensive understanding needed to accurately characterize, model, and predict the behavior of species in the upper atmosphere, particularly the impact on atmospheric chemistry and dynamics. A multidisciplinary effort is needed that includes remote sensing, atmospheric modeling, chemical kinetics, mechanisms, and dynamics, to collect and assimilate the needed understanding and data, and collaboratively develop predictive models.
Research Concentration Areas: Suggested research areas include but are not limited to 1) Development of novel tools and methods that would enable accessible and scalable ground-based sensing methods for accurately determining the concentrations of major and less prominent gas-phase species and particulates at different altitudes in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. 2) Understanding the rates and mechanisms of reactions of species (of natural and human-made origin) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere that affect the dynamics, lifetimes, and radiative transfer properties. 3) Development of robust and predictive models of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere that incorporates new knowledge of chemical speciation in the atmosphere and describes the behavior, dynamics, and interaction with materials that might affect space enterprise resiliency.
Anticipated Resources: It is anticipated that awards under this topic will be no more than an average of $1.5M per year for 5 years, supporting no more than 8 funded faculty researchers. Exceptions warranted by specific proposal approaches should be discussed with the topic chief during the white paper phase of the solicitation.
Research Topic Chiefs: Dr. Julie Moses, AFOSR, 703-696-9586, julie.moses at us.af.mil; Dr. Michael R. Berman, AFOSR, 703-696-7781, michael.berman at us.af.mil; Dr. Michael Yakes, AFOSR, 703-835-6716, michael.yakes at us.af.mil; Dr. Andrew Sinclair, AFOSR, 703-696-1141, andrew.sinclair.2 at us.af.mil<mailto:andrew.sinclair.2 at us.af.mil>.

Julie Moses, PhD
Program Officer, Space Physics
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
875 N Randolph St Suite 3000
Arlington, VA 22203
(703)696-9586 (office)

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