Award Data

In 2017 the CDC estimated 35,000 American got sick from Vibrio parahaemolyticus transmitted by shellfish--a 54% increase. However, according to the co-chair of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission, “Our current system of traceback is inadequate.... Records are lost. Handwriting is illegible. More than half of all traceback investigations fail because the information in the value chain ...

Many people recognize how critical it is to understand our weather, climate, and environment. Educators already use NOAA data and models in working with students and their communities as part of their teaching and outreach. With the exponential growth in data, however, many of them struggle with accessing and managing that data. Evolving data formats and computing requirements make it very challen ...

"First responders are more frequently using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) to aid rapid response to various types of natural disasters. Platforms, however; are typically focused on small, specific areas of interest and resulting data is rarely shared in real time. Decision makers may have no access to this data, nor access to broad area Common Operating Pictures (COP) fusing real-time sUAS d ...

Coral transplantation is a primary management option for rehabilitation of degraded reefs. Stabilization (via adhesion, etc.) of transplants on existing reef or artificial substrates notably improves their survival rate. Improved underwater adhesives are needed for expedient and convenient stabilization of coral transplants with improved survival rate. A new hybrid organic-inorganic adhesive is pr ...

We propose an innovative yet straightforward approach to developing and delivering a readily deployable product to support combating IUU. We combine newly available low-cost hyperspectral sensors with state-of-the-art deep learning-based real-time data processing and deploy it on high-availability commodity cloud computing hardware - our solution is compatible with both existing systems as well as ...

Creating comprehensive geospatial datasets requires that National Geospatial Agency (NGA) analysts spend large amounts of time searching for, delineating, and labeling non-moving features in overhead imagery. This tiresome and tedious task can negatively impact not only the analysts’ work satisfaction but also the resulting data quality. Fortunately, recent advances in gamification and crowdsour ...

The NGA requires an automatic, unsupervised SAR feature extraction (AUFE) technique, that can ultimately be deployed for geospatial analysis, modeling, and target detection. Our proposed “SAR Unsupervised and Robust Feature ExtractoR” (SURFER) solution includes in Phase I: (1) a sound and deterministic assessment of the underlying RF phenomenology and SAR processing theoretical basis for effec ...

To address NGA’s requirements, Sonalysts’ team of world-class experts in underwater optical communication proposes development and implementation of the Precision Optical Navigation Transceiver for Undersea Systems (PONTUS). PONTUS will transfer navigation information from an Underwater Navigation Beacon (UNB) to an Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) in an electromagnetic-spectrum-denied (e.g., G ...

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: The objective of this project is to research the technical feasibility of designing a software tool “Permit Wizard” that will automate the process for aquamarine permit application submittal, review, approval/disapproval and issue (including collection of fees). Aquaculture producers are currently faced with slow, complex, and often confusing permitting processes that must ...

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: A cost-effective, nutritious feed that minimally impacts the surrounding environment is critical to the profitability of a commercial aquaculture operations. As common sources of protein, such as fishmeal and fish processing byproducts, are becoming limited and more expensive to use, feed producers have turned to plant-based proteins. Plant-based feeds however, come with their ...