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A -- THE EFFECTS OF TROPICAL FOREST CONVERSION: ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE LARGE-SCALE BIOSPHERE-ATMOSPHERE EXPERIMENT IN AMAZTNIA (LBA) SOL 97-MTPE-02 DUE 061197 POC Diane E. Wickland, Program Manager, Phone (202) 358-0245, Fax (202) 358-2771, Email diane.wickland@hq.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/HQ/date.html#97-MTPE-02. E-MAIL: Diane E. Wickland, diane.wickland@hq.nasa.gov. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces the solicitation of proposals for scientific investigations to participate in a multi-year field campaign to improve our understanding of the effects of tropical forest conversion on ecosystem function and the sustainability of land use in support of Mission to Planet Earth. The science question that will focus this research is: How do tropical forest conversion, re-growth, and selective logging, influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes, and the prospect for sustainable land use in Amazonia? Proposals for research that address this question are solicited in the general areas of carbon storage and exchange; nutrient dynamics; trace gas fluxes; dynamics of surface water chemistry; and land cover and land use change, including the human dimensions of land use change. NASA is seeking new research and new analytical approaches that will build upon past results to extract understanding of the effects of forest conversion,that will provide a whole system synthesis, that will employ innovative analytical approaches combining data sets from multiple sources and/or linking across spatial and temporal scales, and that will take advantage of new remote sensing observations as they become available. An integrated program of research involving synthesis of past research results and data sets, modeling, remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based analyses, new field observations and process studies, case studies, training and education, and synthesis and integration of new results is desired. The program of research to be selected will be a NASA contribution to the international Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) research initiative led by Brazil. Significant portions of this research will be conducted within the territory of Brazil, and the conduct of such research activities will be subject to and contingent upon approval(s) by appropriate elements of the Brazilian Government. Participation in this program is open to all categories of organizations, both domestic and foreign: educational institutions, other nonprofit organizations, NASA centers, industry, and other Government agencies. This solicitation will be available electronically on the release date via the Internet at the Mission to Planet Earth Home Page: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/mtpe/ under MTPE Research Announcements or via anonymous ftp at: ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/mtpe. Paper copies of the announcement will be available to those who do not have access to Internet by calling (202) 358-3552 and leaving a voice-mail message. Please leave your full name and address, including zip code, and your telephone number, including area code. This announcement will be open for the period from March 11, 1997, through June 11, 1997, and proposals may be submitted at any time throughout that period. Letters of Intent are requested by April 30, 1997. Letters to provide information, for NASA planning purposes only, on interests in a future airborne campaign involving U.S. aircraft are also requested and due on June 11, 1997. (0066)

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