ROSES 2025: A.8 Water Resources Applications

The Water Resources Applications program element under ROSES-2025, managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), seeks proposals that integrate Earth observation data into decision-support tools for water resource management. This initiative supports the broader goals of NASA’s Earth Action Water Resources Program and the Earth Science Division’s Earth Science to Action strategy. The program emphasizes co-developed, user-centered applications that directly address pressing water management challenges and enhance decision-making capacity for resilience, efficiency, and sustainability. A corrected version of the solicitation was released on August 27, 2025, clarifying eligibility rules related to federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), with earlier amendments in July 2025 refining end-user participation and application readiness level expectations. Proposals may address any water resources issue, but priority areas include drought resilience and water scarcity management, integrated stormwater and floodwater infrastructure, water system risk assessment and adaptive management, sustainable and efficient water use across sectors such as hydropower, municipal supply, and irrigation, and water allocation, optimization, and transboundary cooperation. All funded activities must involve at least one NASA Earth observation capability and require meaningful collaboration with end users, including representation from decision-making entities such as water management agencies, utilities, private companies, or non-profit organizations. These end users must participate directly in proposal development and project execution, ideally as funded collaborators or co-investigators. The program offers two tracks based on project maturity. Type 1 projects, which represent about 25 percent of awards, focus on early-stage application development, starting from ARL 2 or 3 and advancing to at least ARL 4. These efforts may include feasibility studies and prototype system development. Type 2 projects, comprising approximately 75 percent of awards, target more advanced applications that are ready for operational transition and sustained end-user use. Such projects must begin at ARL 5 or higher and aim for ARL 8–9 by project completion, demonstrating clear pathways to integration into operational decision-making environments. All projects must include three components: engagement and needs assessment, solution development and testing, and implementation and evaluation. Eligibility extends to U.S.-based organizations including higher education institutions, non-profits, for-profits, and governments, provided that federal agencies other than NASA and FFRDCs funded through agencies other than JPL do not receive direct funding. These entities may, however, participate without funding. International organizations are permitted on a no-exchange-of-funds basis, and collaborations between U.S. and non-U.S. teams are welcome, provided that non-U.S. participants secure their own funding. Proposals lacking direct end-user engagement in the project team will be considered non-responsive and returned without review. The application process follows a mandatory two-step structure. Step-1 proposals, limited to six pages, must define the project scope, identify end-user roles, outline expected societal impacts, assess current and projected ARL levels, and describe proposed methods for solution testing, implementation, and evaluation. Submission of a Step-1 proposal is required to advance to Step-2, but selection for Step-2 is not contingent on Step-1 encouragement. Step-2 proposals, capped at 15 pages, require anonymized documentation to comply with NASA’s dual-anonymous peer review process. Requirements include detailed sections on decision-making activity, anticipated results, project elements, transition plans for Type 2, project management, and alignment with the Earth Science to Action strategy. Evaluation of Step-2 proposals will consider relevance to program goals, intrinsic merit, and cost. Reviewers will assess innovation, feasibility, end-user engagement, ARL progression, and the potential for tangible benefits to decision-making and water management practices. For Type 2 proposals, reviewers will place additional emphasis on the quality of transition plans and long-term operational viability. Proposals will undergo dual-anonymous peer review to reduce bias, with panelists reviewing anonymized documents before accessing team qualifications. Projects selected for funding must comply with quarterly, annual, and final reporting requirements through NASA’s Electronic Reporting System, focusing on progress, ARL advancement, and impacts on decision-making. The expected annual program budget is approximately $3 million, supporting an estimated 10 to 12 awards, each lasting up to three years. The mandatory Step-1 and Step-2 deadlines are provided in Tables 2 and 3 of ROSES-2025, with project start dates anticipated four months after Step-2 submissions are due. An optional pre-proposal teleconference will be held about six weeks after the release of ROSES-2025, with details posted on NSPIRES two weeks in advance. For questions, applicants may contact Erin Urquhart, NASA’s Earth Action Water Resources program officer, via telephone at 202-909-9823 or by email at erin.urquhart.jephson@nasa.gov.

Include end-users as co-investigators; demonstrate ARL progression; align with ES2A; Transition Plan required for Type 2.