ROSES25: A.6 Earth Venture Suborbital-4 Landslide Change Characterization Experiment Science Team

The Landslide Change Characterization Experiment (LACCE) is a five-year investigation under NASA’s Earth Venture Suborbital-4 (EVS-4) program, aimed at enhancing our understanding of Earth system science through airborne and suborbital campaigns. Announced via the ROSES-2022 A.54 solicitation and detailed in a January 2026 amendment, LACCE invites proposals for a science team to implement field, airborne, and modeling investigations that address landslide behavior in response to climate-related phenomena such as precipitation extremes and glacier retreat. LACCE is one of six EVS-4 investigations and seeks to fill a critical gap in understanding the mechanical-hydrological controls of slow-moving, deep-seated landslides in western California and southern Alaska. The purpose of this program is to assess how variable precipitation and glacial dynamics influence slope stability by tracking and modeling landslides using advanced remote sensing and ground-based technologies. The LACCE Science Team will be responsible for collecting, processing, and interpreting data from a variety of platforms, including airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground instruments, to model landslide motion and develop predictive tools. The project will also use satellite datasets such as NISAR and Sentinel, and incorporate laboratory experiments to determine soil and hydrological properties. LACCE’s scope deliberately excludes shallow or event-triggered mass-wasting processes like debris flows, lahars, or rockfalls due to their transient nature. Funding will be allocated across four mission components: Airborne Instruments, Ground Instruments, Landslide Remote Sensing, and Laboratory Measurements with associated Modeling. Estimated total funding across all components is approximately $5.4 million, with the Airborne Instrument component receiving the largest share (~$3.8 million). Each component anticipates awarding one to two new grants, with proposals expected to detail instrument specifications, methodologies, and how they contribute to LACCE’s broader science objectives. Proposals must also include a data delivery plan, product specifications, and cannot propose any new technology development, as such submissions will be deemed non-compliant. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based institutions and individuals, with optional collaboration from other U.S. federal agencies or foreign partners on a no-cost basis. A mandatory Notice of Intent (NOI) is due by February 27, 2026, and full proposals are due April 14, 2026. Successful applicants are expected to participate in in-person science team meetings in Pasadena and Santa Cruz annually, along with monthly virtual meetings. The investigation will begin in summer 2026 with planning and instrument setup, followed by systematic airborne data collection from 2027 to 2029, analysis and modeling through 2030, and final synthesis and reporting by spring 2031. All proposals will be reviewed using NASA’s dual-anonymous peer review (DAPR) process to reduce bias. The central technical section of each proposal is limited to 15 pages, and submissions must comply with detailed anonymization and formatting requirements outlined in the ROSES Summary of Solicitation. Proposals must include an Open Science and Data Management Plan (OSDMP) to describe how all data and publications will be shared, supporting NASA’s commitment to open science. Questions regarding eligibility or content must be directed to NASA points of contact listed in the program documentation.

Clearly describe how the proposed work contributes to specific LACCE components; proposals must not include any new technology development.