Notice of Intent: Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Operations - EHP | USGS FA 20 0035

Opportunity Information: Apply for USGS FA 20 0035

This grant opportunity is a Notice of Intent from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), within the Department of the Interior, to make a single cooperative agreement award to the University of Washington for work under the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). The project is titled "Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Operations - EHP" and focuses on sustaining the day-to-day operational backbone of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN), a critical monitoring system in a region with major earthquake risk, including hazards associated with the offshore Cascadia subduction zone. The notice makes clear that this is not a broad, open competition; it is an intended award to a specific institution based on unique qualifications and existing infrastructure.

The core purpose of the cooperative agreement is to keep seismic monitoring in the Pacific Northwest functioning at a high standard and fully integrated with ANSS national requirements. The work centers on operating and maintaining seismic stations and ensuring that each station's associated metadata is complete, accurate, and compliant with ANSS standards. This includes routine upkeep of field instrumentation, maintaining reliable communications and telemetry, and keeping station documentation current so that the broader earthquake monitoring community can trust and use the data without gaps, delays, or inconsistencies.

A major deliverable emphasized in the notice is dependable data flow: the PNSN is expected to deliver waveform data and correct station metadata to other ANSS networks as well as to ANSS-designated archives. In practical terms, that means continuous, standardized transmission of raw ground-motion recordings along with the technical descriptors that make the recordings scientifically usable (for example, station location, sensor type, response characteristics, and configuration history). The notice also highlights the expectation that ANSS-approved software standards will be used and implemented. That requirement is about interoperability and efficiency, ensuring that data and products move smoothly between regional networks and national systems, and that downstream users can reliably access and integrate PNSN information into broader ANSS products and services.

Beyond collecting and transmitting raw seismic data, the agreement supports the creation of authoritative earthquake information products. The PNSN is expected to produce earthquake catalogs and source parameters that meet ANSS standards, which generally means consistently determining and publishing key event attributes such as origin time, location, depth, magnitude, and other relevant source metrics. These catalogs are foundational for real-time public information, emergency response, scientific research, and long-term hazard assessment, so the emphasis is on accuracy, consistency, and adherence to nationally coordinated practices.

Another central objective is participation in the Station Information System (SIS), which is ANSS's system for station inventory control and station description, including metadata management over time. The University of Washington would contribute to SIS operations and development and coordinate with ANSS leadership and the ANSS National Implementation Committee (NIC) to use or populate SIS for station tracking and metadata maintenance. This element underscores that the work is not isolated regional monitoring; it is designed to strengthen national coherence in how seismic stations are documented, managed, and made visible to partners and archives.

The notice explains why the University of Washington is the intended recipient and why this is structured as a directed cooperative agreement. The University of Washington, together with the University of Oregon, operates the PNSN and already serves as a USGS-supported seismic network operator in the Pacific Northwest. The university has established network staff with the specialized operational expertise needed for continuous monitoring. The principal investigators are described as having extensive involvement as the seismic network operator, reinforcing that this is ongoing mission-critical work rather than a new research start-up. The notice also points to practical constraints: specialized monitoring equipment has already been deployed by the university in the monitoring region, and some field sensors plus central recording and computing systems are university-owned and therefore not easily transferable to another organization. In addition, seismic data are transmitted to university facilities, and moving the receiving infrastructure and telemetry would be expensive, slow, and disruptive, which would directly undermine the continuity and reliability expected of an operational seismic network.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as a discretionary funding action using a cooperative agreement instrument, under the Natural Resources funding activity category, with CFDA number 15.807. Eligible applicants are identified as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, although the notice itself states the intent to award to the University of Washington specifically. The funding opportunity number is USGS FA 20 0035. The posting dates indicate it was created on December 11, 2019, with an original closing date of December 25, 2019. The anticipated award structure is one expected award with an award ceiling of $8,840,000, reflecting the scale typically associated with operating and maintaining a regional seismic network, including staffing, field maintenance, telemetry, computing, data management, and integration with national systems.

Taken together, the opportunity is best understood as federal support for sustained, standards-based seismic network operations in the Pacific Northwest, with a strong emphasis on continuous station performance, high-quality metadata, reliable real-time data delivery, production of trusted earthquake catalogs, and active participation in national ANSS infrastructure such as SIS. The justification for a directed award rests on the University of Washington's existing role operating the PNSN, its specialized personnel and equipment, and the practical and financial barriers that would come with transferring operational control or rebuilding established telemetry and data receiving systems elsewhere.

• The Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent: Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Operations - EHP" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.807.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 11, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 25, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $8,840,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for USGS FA 20 0035

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