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NASA FY 1998 SOHO Guest Investigator Program details

Proposals describing 50 investigations were received in the U.S. competition for FY 1998 funding from the SOHO GIP. Total FY 1998 funding requested was $2.6 M. All proposals were rated in a peer review of their scientific merit. Proposals from the U.S. and other nations were reviewed together cooperatively by NASA and ESA. The assignment of ratings was based on requirements set out in the NRA. Selection for funding from among scientifically competitive proposals is typically based on a combination of programmatic, budgetary and operational considerations. The available funding proved sufficient to allow selection of 20 of these proposals for NASA Headquarters SOHO Program Office funding. Another 21 of the highest-ranked proposals will be supported using SOHO Project funds as a continuation of PI Team activities. All awards were for one-year investigations; these are listed below. All but one of the selected proposals were funded at the levels requested by the proposer. Principal Investigators with proposals not funded but judged to lie in the competitive range were invited to participate in the SOHO GIP by contacting SOHO PI's, if their efforts could be supported by some other means.

A further opportunity to propose for SOHO GIP funding for FY 1999 appears in the Research Opportunities in Space Science (ROSS 98) NRA.

NASA FY 1998 Solar Physics SR&T and Suborbital Program details

Proposals describing 68 investigations were received in the U.S. competition for FY 1997 funding from the SOHO GIP. Many of these were in non-traditional solar physics areas involving comets, stars, interstellar dust, etc. Total FY 1997 funding requested was $3.8 M. All proposals were rated in a peer review of their scientific merit. Proposals from the U.S. and other nations were reviewed together cooperatively by NASA and ESA. The assignment of ratings was based on requirements set out in the NRA. Selection for funding from among scientifically competitive proposals is typically based on a combination of programmatic, budgetary and operational considerations. The available funding proved sufficient to allow selection of 31 proposals for the one-year investigations which are listed below. All but one of the selected proposals were funded at the levels requested by the proposer. Principal Investigators with proposals not funded but judged to lie in the competitive range were invited to participate in the SOHO GIP by contacting SOHO PI's, if their efforts could be supported by some other means.

Further opportunity to propose for SOHO GIP funding for FY 1998 will be dependent on the availability of funds for this purpose and on plans for extension of the SOHO operations beyond the prime mission phase. Pertinent information may appear in the 1997 NRA for the Sun-Earth Connections Supporting Research and Technology, Suborbital, and Guest Investigator Programs, which is expected to be released in spring 1997.

FY 1997 Solar Physics SR&T and Suborbital Program details are now available

Letters announcing the results of the competition for new Fiscal Year (FY)
1997 awards from the SR&T and Suborbital Program in Solar Physics were
mailed to Principal Investigators in March 1997. These awards were made
on the basis of proposals submitted in response to NASA Research
Announcement NRA-96-OSS-09.  FY 1996 Supporting Research and
Technology (SR&T) funding matches that of FY 1996, at $6.2 M.  The
Suborbital Program budget was $3.6 M.  The selections were based on these
budgets.

Proposals describing 77 investigations (including 11 Suborbital) were
received in the competition for FY 1997 funding from the Solar Physics
program.  These were rated in a peer review of their scientific merit.
The total FY 1997 funding requested was $9.2 M and the funding available
for competition was $4.1 M (including $1.5 M in Suborbital).  The
assignment of ratings was based on requirements set out in the NRA.
Selection for funding from among scientifically competitive proposals is
typically based on a combination of programmatic, budgetary and
operational considerations.  The available funding proved sufficient to
allow selection of 36 proposals, 32 of which were the highest ranked by
peer review.  Three proposals with relatively high peer review ranking
were not funded for programmatic reasons.  All selected proposals were
funded at the levels recommended by the review panels; in seven cases
this level was less than requested by the proposer.

The next opportunity to propose for Solar Physics funding will be in
response to the 1997 NRA for the Sun-Earth Connections Supporting
Research and Technology and Suborbital Program, which will be released
May 15, 1997.  This NRA will be available on the Web at:

   http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oss/

A list of the proposals selected for FY 1997 is appended.  The most common
period of performance is three years.  Any lesser number of years covered
by a particular award is indicated, thereby allowing the full scope of the
NASA solar physics program at any future point in time to be ascertained
by the reader.



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Solar Physics SR&T Program Investigations Selected for Initiation in
FY 1997:


Berger, Thomas/L-MSAL
                Observation and Modeling of Small-Scale Solar Magnetic
                Structures

Cairns, Iver/U Iowa
                Theoretical Studies of Type III Solar Radio Bursts in 
                the Corona

Deming, Drake/GSFC
                Solar Magnetic Field Studies Using the 12-Micron Emission 
                Lines

Dennis, Brian/GSFC
                Synchronously Rotating Grids for Fourier-Transform X-ray
                Imaging Spectroscopy of Solar Flares (2 years)

Forbes, Terry G./U NH
                Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Flares

Goode, Philip/NJIT
                Studies of Solar Magnetic Fields and Solar Activity

Gopalswamy, N./U MD
                Near-Surface Manifestations of Geo-Effective Solar 
                Disturbances

Guhathakurta, Madhulika/Cath. U A
                Interpretive Tools for Analysis of Coronal Images

Habbal, Shadia/SAO
                Physics of the Inner Heliosphere: Models, Mechanisms, and
                Observational Signatures

Hagyrard, Mona/MSFC
                Large-Scale Organization of Active Region Magnetic Fields

Jones, Harrisan/GSFC
                Support of Flight-Mission Observations of the Sun with 
                the National Solar Observatory/Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope

Jones, Harrison/GSFC
                Studies of Solar Variability, Structure, and Activity

Julien, Keith/U CO
                Penetrative Dynamics of the Solar Interior

Kiplinger, Alan/U CO
                Soft X-Ray, Optical-Polarmetric, SOONSPOT, and Microwave
                Observations of Interplanetary Proton Associated Flares 
                and Active Regions (2 years)

Klimchuk, James/NRL
                Post-Eruption Arcades and 3-D Magnetic Reconnection

LaBonte, Barry/U HA
                Observational Investigation of the Solar Interior and
                Atmosphere (2 years)

Lang, Kenneth/Tufts U
                VLA Observations in Support of NASA Solar Physics Flight
                Programs (1 year)

Libbrecht, Kenneth/CIT
                Precision Solar Disk Photometry -- A Tool for 
                Understanding Changes in the Sun's Luminosity

Lin, Robert/UCB
                Low-Cost Mechanical Cryogenic Coolers for Germanium
                Detectors in Space or Suborborbital Solar Missions 
                (1 year)

Moore, Ronald/MSFC
                Understanding Observed Solar Magnetic Fields in Relation 
                to Flares, Microflares, and Coronal Heating

Ofman,Leon/Hughes-STX
                Acceleration of the Fast Solar Wind by Solitary Waves in
                Coronal Holes

Parkinson, William H./SAO
                Laboratory Studies in UV and EUV Solar Physics

Rhodes, Edward/USC
                Helioseismological Studies of the Structure and Dynamics 
                of the Solar Atmosphere and Interior (1 year)

Schatten, Kenneth/GSFC
                The Scientific Basis for Solar Activity Predictions

Scherrer, Philip/Stanford
                Structure of Solar Magnetic and Velocity Fields

Seely, John/NRL
                High-Resolution 4800 l/mm Multilayer Grating for Solar 
                Coronal Observations (2 years)

Thejappa, Golla/U MD
                Collisionless Shock Phenomena in the Solar Atmosphere:
                Solar Type II Radio Emission

Ulrich, Roger/UCLA
                Observational and Theoretical Studies of Solar Structure
                and Dynamics

Wu, Shi Tsan/U A-H
                Numerical and Theoretical Studies of the Initiation and
                Propagation of the Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Yamada, Masaaki/Princeton
                MRX Experiment, Study of 3-D Driven Magnetic Reconnection
                in Laboratory Plasmas



***

Solar Physics Suborbital Program Investigations Selected for
Initiation in FY 1997:


Brueckner, Guenter/NRL
                Imaging and Spectroscopy of Subarc-second Ultraviolet
                Structures in the Solar Atmosphere (1 year)

Davila, Joseph/GSFC
                Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Rocket Telescope and 
                Spectrometer (SERTS)

Heaps, William/GSFC
                Addressing the Solar Variability & Climate Link Via
                Observations with the Solar Disk Sextant (1 year)

Judge, Darrell/USC
                Rocket Underflights for SOHO Cross-Calibration and Solar
                Atmosphere Investigations

Moses, Daniel/NRL
                EIT Calibration Rocket (CalRoc) (1 year)

Rust, David/JHU-APL
                An Optical Investigation of the Genesis of Solar Activity

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