Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes Northern Forrest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
🏛 Geological Survey (DOI-USGS1)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Nov 13, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for CESU partner organizations involved in land cover research and monitoring. Applicants must be current participating partners of the Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. Eligible recipients typically include universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and research institutions affiliated with the CESU network.
The research must focus on improving accuracy assessment and area estimation for remote-sensing land-cover monitoring. Projects should address sampling strategies, statistical methods, and impacts of reference data uncertainties on land cover products like the National Land Cover Database (NLCD).
Geographic focus is the Great Lakes Northern Forest region. Awards range from $1 to $135,000 for cooperative agreement projects.
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Program description
The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in improving accuracy assessment and area estimation for use in annual remote-sensing based land-cover monitoring.
The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is a remotely sensed data management, systems development, and science center for the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Land Imaging Program. The USGS EROS has long been at the forefront of land cover research at local to global geographies. The USGS is modernizing its land cover monitoring capabilities and is enabling artificial intelligence, machine learning, and modeling for the detection of land change and the characterization of land cover at any time in the Landsat satellite record. The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research centered on improvements in land cover research by focusing on investigating and implementing state-of-the-art sampling and statistical strategies for accuracy assessment and area estimation, and the impacts of reference data uncertainties. This will be critical for characterizing the validity of USGS land cover change products such as the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) which is used by other federal agencies, agencies of State, tribal, and local governments, institutes of higher education, and the private sector.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project Narrative/Technical Proposal
- Budget and Budget Justification
- CESU Partner verification or letter of affiliation
- Organizational capacity documentation
- Resumes of key personnel
Program contact
- 👤 Geological Survey
- 📧 Rachel_miller@ios.doi.gov
- 📞 916-278-9331
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 15.808 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
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$240,000,000
-
$11,148,115
-
$10,533,234
-
$10,055,533
-
$8,476,627
-
$8,454,102
-
$7,659,261
-
$6,894,612
-
$6,800,079
-
$6,644,228
Top States by Funding
- CO 9 awards $247.6M
- CA 24 awards $73.6M
- AK 17 awards $35.1M
- FL 7 awards $23.2M
- WA 4 awards $16.6M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 15.808). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2021 | $35,000,000 | |
| 2022 | $157,201,151 | |
| 2023 | $263,107,440 | |
| 2024 | $125,066,719 | |
| 2025 est. | $110,000,000 | |
| 2026 est. | $60,000,000 |
FAQ
Who can apply for this grant?
Only current participating partners of the Great Lakes Northern Forest CESU can apply. You must already be part of this formal partnership network.
What type of research does this grant support?
Projects focus on land cover monitoring accuracy, statistical sampling strategies, and remote-sensing data validation. Reference data uncertainty and NLCD product validation are key areas.
When is the application deadline?
The deadline is December 2, 2026. This is a fixed deadline; rolling applications are not accepted.
What is the funding range?
Awards range from $1 to $135,000. Total program funding is $135,000 across all awards.
Is cost-sharing required?
No cost-sharing is required for this cooperative agreement.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Verify your organization is an active CESU partner before applying. Contact the Great Lakes Northern Forest CESU coordinator if unsure of your partner status.
- Clearly connect your project to the USGS modernization of land cover monitoring and AI/machine learning applications in land change detection.
- Emphasize the scientific rigor of your sampling and statistical approach. Include validated methodologies for accuracy assessment.
- Explain how your results will improve existing federal land cover products like the NLCD for use by federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.
- Request realistic budgets aligned with your project scope. Justify all personnel, equipment, and travel costs in the budget narrative.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Applying without confirmed CESU partner status; this is a partnership-only opportunity and ineligible organizations waste time. Proposing land cover research unrelated to accuracy assessment, sampling, or NLCD validation misses the grant's core focus. Submitting weak budget justifications or unclear connections between proposed work and USGS land monitoring modernization goals.
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