NORTHWEST RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC. — Department of Commerce SBIR Phase I: 8.4.1W
NORTHWEST RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC. — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Commerce.
Phase I SBIR feasibility signal
- Phase I awards fund proof-of-concept work. For capture teams, they mark early interest from Department of Commerce in a technical approach.
- Watch for Phase II follow-ons from the same firm/topic family — that conversion path is where budgets and transition pressure rise.
- Obligated amount $94,935. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
- Topic code 8.4.1W links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.
- Amount
- $94,935
- Agency
- Department of Commerce · National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- 8.4.1W
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- CO
- Period
- 2015-09-16 → 2016-03-16
Description
Solar active regions have a major impact on space weather. Knowledge of active regions in the Sun’s far hemisphere can improve forecasts of impending solar storms and future UV irradiance variations that negatively impact spacecraft, communications, and navigation facilities, thus making knowledge of active region locations and strengths of great benefit to society. We will use algorithms based on seismology of acoustic waves in the Sun to monitor the Sun’s far hemisphere: computational seismic holography and time-distance tomography. We will develop a large-active-region discriminator, capable of partitioning seismic signatures into simple individual elements for the purpose of identifying and characterizing the far-side active regions. For the Phase I study, primary emphasis will be on validating the helioseismic assessment of the locations, strengths, and growth rates of active regions in the Sun’s far hemisphere in terms of stability and consistency over a 5-year period. Based upon these results, we will develop plans for a Phase II project to make synoptic seismic monitoring of the Sun’s far hemisphere a crucial role of helioseismic observatories in space weather forecasting in the twenty-first century.