Research Infrastructure: National Geophysical Facility (NGF): Advancing Earth Science Capabilities through Innovation - EAR Scope

The National Geophysical Facility (NGF) will provide scientific instruments, data, and workforce development for many disciplines and applications, from earthquake physics to space weather. By sharing these resources, the national facility increases both operational efficiency and scientific advancement. Facility resources are also being used to monitor natural hazards and nuclear threat detection, to advance forecasting and preparedness, and to provide economic development through technology transfer. “The National Geophysical Facility: Advancing Earth Science Capabilities through Innovation” award supports national geophysical resources for discoveries across Earth Science and advancing the science of geodesy and seismology. NGF will operate several functional components, including a large pool of advanced geophysical sensors of more than 40 different types, operation of persistent global and regional sensor networks delivering low-latency data, a cloud-native data repository with multiple points of access and data analysis services and products, and a range of outreach, training, and educational resources. These components support research and technical development in Earth Science from the inner core to the outermost atmosphere. Some novel research directions and applications enabled by facility advancement include artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to hazards and their cascading impacts, ocean-bottom capabilities in geodesy, integration of near-surface observations with solid-earth data, and novel platforms for independent and asynchronous technical training. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.