PROJECT SUMMARY THE NASA GUAM EPSCOR PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE NASA EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE MISSION BY DEVELOPING CAPACITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GUAM TO UTILIZE REMOTE SENSING DATA FROM NASA SATELLITE IMAGERY, TO PROVIDE REAL-WORLD LOCALITIES TO TEST GEOSPATIAL DATA AND METHODOLOGIES INCLUDING NASA SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR AND THE NEWLY DEVELOPED MIDAR TECHNOLOGY. UOG PARTNERS WITH NASA SCIENTISTS AT JPL/CALTECH AND AMES RESEARCH CENTERS TO ADDRESS CRITICAL CHALLENGES IN WATER SECURITY, CORAL REEF CONSERVATION, TERRESTRIAL LAND CHANGE, AND BIODIVERSITY IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. THE RID WILL FUND THREE INITIATIVES THAT WILL SUPPORT FACULTY AND ADVANCED STUDENTS AT UOG: IN INITIATIVE 1 NASA SATELLITE IMAGERY WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT ANALYSES OF EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE ACTIVITIES. ACTIVITY 1 GEOCORE: UOG FACULTY WILL BE COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DATASETS PERTAINING TO SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, OCEAN CURRENTS, AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT AND LOADS IN ORDER TO EVALUATE CORAL REEF HEALTH AND CREATE A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR FISH SPAWNING AGGREGATION SITES. USING SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR DATA DOWNLOADED AT THE NASA ALASKA SATELLITE FACILITY INCLUDING ESA SENTINEL-1 AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE WITH THE NASA NISAR SATELLITE PLATFORM NASA GUAM EPSCOR PROPOSES TO EXPAND THE USE OF GUAM AND OTHER ISLANDS IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC AS CALIBRATION AND EVALUATION SITES FOR SAR INVESTIGATIONS, AND TO APPLY THE RESULTING OBSERVATIONS TO EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS OF RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY OF REGIONAL RESOURCES. ACTIVITY 2 ACTUAS: UOG WILL BE PARTNERING WITH UH-MANOA THROUGH ACTUAS TO TEST THEIR SELF-AUTONOMOUS UAVS TO DETECT SUBMARINE FRESHWATER PLUMES. UNDERSTANDING HOW THESE SUBMARINE PLUMES RESPOND TO CHANGES IN PRECIPITATION, ENSO, AND DROUGHT CAN PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO GUAM S PRIMARY SOURCE OF FRESHWATER. FURTHERMORE, THE KARST LANDSCAPE BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO ONE OF SATURN S MOONS. UOG WILL BE PARTNERING WITH JPL TO EXPLORE GUAM AS POTENTIAL TESTING AND CALIBRATION SITE FOR REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY THAT CHARACERIZES KARST LANDSCAPES. IN INITIATIVE 2, RID FUNDING WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD DEVELOPING A SCIENCE EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND FIBER CABLE HUB, AND RESEARCH STATION AT THE LOCATION OF THE FORMER APOLLO 11 MANNED SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (MSFC) TRACKING STATION IN DANDAN, MAJOLJOL, GUAM. IN INITIATIVE 3 UOG S NASA EPSCOR PROGRAM WILL PARTNER WITH AMES RESEARCH CENTER S LABORATORY FOR ADVANCED SENSING (LAS) TO USE FLUID LENSING AND MIDAR TOWARD HIGH RESOLUTION CORAL REEF MAPPING EFFORTS AND RAPID CORAL BLEACHING ASSESSMENTS ON GUAM AND IN MICRONESIA. THESE COLLABORATIONS WITH NASA GEOSPATIAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS WILL CONTRIBUTE TOWARD SATELLITE-BASED MONITORING FOR SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN SMALL ISLAND NATIONS. THE ISLANDS ARE AT RISK FROM RISING SEA LEVEL, INCREASINGLY ARID WEATHER PATTERNS, EXTREME STORM EVENTS, AND INCREASING SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES. WORKING WITH NASA EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE PROGRAMS AND RESEARCHERS THE UNIVERSITY OF GUAM S NASA EPSCOR PROGRAM IS BUILDING CAPACITY FOR GIS AND MANAGEMENT OF ROBUST DATASETS THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF THESE THREATENED RESOURCES. FURTHER, THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATIVE FOCUS OF THE NASA EPSCOR AND THE NSF EPSCOR PROGRAMS AND THE SUPPORTIVE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD AT UOG THERE IS SYNERGY TOWARD DEVELOING A SCIENCE EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND CHALLENGER EDUCATION CENTER AT THE SITE OF THE APOLLO 11 MANNED SPACE FLIGHT PROGRAM TRACKING STATION IN THE DANDAN AREA OF SOUTHERN GUAM. THE APOLLO MSFC FACILITY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO HOUSE THESE PROGRAMS AS WELL AS THE EPSCOR ACTIVITIES FOR THE NASA AND THE NSF EPSCOR PROGRAMS AT UOG AND TO MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT ON SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT, STEM EDUCATION, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH NASA EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE PROGRAMS AS WELL AS POSSIBLY ROCKETRY AND UAV ACTIVITIES AS THE PROGRAM EXPANDS IN COMING YEARS.