Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

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The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research investigating vegetation greenness and water use in riparian zones on the Navajo Nation, which are culturally Important Riparian Areas (CIRA) that are along the Little Colorado River. USGS seeks research to predict riparian green foliage cover and its actual evapotranspiration for 1) current landcover that falls within the CIRA definition, 2) future restoration sites determined within the CIRA to be planted and maintained with native species, and 3) off main-channel groundwater dependent species (GDEs). Expects to use multi-source imagery, to include aerial and satellite images, with high- and medium- resolution imagery, fusion techniques, machine learning approaches, and any opportunity to include ground-based validation methods. Aims to set up monitoring protocols for future riparian and GDE ecosystem monitoring, including near real-time evaluation of change that may be due to both natural and anthropogenic landcover pressures for these rivers and streams of the Little Colorado River, as well as monitoring of all restoration activities along these tributary streams.

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