Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
USGS offers funding to a partner for research on GeoAI landform mapping, expanding landform ontologies, and improving summit location accuracy with lidar data.
Funder: Geological Survey
Due Dates: July 5, 2026: Full application deadline
Funding Amounts: Up to $29,994 total for a one-year project; one award expected
Summary: Supports research on GeoAI-enabled automated landform mapping, semantic landform ontologies, and improved GNIS summit feature accuracy using lidar data.
Key Information: Only Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU partners are eligible to apply.
Description
This opportunity from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funds a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) partner for research advancing geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) in landform mapping. The project aims to:
- Advance automated mapping of landforms using AI and image segmentation.
- Expand the Landform Reference Ontology with knowledge graph approaches for semantic representation and querying.
- Improve the accuracy of Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) summit features using lidar-derived elevation datasets.
The project aligns with multiple federal priorities, including AI leadership, improved geospatial infrastructure, and enhanced disaster response capabilities. The results are expected to strengthen the scientific rigor and operational utility of national geospatial datasets.
