Federal grant programs / Department of the Interior

National Land Remote Sensing Education Outreach and Research (15.815)

Also known as Remote Sensing State Grants

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$5.5 million
• Grant awards2
• Typical award$2.8 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$0
• Size rank1,604 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• It is the 1604th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• Awards went to recipients in 1 states and territories.

What the program funds

To promote the uses of space-based land remote sensing data and technologies through education and outreach at the State and local level and through university based and collaborative research projects. Technologies of interest include multispectral and hyper-spectral electro-optical, thermal, and radar.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

This announcement is open to any domestic non-profit organization, public or private educational institution, or State, Local, or Tribal government or organization. Foreign applicants, for-profit organizations, and individuals are not eligible

What the money can and cannot pay for

Specific objectives are identified in the annual program announcement. Applications for research projects not covered by one of the objectives are not solicited.

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Deadlines do not apply Deadlines do not apply. A new five-year competitively-awarded grant activity, the National Land Remote Sensing Education, Outreach and Research grant activity (NLRSEORA), has already been awarded. The notice of funding opportunity was initially announced through Grants.gov.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Past Fiscal Year (2024): $1,477,500 Current Fiscal Year Estimated (2025): $1,250,000 Budget Fiscal Year Estimated (2026): $1,250,000 (1) Obligation levels shown are notional. The President reserves his authority under the “Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025” (P.L. 119-4) to revise 2025 spending within the amounts provided by Congress (2) Obligations are subject to the availability of funding, which is provided by Congress.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: The Program continued grant activity that began in FY 2023 as option year #3. This latest grant has met the goals and objectives of the National Land Remote Sensing Education, Outreach and Research (grant) Activity (NLRSEORA) with a continued focus on remote sensing science and engineering education and outreach, and the conduct of critical applied research. This nationwide grant activity was competitively awarded.Fiscal Year2026: The Program continued grant activity that began in FY 2023 as option year #4. Initial projects will be approved and funded at the State level of a multi-state remote sensing education, outreach and research grant activity along with overarching consortium activities such as annual meetings and reporting requirements. Focus areas include topical working groups to address various needs at the regional State and local levels. Projects will focus on data access and training, educational efforts integrating remote sensing into more K-18 curricula and determining local communities’ remote sensing requirements to address timely issues such as water and food security, hazard mitigation, and resource management. For each fiscal year, award will be granted to the nationwide consortium, including sub-tier awards to 44 states with oversight by designated State-level PIs or Directors. The organization is working toward the goal of expanding the program to all 50 states.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to nonprofits.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.