CSUMB receives $1.13 million federal grant for water-use research partnership with NASA

SEASIDE, Calif. (KION-TV)- The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded CSUMB and NASA with a $1.13 million grant to support water-use research.

AJ Purdy and Lee Johnson who are part of the University's Department of Applied Environmental Science Faculty received the award which will help provide research, support, and software engineering to OpenET.

"OpenET fills an enormous gap in water data,” Purdy said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to optimize and improve the delivery of relevant water data to stakeholders and we are eager to have students participate in this work." 

OpenET is a data program that helps provide satellite-based information on evapotranspiration when water evaporates from the ground and is accessible to stakeholders across the United States.

The university says that the funding will help support advances in the science behind OpenET and lead to further improvements in the usability of data for water resources management from major watersheds to individual farms.

Student assistants will help with data analysis, and laboratory and field aspects of the project.