The Board's assessments lead to recommendations 

 for program emphasis, constraint, reduction, and 

 reorientation, which are incorporated into pro- 

 posed programs by the Director and the 

 Foundation staff. 



Recommendations and guidance from congres- 

 sional oversight committees bearing upon the 

 Foundation's program directions are taken into 

 account in program development, which is also 

 subject in some instances to congressional man- 

 dates. Recommendations of the President and the 

 President's Science Adviser are likewise elements 

 in the development process. 



The Foundation's program is coordinated with 

 research programs of other Federal agencies by 

 interagency committees, frequent discussions 

 among agency program managers and research 

 administrators, and through the Office of Manage- 

 ment and Budget. 



A proposal for Foundation support is assigned 

 for review and evaluation to the division or office 

 having responsibility in the intended field of re- 

 search. If it passes initial scrutiny, it is submitted 

 to peer review. Peer review takes several forms in 

 different directorates, but three forms account for 

 nearly all review actions: ad hoc reviews; panel 

 reviews; and ad hoc reviewers plus panels. In all 



of these cases, the peer reviews are advisory to the 

 Foundation program officers, preserving the au- 

 thority of program staff — and the Foundation — 

 over the obligation of Federal funds. 



Peer reviews strongly influence ultimate deci- 

 sions on proposals. Care is taken that for a given 

 proposal the reviewers possess relevant expertise, 

 and, as a group, show fair distribution by geo- 

 graphical area and types of institution and do not 

 include persons having a professional or personal 

 relationship to the proposer which might affect 

 objectivity. A program manager's award recom- 

 mendation is subject to review at higher levels in 

 his Division, if necessary, his Directorate; and if 

 the size of the award requires, by the National 

 Science Board. All grant awards are also given 

 final scrutiny by an Action Review Board, which is 

 a cross section of the Foundation's expertise. Ap- 

 plicants whose proposals have been rejected have 

 access to a formal appeal process. 



The following sections describe the work of the 

 various directorates of the National Science Foun- 

 dation in support of basic research. The material 

 was for the most part prepared in the Directorates. 

 Each adapted the material to its own particular 

 role. For this reason the individual sections have 

 not been recast into a standard mold. 



DIRECTORATE FOR ASTRONOMICAL, ATMOSPHERIC, EARTH, AND 



OCEAN SCIENCES 



AAEO Mission 



The Directorate for Astronomical, Atmospheric, 

 Earth, and Ocean Sciences (AAEO) supports basic 

 research in selected disciplines to increase 

 knowledge of the environment on Earth and in 

 space. The overall objectives of the Directorate 

 are to: 



• Obtain new knowledge in astronomy and the 

 atmospheric sciences over the entire spec- 

 trum of related physical phenomena. 



• Provide a better understanding of the physical 

 and chemical makeup of the earth and its geo- 

 logical history. 



• Obtain further insights into the oceans' com- 

 position, structure, behavior, and resources, 

 and examine the effect of human activities on 

 the ocean environment, and vice versa. 



• Advance knowledge of natural phenomena 

 and processes in the polar regions. 



Division of Astronomical Sciences 



Goals and Objectives. The Division of Astronomi- 

 cal Sciences (AST) funds research aimed at in- 



1 94 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 



creasing man's knowledge of the universe. Fields 

 of research range from the properties of atomic 

 and molecular systems in astrophysical environ- 

 ments to the overall structure of the universe. The 

 constituents of the solar system, stars, interstellar 

 matter, and galaxies are observed and described. 

 Support for both theoretical and observational re- 

 search and for instrument development is accom- 

 plished through basic research grants made primar- 

 ily to universities. In addition, five national astro- 

 nomical research facilities are supported through 

 NSF contracts: National Astronomy and Ionos- 

 phere Center (NAIC), Arecibo, Puerto Rico, which 

 conducts research in radio and radar astronomy 

 and ionospheric physics; Kitt Peak National Ob- 

 servatory (KPNO), near Tucson, Arizona, which 

 uses telescopes for observations at optical or in- 

 frared (IR) wavelengths; Cerro Tololo Inter-Amer- 

 ican Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, which provides 

 advanced facilities for optical and infrared re- 

 search in the Southern Hemisphere; National Ra- 

 dio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), at Green 

 Bank, West Virginia, provides the capability to 

 study radiation in wavelength ranges between a 

 few meters and one millimeter; and Sacramento 



