APPENDIX A
Data Base of Federal Programs and Their Budgets for Fiscal Year 1990
IAN D. MACGREGOR
National Science Foundation
INTRODUCTION
In the management of federal science programs it is important to have a broad perspective of the range and scale of other comparable activities. This is particularly critical in the solid-earth sciences because federal agencies use a wide range of earth science subdisciplines to accomplish a variety of national goals. In order to gain a perspective and sense of the diversity I have collected a data base that provides information on the scope of the solid-earth science disciplines as they are supported and used by U.S. federal agencies in achieving their mission goals.
METHODOLOGY
A questionnaire (which appears at the end of this Appendix) was sent to all federal agencies that make use of or support the solid-earth sciences. In order to make the data as quantitative as possible, numerical data were requested for each category assigned in the questionnaire. The categories included identification of federal programs, total solid-earth science budgets, institutional distribution, subdisciplinary fields, functional goals, geographic region, and instrumentation and facilities. It is estimated that about 85 to 90 percent of the overall effort was captured.
QUALITY OF DATA
Any data base has its limitations and, correspondingly, the current effort needs to be used with caution. Problems that may be readily identified are listed below as follows.
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Definitions. Interpretation of the categories listed in the data tables (see questionnaire) have been left to the perception of the program officer providing the data. Correspondingly, the data suffers from the problem that program directors who provided data may use the defined categories somewhat differently leading to unconstrained overlap in definitions. Since a uniformly unambiguous acceptance of definitions is an intractable task, it was felt, that in the compromise between rigor and the efficacy of collecting the data, that a more flexible approach was acceptable. However, it should be noted that the program staff providing data are professionals, who have a comprehensive grasp of their fields and the diversity of federal support. In addition, a fair amount of information exchange and shared programs among the different program managers assures that each manager has a reasonable grasp of the scope and style of other federal programs leading to comparable definitions.
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Research Category under Agency Functional Goals. The category, ''Research," listed as one of the functional goals of the agencies has not been expanded to identify the ultimate purpose of the research. Correspondingly, it is not possible to identify how the research budget relates to the agencies' missions as shown in their functional categories.
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Classification of "Solid-Earth Sciences. " By design the classification of "solid-earth sciences" that has been used in very broad. For example the areas of soil science, cartography, and bathymetry have been included. The data base includes all applied areas that may benefit from the application of skills derived from training in the basic disciplines of the solid-earth sciences, or use basic solid-earth science information as essential components to accomplishing mission goals. But, the data base can be used more selectively, because separate categories can be individually identified.
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Programs Not Included in the Data Base. There are a few programs from which data were not collected and there is always the possibility that programs have not been identified. In terms of the total expenditures it is estimated that essentially 85 to 90 percent of the solid-earth science activities are reported. Unidentified programs are probably small because the major efforts are well known.
These points caution judicious use of the data base. One may not expect accounting accuracy and the exact figures in each pigeon hole should be assigned some error. An estimate of error is difficult but is probably reasonable to expect that values are within ten percent of the true numbers. The best use of the data is to get a qualitative to semiquantitative estimate of the scope of the federal agencies in the solid-earth sciences. In the latter sense the data are the only comprehensive accumulation of solid-earth science information that is currently available. Moreover, the information has been accumulated at the working level where there is a high degree of knowledge for the technical and scientific contributions and programmatic content of the federal solid-earth science effort.
DATA
The data are available on disk in spreadsheet format and each program or agency may be examined in terms of any of the parameters collected in the data base. As an illustration of the overall effort summary graphs of the distributions by Agency Function and Discipline are included for the total federal effort and for each agencies. The breakdown by Agency Function gives a visual description of the use of solid-earth scientists in accomplishing the missions of the agency, and the disciplinary divisions show the distribution of the types of skills that are needed. The Table gives a quantitative indication of the expenditures for each agency.
QUESTIONNAIRE
I. |
Program Description |
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1. Hierarchical position within agency (top down) |
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Agency Organization Officer Telephone |
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2. Address |
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3. Narrative description of program (Short: 1 to 3 sentences) |
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4. Comments on collection/maintenance of solid-earth science data base |
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II. |
Budget Information |
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1. Total Budget (in thousands) |
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Program level |
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For FY 1989, FY 1990, and FY 1991 list |
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Internal |
External |
Total |
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Element |
FTE/$ |
$ |
$ |
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2. Budget devoted to solid-earth sciences (in thousands) |
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Program level |
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For FY 1989, FY 1990, and FY 1991 list |
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Internal |
External |
Total |
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Element |
FTE/$ |
$ |
$ |
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3. Total external funds for solid-earth sciences (from #2), distributed by institution (industry, university, federally funded research laboratory) for FY 1989, FY 1990, and FY 1991 |
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III. |
Subdisciplinary Fields of the Solid-Earth Sciences (FY 1990) |
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Estimate percentage support of the total solid-earth science budget. |
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___Geochemistry |
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___Analytical geochemistry |
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___Isotopes |
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___Stable |
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___Radioactive |
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___Rock/mineral/fluid major element chemistry |
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___Rock/mineral/fluid trace element chemistry |
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___Biogeochemistry (rock/organism interactions) |
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___Cosmochemistry and meteoritics |
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___Experimental geochemistry |
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___Igneous geochemistry |
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___Metamorphic geochemistry |
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___High-temperature (>200° C) |
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___Low-temperature (<200° C) |
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___Organic geochemistry |
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___Volcanology |
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___Geology |
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___Archeology |
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___Geomorphology |
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___Mathematical geology and geostatistics |
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___Quaternary geology |
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___Sedimentology |
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___Stratigraphy |
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___Structural geology |
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___Surficial geology |
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___Processes |
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___Remote sensing |
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___Tectonics |
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___Geophysics |
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___Geophysical modeling |
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___Mineral physics |
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___Physical properties of rocks |
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___Potential field |
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___Geodesy and gravity |
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___Geomagnetism and paleomagnetism |
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___Heat flow |
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___Seismology/acoustics |
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___Glaciology |
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___Hydrology |
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___Mineralogy/crystallography |
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___Paleobiology |
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___Paleoecology |
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___Paleontology |
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___Invertebrate |
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___Paleobotany |
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___Vertebrate |
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___Other (specify) |
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IV. Functional (Multidisciplinary Mission-Related) Goals of the Solid-Earth Sciences (FY 1990) |
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Estimate percentage support of the total solid-earth science budget. |
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___Basic Research (Sensu strictu) |
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___Economic geology |
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___Mineral resources |
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___Metals |
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___Nonmetals |
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___Energy resources |
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___Hydrocarbons |
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___Coal |
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___Oil and gas |
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___Geothermal |
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___Hydrological resources |
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___Groundwater reservoirs |
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___Surface reservoirs |
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___Education and Human Resources |
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___Engineering Geology |
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___Construction |
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___Land use/urban geology |
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___Mining engineering |
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___Mining technology/mineral extraction |
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___Petroleum engineering |
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___Global Change Studies (solid-earth components only) |
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___Natural Hazard Reduction |
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___Earthquakes |
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___Engineering |
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___Geology/geophysics/geochemistry |
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___Floods |
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___Landslides |
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___Engineering |
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___Geology/geophysics/geochemistry |
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___Subsidence |
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___Engineering |
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___Geology/geophysics/geochemistry |
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___Volcanoes |
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___Planetology (exclusive of Earth) |
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___Planetary surfaces |
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___Planetary interiors |
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___Regulatory Geology |
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___Environmental geology |
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___Toxic wastes |
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___Chemical |
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___Radioactive |
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___Soils |
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___Resources |
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___Processes (chemical, physical, biogeochemical, and mineralogical) |
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___Other (specify) |
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V. Geographic Classification of Solid-Earth Science Support (FY 1990) |
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Estimate percentage support of the total solid-earth science budget. |
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___Extraterrestrial |
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___Meteorites |
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___Planets |
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___Terrestrial |
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___Continental (non Polar regions) |
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___Marine |
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___Geology |
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___Geophysics |
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___Polar Regions |
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___Arctic |
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___Antarctic |
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___Other (specify) |
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VI. Instrumentation and Facilities for the Solid-Earth Sciences (FY 1990) |
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Estimate percentage support of the total solid-earth science budget. |
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___Instrumentation (Items < $500,000) |
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___Geochemical |
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___Geological |
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___Geophysical |
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___Facilities (Items > $500,000) |
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___Geochemical |
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___Geological |
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___Geophysical |
TABLE A.1 Summary of Federal Agency Expenditures in the Solid-Earth Sciences (FY 1990)
Agency Totals |
Facilities and Instrumentation |
Education |
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$ millions |
Percentage |
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$ millions |
Percentage |
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$ millions |
Percentage |
USDA |
276.04 |
20.18 |
USDA |
3.51 |
0.26 |
USDA |
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0 |
DOD |
61.15 |
4.47 |
DOD |
25.09 |
1.83 |
DOD |
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0 |
DOE |
161.07 |
11.77 |
DOE |
7.57 |
0.55 |
DOE |
0.41 |
0.03 |
DOI |
582.25 |
42.56 |
DOI |
32.67 |
2.39 |
DOI |
10.29 |
0.75 |
DOS |
0.50 |
0.04 |
DOS |
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0 |
DOS |
0.00 |
0 |
EPA |
36.22 |
2.65 |
EPA |
1.51 |
0.11 |
EPA |
0.91 |
0.07 |
NASA |
66.47 |
4.86 |
NASA |
15.74 |
1.15 |
NASA |
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0 |
NOAA |
41.85 |
3.06 |
NOAA |
0.60 |
0.04 |
NOAA |
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0 |
NRC |
7.77 |
0.57 |
NRC |
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0 |
NRC |
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0 |
NSF |
134.70 |
9.85 |
NSF |
52.46 |
3.83 |
NSF |
2.75 |
0.20 |
Total |
1368.01 |
100.00 |
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139.16 |
10.17 |
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14.37 |
1.05 |
USDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture; DOD, Department of Defense; DOE, Department of Energy; DOI, Department of the Interior; DOS, Department of State; EPA, Environmental Protection Agency; NASA, National Aeronautical and Space Administration; NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Agency; NSF, National Science Foundation. |