**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** COASTAL SALT MARSHES ARE VERY IMPORTANT ECOSYSTEMS AS THEY PROTECT US FROM HURRICANES AND FLOODS AND PROVIDE CRITICAL HABITATS TO MANY FISH AND SHELLFISH NURSERIES. THEY IMPROVE WATER QUALITY BY CONVERTING NUTRIENTS, SUCH AS NITROGEN, TO FORMS THAT ARE LESS HARMFUL TO THE ENVIRONMENT. THEY ALSO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CONVERTING ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE INTO SOIL CONSTITUENTS AND THEN STORING THAT CARBON. SALT MARSHES FACE MULTIPLE THREATS, INCLUDING DROUGHTS, SEDIMENT STARVATION, NUTRIENT POLLUTION, AND SEA-LEVEL RISE. IN GEORGIA ALONE, 20%-45% OF SALT MARSHES ARE AT RISK OF LOSS TO ACCELERATED SEA-LEVEL RISE, WHICH COULD DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CARBON STORED IN THESE SYSTEMS. SOIL CARBON IS MADE BY PLANT PARTS THAT DO NOT FULLY DECOMPOSE, AND THAT HELPS SALT MARSHES MAINTAIN THEIR ELEVATION AGAINST RISING SEAS. KEEPING MARSHES AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS ALSO PROTECTS AGAINST EROSION. KNOWING THE AMOUNT OF CARBON STORED IN SOILS, THEREFORE, IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING SALT MARSH VULNERABILITY. TO EFFECTIVELY MEASURE SALT MARSH SOIL CARBON STORAGE, IT IS CRUCIAL TO EXAMINE CHANGES IN CARBON STORAGE OVER SPACE AND TIME. SOIL CARBON IS USUALLY COLLECTED BY SCIENTISTS BY REMOVING A TUBE-SHAPED AMOUNT OF SOIL FROM THE MARSH AND TAKING IT TO A LABORATORY TO MEASURE CARBON CONTENT. THIS PRACTICE IS LABOR-INTENSIVE, TIME-CONSUMING, EXPENSIVE, AND TAKEN AT LOCATIONS AND DEPTHS SPECIFIC TO INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS. SUCH FIELD SAMPLED DATA, ALTHOUGH POTENTIALLY HIGHLY ACCURATE, ARE INEVITABLY FROM LIMITED GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINTS AND NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VARIABILITY OF SOIL FROM PLACE TO PLACE. SITE-SPECIFIC SOIL CARBON DATA ARE COLLECTED USING TRADITIONAL SAMPLING METHODS FROM COASTAL SALT MARSH ECOSYSTEMS AS PART OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS OR COORDINATION NETWORKS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)-FUNDED COASTAL CARBON RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK (CCRCN) HAS BEEN CREATED TO COMPILE AND HOUSE SOIL CARBON CONTRIBUTED BY DIFFERENT PROJECTS ACROSS THE GLOBE. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT AND USEFUL NETWORK, BUT WE STILL KNOW ABOUT SOIL CARBON FROM ONLY LIMITED AREAS AND TIMES. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ENTIRE COAST OF GA IS REPRESENTED BY ONLY 37 SITES THAT ARE PROVIDED AT IRREGULAR TIME POINTS. TO OVERCOME THIS SHORTCOMING, WE PROPOSE A NEW FRAMEWORK THAT WE CALL AWESOM SENSE (A WETLAND SOIL ORGANIC MATTER SENSOR), WHICH WILL TRANSFORM SALT MARSH SOIL CARBON SENSING AND COMPLEMENT ALL ONGOING AND EXISTING EFFORTS WITH HIGH-QUALITY SOIL CARBON DATA AT MANY MORE LOCATIONS THAN CAN BE COLLECTED MANUALLY. AWESOM SENSE WILL STRENGTHEN THE CURRENT EFFORTS OF CCRCN BY EXPANDING THE FOOTPRINT OF THE EXISTING POINT DATA TO BROADER SCALES, DEPTHS, AND TIMES. A METHOD THAT ENABLES DATA TO BE CONTINUOUSLY TRANSFERRED THROUGH EXISTING CELLULAR AND WI-FI NETWORKS WITHOUT HUMANS HAVING TO VISIT THE SENSORS ALLOWS AUTOMATED MONITORING OF SALT MARSH SOIL CARBON. ALL OF THAT DATA CAN BE INPUT INTO COMPUTER MODELS TO MAKE PREDICTIONS THAT CAN EVENTUALLY BE TRANSLATED ACROSS LARGE GEOGRAPHICAL FOOTPRINTS.THE SCIENTIFIC MERIT OF THIS STUDY LIES IN ITS POTENTIAL TO RADICALLY TRANSFORM THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE OF SOIL CARBON MONITORING IN SALT MARSH ECOSYSTEMS BY INVENTING TECHNIQUES TO (1) PERFORM A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RELIABILITY OF VARIOUS, LOW-COST, SOIL CARBON SENSORS PLACED IN THE FIELD TO COLLECT AND TRANSMIT SOIL CARBON DATA; (2) BUILD A COMPUTING AND DATA TRANSMISSION ARCHITECTURE THAT ALLOWS DATA RANGING FROM FIELD SENSORS TO DRONES TO SATELLITE IMAGES TO BE STORED AND ANALYZED IN NEW WAYS THAT OPTIMIZE WHERE SENSORS ARE PLACED IN THE FIELD AND THEN SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATES ALL OF THOSE DATA THROUGH INTELLIGENT COLLABORATION BETWEEN STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY (E.G. CLOUD AND EDGE COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURES); AND (3) DEVELOP COMPUTER MODELS THAT CAN FIND TRENDS IN THOSE LARGE DATA SETS THAT HUMANS CANNOT NECESSARILY SEE TO PREDICT BOTH NEAR-SURFACE AND DEEPER SOIL CARBON CONTENT FOR SALT MARSH ECOSYSTEMS ACROSS COASTAL GA. THE PROJECT WILL IMPACT A BROAD AUDIENCE BECAUSE IT WILL GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE IN MANY SPECIALIZED AREAS, SUCH AS FIELD SENSOR LOCATION AND DATA TRANSMISSION IN ENVIRONMENTS WITH POOR CELLULAR AND WI-FI SERVICE, SOIL CARBON SENSING, AND ONGOING SOIL MONITORING. THESE RESULTS WILL BE DIRECTLY BENEFICIAL TO BOTH ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT. AMONG THE MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS OF THE PROJECT ARE RESEARCH COMMUNITIES WORKING ON WETLAND ECOLOGY PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE COASTAL US, INCLUDING NSF'S GA COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) PROJECT, WHICH IS WITHIN OUR PROPOSED STUDY AREA. OUR GOAL WOULD BE TO CREATE LINKS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT COASTAL ECOLOGY WORKING GROUPS TO INFORM THEM ABOUT THE PROJECT OUTCOMES. THE PROJECT WILL ENGAGE STUDENTS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, RESOURCE MANAGERS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC VIA TRAINING, WORKSHOP, AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH, STARTING FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR DEPLOYMENTS/MANAGEMENT, DATA ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, AND INTERPRETATION TO SALT MARSH ECOLOGY AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION. IMPORTANTLY, THE GA DNR COASTAL RESOURCES DIVISION HAS PRIORITIZED RESEARCH INTO THE IMPORTANCE OF MEASURING MARSH CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECOSYSTEM HEALTH (OR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES), AND A BROAD-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF SOIL CARBON IS ESSENTIAL TO ACHIEVING THEIR NEXT STEP OF QUANTIFYING THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICE OF CARBON STORAGE. THE PROJECT HAS SPECIFIC TANGIBLE STEPS FACILITATING SEAMLESS TRANSFER OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION TO RESOURCE MANAGERS, ENSURING EARLY IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTORATION ACTIONS FOR ENHANCED SUSTAINABILITY. OUR RESEARCH RESULTS WILL ALSO BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH HIGH-QUALITY SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND PRESENTATIONS IN LEADING CONFERENCES IN COASTAL ECOLOGY, SOIL SCIENCE, AND SENSING SYSTEMS.