SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Ultra Light Dropsonde
- Notice Date
- 12/6/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Mountain Administrative Support Center, 325 Broadway - MC3, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328
- ZIP Code
- 80305-3328
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-NOAA-OAR-ESRL
- Response Due
- 1/16/2006
- Archive Date
- 1/30/2006
- Description
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), Global Systems Division (GSD), (hereinafter referred to as government) desires to develop an ultra-light dropsonde for use aboard long-duration, high-altitude aerial vehicles that have limited payload capability. Examples of such vehicles might be directed balloons, solar powered aircraft or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). *** The aerial vehicle may be able to fly and loiter above weather systems, such as hurricanes, and release dropsondes to measure temperature, humidity and wind profiles through the depth of the storm. The weight of the dropsondes is a key aspect of this concept. The lighter they are, the more of them can be carried to altitude to get more profiles of the weather system to improve the predictions of intensity and track. The goal is dropsondes that weigh no more than 20 grams each.*** It is the government's intent to procure (1) engineering proto-types of ultra light sondes; and (2) a ground-based station for testing functionality as these sondes are carried aloft, by some means, and radio back digital data from which profiles of temperature, humidity and wind can be determined in real-time. If these tests are successful, at some later time the government may procure (1) production versions of the dropsonde; and (2) flight qualified versions of the ground station equipment to receive and process signals of the dropsondes as they are dropped from a high-altitude platform and fall toward the surface.*** The purpose of this request for information is to determine (i) if there are sources capable of satisfying the government's requirements, especially the weight requirement; (ii) to determine availability of commercial items or, to the extent commercial items suitable to meet government's needs are not available, non-development items are available that: (A) Meet government's requirements; (B) Could be modified to meet the government's requirements; or (C) Could meet the government's requirements if those requirements were modified to a reasonable extent; (iii) to determine the extent to which commercial items or non-development items could be incorporated at the component level; and (iv) to determine the practices of firms engaged in producing, distributing, and supporting commercial items, such as terms for warranties, buyer financing, maintenance, and packing and marking. No proposals are being requested or accepted under this synopsis. Feedback addressing the clarity, feasibility, scope, and potential alternative means of meeting the government's requirement is sought. *** The anticipated North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for these requirements is 541710 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. Your response should identify your business size (large or small) in relation to this NAICS Code. If your company has 500 employees are more you are considered a large business.*** NOAA will consider all comments, supportive or critical, but may or may not use these individual comments. In addition to comments, those interested are requested to provide a budgetary estimate for the System as specified herein. Interested Sources are also encouraged to submit product literature in response to this RFI. Any submission of such product literature or "catalog cut sheets" will be treated separate from, and will have no bearing on, any subsequent evaluation of proposals submitted in response to any resulting future formal Request for Proposals. NOAA will not pay for information or comments provided and will not recognize any costs associated with submission of comments. NOAA, as noted above, is assessing the existence of sources and is requesting written comments from industry on the requirements that follow. Written comments shall be submitted no later than 2:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Savings Time, January 16, 2006. Sources interested in providing comments shall respond in writing to Ms. Susan Labovitz, Contract Specialist, DOC, NOAA, MRAD, MC3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328. Submittals may also be made via E-mail to Susan.Labovitz@noaa.gov, by Facsimile to (303) 497-3163 or express delivery; however, telephone responses are not acceptable. This Notice is not a Request for Proposals, Invitation for Bid, or Request for Quotes. *** System Requirements: The dropsondes and the receiving equipment shall operate together as a system to produce temperature, humidity and wind profiles as a function of pressure height. The desired weight of an individual dropsonde is 20grams. The government notes that one way to minimize dropsonde weight is to not have positioning equipment such as a GPS receiver on each dropsonde, but rather to track the sonde with the radio signal used to carry the measured data to radio receiving equipment. One way of doing this is suggested in ?Atmospheric Sondes and Method for Tracking?, Chadwick and MacDonald, US Patent 6,421,010. There may be other suggestions that can result in the capability for a 20-gram sonde that can be dropped from 65,000 feet. *** All parts of the system must be capable of operating for long periods (up to weeks) at ambient conditions experienced at 50,000-65,000 feet. The engineering proto-types mentioned above will be tested in an environmental chamber by the government. The testing regime will include a cold soak and then operation inside the chamber as the temperature and pressure are changed to simulate vertical movement through the atmosphere. The engineering proto-types will also be flight tested by launching the sonde with a GPS equipped balloon from the surface and comparing the track measured by the proto-type dropsonde and ground-station with that measured by the GPS aboard the balloon during ascent. *** The optimum radio frequency and power level to be used to send the data to the receiving station may be different for different ways of tracking the sonde, so the government expects suggestions as to what the optimum frequency and power level should be. Other relevant suggestions such as polarization, etc. are also welcome. The radio frequency to be used by any engineering proto-types that may be procured must be approved by the government prior to delivery.*** The size and weight of the engineering proto-type dropsondes and ground station that may be procured and used for ground-based testing will not have to meet the same requirements as projected flight qualified equipment that may be procured at a later time by the government. However, there have to be clearly stated paths, with projected costs, of achieving the desired sizes, weights, and configurations for flight aboard the projected airborne platform. For example, the proto-type items may be made using a number of widely available integrated circuits that would be merged into a single custom integrated circuit for the production items. Also, the ground station design must be capable of being realized under the flight constraints of the projected aerial vehicle. Since FEDBIZOPPS does not permit formating this notice into paragraphs, paragraphs are separated by the following notation: ***.
- Record
- SN00946428-W 20051208/051207093159 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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