SPECIAL NOTICE
B -- RFI-A COMMERCIAL SOLUTION FOR SOLAR WIND DATA AND CORONAL MASS EJECTION (CME) IMAGERY
- Notice Date
- 5/17/2011
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 517919
— All Other Telecommunications
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NESDIS Acquisition Division, SSMC3 - Room 10100/OFA64, 1315 East West Highway, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910
- ZIP Code
- 20910
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-NOAADSCOVER
- Archive Date
- 7/15/2011
- Point of Contact
- Patricia Mulligan,
- E-Mail Address
-
patricia.mulligan@noaa.gov
(patricia.mulligan@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Information (RFI) May 17, 2011 A COMMERCIAL SOLUTION FOR SOLAR WIND DATA AND CORONAL MASS EJECTION (CME) IMAGERY INTENT OF THIS NOTICE THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking statements of capabilities from all sources for an upcoming solar wind mission. NOAA is interested in obtaining near-term information demonstrating the viability of long-term commercial solutions (those that are currently available and that could be made commercially available) for a mission that would provide much better value than a government developed system. This Notice does not constitute an Invitation for Bid or Request for Proposal and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. No contracts will be awarded as a result of this Notice. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this Notice or for any follow-up requests for information. NOAA may contact respondents for clarification and discussion of the submitted responses. NOAA will review all documentation provided by each responder. NOAA will use the information provided for a combination of purposes to include present and future planning, and to determine technical feasibility. Responders are strongly cautioned against blanket exclusions from public disclosure, which may present NOAA with difficulty in making any future case for a new procurement. Furthermore, NOAA may release information obtained from responders to interested parties in future competitive acquisitions. If warranted by the information received from this notice, NOAA may consider soliciting for viable no-cost solutions to coincide with the DSCOVR mission described below. Successful commercial participation in the DSCOVR mission could support a NOAA decision to pursue commercial services for solar wind data and coronal mass ejection imagery in the post-DSCOVR era. BACKGROUND In FY 2012, NOAA is planning to implement a program for acquisition of solar wind data in the near-term. Solar wind data must be acquired at the Lagrangian sun-earth L1 point. Complete requirements are included in Attachment 1. NOAA is seeking data to examine whether our long-term solution for these data types can be a commercial service. Our short-term plan for acquiring these data types is to collaborate with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) to refurbish and launch the NASA Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite as early as January 2014. We are seeking to involve commercial vendors in the DSCOVR projects for the purpose of gathering data to evaluate the long-term viability of commercial services for these types of data. We are also interested in data that documents privately supported technical progress in the development of sensors that could meet NOAA requirements described in Attachment 2. NOAA will take the information requested and other marked research into account to determine if a full and open competition for commercial solar wind sources is feasible. DISCUSSION DSCOVR will be a deep space satellite mission operating at the sun-earth L1 point with the following instrumentation: the Plasma sensor and Magnetometer suite (Plas-Mag); the Earth Polychromatic Camera (EPIC); and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Active Cavity Radiometer (NISTAR). The original DSCOVR mission, formerly known as Triana, was built by NASA and placed into storage in 2001. The cost of this mission (in FY 2007 dollars) was approximately $249 million, not including launch costs. Further information on Triana can be found at: http://www-pm.larc.nasa.gov/triana/NAS.Triana.report.12.99.pdf. NOAA plans to receive, process, and use the Plas-Mag to forecast geomagnetic storms. DSCOVR DATA RECEPTION Current planning calls for the use of the NOAA-coordinated international Real Time Solar Wind Network (RTSWnet) to receive all DSCOVR data. Space weather data will be received in real-time at all times. EPIC and NISTAR science data will also be received in real-time when the spacecraft is visible to the NOAA Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station (WCDAS) at Wallops, Virginia. During other times the data will be stored and downloaded within 14 hours when next visible to WCDAS. Public outreach imagery (3-channel EPIC images) will be received every 15 minutes when DSCOVR is visible to WCDAS. The schedule of reception for public outreach imagery at non-WCDAS sites is still being determined, but is expected to be similar to the WCDAS schedule. COMMERCIAL ROLE Because NOAA has on-going requirements for solar wind data that will continue after the DSCOVR mission is completed, we need to determine the most cost-effective way to obtain these data over the long-term. One potential approach is to acquire the data through commercial sources. Through this RFI, we are seeking concepts that might leverage the DSCOVR mission to demonstrate the viability of business cases supporting commercial opportunities in the future. Current plans call for NOAA to fund the refurbishment of the DSCOVR satellite and the Plas-Mag sensors, and for NASA to fund the refurbishment of the EPIC and NISTAR. NOAA expects the USAF to fund DSCOVR launch services. Pending the availability of appropriated funds, refurbishment work will be performed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. NOAA's only interest in the mission data is solar wind data. NOAA will not buy data from sensors funded solely with U.S. Government funds. There should be no expectation that either NOAA or NASA will purchase any additional data. DOCUMENTATION OF INTEREST Responders may document their interest with a letter to the contracting officer. See contact information below. Responders must include detailed technical information and a ROM cost estimate on their business approach; interested firms should provide, in writing, the company name, address, point of contact, telephone number, and business size. Information submitted should be pertinent and specific in the technical area under consideration. Any other specific and pertinent information as pertains to this particular area of procurement that would enhance the information submitted will be considered by the agency. The Satellite Program Acquisition Division requires that all Contractors doing business with this office be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). While this announcement is for information purposes only, sources by this notice are hereby made aware that no award can be made to a company not registered in CCR. For additional information to register in CCR, please access the following web site: http://www.ccr.gov. In order to register, all firms must have a Dun & Bradstreet Number. A Dun & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on-line at https://www.dnb.com/product/eupdate/requestOptions.html or by phone at (800) 333-0505. Contractors should submit their Certification and Representations through the on-line Business Partner Network (BPN). The BPN is the single source for vendor data for the federal government. Contractors are encouraged to go on-line at www.bpn.gov to complete its representations and certifications. SUBMISSION AND DUE DATE: All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United States Government. The response date for this market research is June 30, 2011 at 3:00 PM. No calls, hard copy submittals, or questions will be accepted or considered. All responses to this RFI shall be submitted only via e-mail to Patricia Mulligan, at Patricia.Mulligan@noaa.gov. Attachment 1 Solar Wind Requirements Continuous data flow, real time (within 1 minute of measurement) 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Data must be of useable quality during all levels and types of disturbed space weather measured at a location permitting ~ one hour alert time e.g. L1. Magnetic field vector measurements a. At least one vector measurement per minute (Bx, By, Bz) b. Must deliver data in GSM coordinates in real time c. Range: 0.1 to 100 nT for each component (along positive or negative axis) d. 0.1 nT relative accuracy with 2.0 nT absolute accuracy Plasma Ion Measurement a. At least one measurement of the solar wind velocity vector (Vx, Vy, Vz), average ion temperature, and ion density moments every minute b. Must deliver data in GSM coordinates in real time c. Velocity range 200 to 1500-km/sec with 5% relative accuracy d. Temperature range: 40,000 to 2,000,000 K with 20% relative accuracy e. Density range: 1 to 100 cm-3, with 20% absolute accuracy Characterization of Low Energy ION Particle population a. At least one set complete set of measurements every 5 minutes b. At least 4 different differential flux channels covering the energy range from 50 keV to 1 MeV c. Relative accuracy of 20 % Attachment 2 CME Imagery Requirements NOAA The purpose of NOAA CME imagery is to enable detection and characterization of CME's in the low corona. NOAA requires a minimum of two images of every potentially geo-effective CME be fit with a Cone Model to derive basic inputs for heliospheric propagation models. NOAA also requires that plane of sky positions of the CME leading edge are measured for a minimum of three images and that the CME mass be computed for all images. Pointing Knowledge The line of sight pointing knowledge shall be 25 arc-secs. The direction of solar north shall be known to within 1 degree. Field of View The field of view (FOV) shall be an annulus, centered on the Sun. The inner radius of the annulus shall be 3.0 solar radii. The outer radius of the annulus shall be at least 17 solar radii. Point Response The image spatial resolution shall be 50 arc-secs. This requirement shall be met at the radius which is the average of the inner and outer radii of the FOV. System Spectral Response The bandpass selected shall be ‘white-light', that is, lie within 5000-8000 Angstroms. The ability to use polarization techniques to separate the K-corona signal from other signals may be provided. Flux Resolution The measurement precision (or flux resolution) shall be 1x10-12 B/BSUN/pixel in the outer part of the FOV. In the inner part of the FOV the flux resolution shall be 2x10-11 B/BSUN/pixel. Measurement Range The measurement range minimum shall be 1x10-11 B/BSUN at the outer radius of the FOV. The measurement range maximum shall be ≥2.6x10-9 B/BSUN at the inner radius of the FOV. The straylight measured at the focal plane at the midpoint of the FOV shall not exceed 5x10-11 B/BSUN. Absolute Accuracy The data shall be calibrated to an absolute accuracy of 25%. Data Cadence The Solar Coronagraph (SCOR) shall be capable of achieving a cadence of at least one full FOV image in 15 minutes or less. Cosmic Ray Contamination No more than 10% of pixels in an image shall have count rate more than 5 sigma above the background during a solar radiation storm reaching the S5 level (Flux level of 5 minute averaged ≥10MeV ions reaching 105 particles/sec/sr/cm2. Data Latency Data latency from the time an exposure finishes to the time of delivery to NOAA/SWPC shall not exceed 15 minutes.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/NESMD/RFI-NOAADSCOVER/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 1315 East-West HWY, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, United States
- Zip Code: 20910
- Zip Code: 20910
- Record
- SN02450107-W 20110519/110517234816-9f6f389b9ff232a626fb78394d69819e (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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