SAMDaily.us | SNOTE | D | HFRNet Replacement: Request for Information (RFI)

SAMDAILY.US - ISSUE OF AUGUST 25, 2023 SAM #7941
SPECIAL NOTICE

D -- HFRNet Replacement: Request for Information (RFI)

Notice Date: 8/23/2023 2:27:29 PM
Notice Type: Special Notice
NAICS: 541512 — Computer Systems Design Services
Contracting Office: DEPT OF COMMERCE NOAA NORFOLK VA 23510 USA
ZIP Code: 23510
Solicitation Number: NC-NU0000-23-01435
Response Due: 10/15/2023 2:00:00 PM
Archive Date: 10/30/2023
Point of Contact: Alice Park, Phone: 8166230094, Tyrone M. Lewis, Phone: 8164267453
E-Mail Address: alice.park@noaa.gov, Tyrone.M.Lewis@noaa.gov
(alice.park@noaa.gov, Tyrone.M.Lewis@noaa.gov)
Description: Summary This is a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge the marketplace and learn the industry's capabilities. The Surface Currents Program within the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Office, under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), seeks information from interested parties on specific tools, services, and capabilities that commercial, government, or academic entities might currently and in the future provide for an upgraded replacement of the current data assembly center (DAC) known as HFRNet, which serves to analyze ocean surface velocity data from the IOOS High-Frequency Radar (HFR) National Network. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Solicitation nor a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment for an RFP in the future, and it is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract. The Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this announcement. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with Government regulations. Background The Surface Currents Program of the NOAA IOOS Office presently funds the Scripps Institution of Oceanography�s (SIO�s) Coastal Observing Research & Development Center (CORDC) to operate and maintain (O&M) the DAC known as �HFRNet� for the IOOS HFR National Network (https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/hf-radar/).� HFRNet is accessible at https://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/hfrnet and its O&M team at CORDC can be reached at hfrnet.administrators@sio.ucsd.edu. In the early 2000�s, the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) began planning with CORDC to develop the data management architecture for a national HFR network.� Planning shifted to execution in 2005, with NOAA (via the IOOS program) directing funds to establish a national HFR network infrastructure that could ingest ocean surface velocity data from existing and future HFR surface current mapping sensors operated by regional partners.� This effort was envisioned as a partnership across NOAA, with NOAA�s National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) serving as the Federal access point (data delivery), CORDC developing and managing the information technology (IT) infrastructure, and the IOOS regional partners managing local HFR networks.� As we approach 20 years of operation, the HFRNet data management system has become proto-operational, ingesting data from 160+ HFRs on a �24/7/365� basis.� With the research and development (R&D) of this network now mature, the time has come for the IT infrastructure ownership to transition from CORDC. The HFR National Network presently consists of approximately 160 HFR sensors installed at coastal and Great Lakes points on land across North America, with plans for modest expansion of the network.� The HFRs� O&M is performed by non-Federal members of IOOS Regional Associations (https://ioos.noaa.gov/regions/), most commonly through the laboratory staff of professors at research universities, but also by private companies and other governmental organizations.� The present ~160 HFRs consist of a mix of sensors from three different manufacturers:� SeaSonde� HFRs (~87%) from CODAR Ocean Sensors Ltd. (https://codar.com/seasonde/), WERA� HFRs (~7%) from Helzel Messtechnik GmbH (https://helzel.com/product-detail-wera/), and G-HFDR (a.k.a. LERA) HFRs (~6%) from the Radio Oceanography Laboratory at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (http://www.satlab.hawaii.edu/wiki).� The HFRs are each controlled by on-site consumer-grade computers; the SeaSondes utilize Apple Inc. Mac� computers, but WERAs and G-HFDRs may use computers running Linux-type or Microsoft Inc. Windows� operating systems.� The �raw� data files created by the HFRs are either stored locally at those on-site computers, or are aggregated on to regional servers, and the formats of the files vary.� HFRNet is responsible for ingesting, post-processing, and error checking the streams of these raw data files from all those sources, which requires this DAC to both download files and accept file uploads. Scope of Requirement The Surface Currents Program of the NOAA U.S. IOOS Office requires an upgraded replacement of the present HFRNet DAC to ingest, quality control (QC), process, visualize, publically serve, and archive the near real-time telemetry and diagnostic data from the IOOS HFR National Network.� The primary products generated by this DAC from the readings of the HFR sensors will be (1) national-scale data grids of near real-time (ca. hourly to half-hourly) measurements of ocean surface current velocity and (2) localized wave height, period, and direction data. A primary function of this new HFRNet replacement DAC will be to compute total surface current velocities (�totals�) from the raw radial velocities (�radials�) measured by the HFRs.� The present HFRNet accomplishes this using an unweighted least squares fit of radial velocity measurements that fall within a set radius of the centroid of each grid cell; the general calculation is described by Appendix B (�Calculating the surface current vector from two or more radial components�) of Barth et al. (2010) available at https://doi.org/10.5194/os-6-161-2010.� The new DAC is encouraged to improve on this method of calculating totals from radials, perhaps using techniques such as optimal interpolation or other variational methods. This new DAC will be responsible for continuously providing the surface current velocity and wave data it generates to other servers and data services both within and outside NOAA.� The measurements and data products from this HFR DAC will be used by partners to protect life and property, in applications including marine weather and sea state forecasting, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) search-and-rescue, oil and other HAZMAT marine spill response planning, forecasting the trajectory of harmful algal blooms (HABs) to inform fisheries and beach closures, and other applications. Expectations Present Features It is expected that this replacement HFR DAC will include the features available in the existing �HFRNet�, and expand upon them.� However, even for those existing features, improvements are encouraged.� Accordingly, respondents should familiarize themselves with HFRNet�s https://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/hfrnet website and its feature set.� Key features of HFRNet include: The HFR measurement ingestion and processing described in the previous Section 2, which includes data from SeaSonde, WERA, and G-HFDR type HFRs. The ability of the public, without needing an account or login, to access time-series of regional grids (i.e., U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, U.S. West Coast, Hawaii, Great Lakes, and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands) of HFR real-time vector (RTV) surface current velocity �totals� at various set resolutions (i.e., 500 m, 1 km, 2 km, and 6 km) via Web Services.� Present services include a Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) server (see:� https://hfrnet-tds.ucsd.edu/) which allows files to be downloaded in a Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) scientific format. A web mapping platform that allows the public to readily visualize the data described in the previous bullet, including their ability to customize the color-scale of the surface current velocity vectors.� This includes being able to view both present and past data, by either entering a specific time or clicking through time-steps. The ability to click a location on that web map or enter its latitude and longitude coordinates to get more detailed information and time-series for the data at that location (e.g., https://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/hfrnet/plots.php?lat1=35.050659&lon1=-120.990189&prod=a_6km). The ability to overlay placemarks of the locations of the HFR sensors on the web map, that are color-coded to show their uptime status, which when clicked bring up separate �station diagnostics� pages that show the sensor�s present diagnostic values and their recent time-series (e.g., https://hfrnet.ucsd.edu/diagnostics/?p=sta&sta=LEWE). Summary webpages tracking the diagnostics and performance of HFR sensors and their operation as a network, as described at https://hfrnet.ucsd.edu/diagnostics/help.php.� Those summary webpages can be viewed by clicking the links within the �Diagnostics� drop-down menu on the HFRNet website. A login-protected interface to the website which allows HFR operators to edit information about their sensors. The ability of HFRNet�s administrators to readily add, relocate, or remove HFR sensors from the network and its data processing.� Also, maintaining an e-mail listserv that notifies subscribers of such events and other pertinent information. The ability to create separate displays of HFR data internationally (e.g., https://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/geohfr/), from measurements provided by Group on Earth Observations (GEO) partners. New Features Further, it is expected that this new replacement HFR DAC will include features absent or only partially available in the present HFRNet, potentially including: Ingesting, QC, processing, visualizing, publically serving, and archiving HFR wave measurements�along with associated diagnostics.� These wave measurements are planned to include three main parameters�wave height, period and direction�as total values, as well as separately parameterized bimodal outputs (re:� https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14112631) for both swell and wind-waves. Ensuring that all HFR surface current and wave data are delivered to other appropriate NOAA and partner data services, including those of (in alphabetical order) the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services (CO-OPS), IOOS Environmental Sensor Map, National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; for additional detail on NCEI HFR archiving, please also see the document here), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), NDBC, NOAA Open Data Dissemination (NODD), RPS Environmental Data Server (EDS) for the USCG, and the World Meteorological Organization Global Telecommunication System (GTS). Adding multi-static (a.k.a. bistatic) radials to the HFR DAC�s data and diagnostics processing chain. Operating this new HFR DAC entirely in a cloud computing environment. Expanded grids to incorporate data from further U.S. and international partner HFRs, with coverage of additional North American waters and the waters of U.S. territories in the Pacific region. Ingesting and serving radial velocity (�radials�) and RangeSeries files, which represent lower-level, �rawer�, files in the HFRs� measurement processing chain.� Also, storing corresponding configuration files (e.g., antenna pattern measurements, header files) to allow offline research-grade reprocessing of those rawest RangeSeries files. Reporting of additional diagnostics, to include each sensor�s Sweep Delay value, to assist ionospheric soundings and related research (e.g., for SeaSondes, this is the value extracted from the RC1 key [a.k.a. GPS PPS delay] of the SeaSondeController.plist file). Including Climate & Forecast (CF) compliant metadata (e.g., CF standard_names, units) with the NetCDF datasets served by this new HFR DAC. QC of the HFR data in compliance with the IOOS �Manual for Real-Time Quality Control of High Frequency Radar Surface Current Data� (https://ioos.noaa.gov/ioos-in-action/manual-real-time-quality-control-high-frequency-radar-surface-current-data/), to include saving metadata on the status of the QC tests within the DAC�s output NetCDF HFR data files. Including among the HFR sensors� diagnostic information their Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assigned radio call signs, and the times their operators have selected to broadcast those call signs. Improvements to the present unweighted least squares computation of totals from radials, described in the previous Section 2. Technical Questions Please provide responses to the following technical questions: What is your impression of the reasonableness of the constellation of �expectations� given in the previous Section 3?� Which of those features would you recommend omitting and/or what other features do you recommend adding, and why? Should the new HFR DAC use a different method from the unweighted least squares fit used by the present HFRNet to calculate totals from radials?� Why or why not?� If so, what method do you recommend? Should the new HFR DAC continue to generate separate regional data grids, or should each resolution�s (i.e., 500 m, 1 km, 2 km, and 6 km) data grid encompass the entire area of concern (i.e., all North American waters and those of the United States� Pacific territories)? Should the new HFR DAC include an ERDDAP service (https://github.com/ERDDAP) in addition to a THREDDS server? Should data also be offered via object storage as a data access mechanism, in addition to a traditional THREDDS/ERDDAP web service (e.g., chunked/cloud-optimized NetCDF/HDF/Zarr)?� If so, do you have recommendations regarding optimization/chunking strategies and cloud-optimized access patterns? What pieces of the new HFR DAC�s code should be open source (e.g., posted on the IOOS GitHub)? RFI Submission Instructions Interested parties should provide detailed information which demonstrates understanding of the� technical capability of the proposed solution. Responses are limited to no more than 20 pages and must be submitted via email by October 15, 2023 at 5:00pm Eastern Time to: �� Alice Park�� Tyrone Lewis � � � � � � Contracting Officer�� Team Lead �� alice.park@noaa.gov� � � � � � � � � � � � tyrone.m.lewis@noaa.gov All questions about the RFI shall be directed by email to the aforementioned points of contact. Please also include your firm�s name, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, and primary point of contact information in your response.
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D -- HFRNet Replacement: Request for Information (RFI)