Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Procurement Operations Branch, 381 Elden Street, MS 2500, Herndon, Virginia 22070-4817

B -- OCEAN/SEA ICE MODELING OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN Contact Point, James E. MacKay, Contracting Officer, 703/787-1354. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) intends to negotiate a contract with Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, P.O. Box 231, Brunswick, New Jersey 08903. The project addresses existing needs for ice-ocean circulation modeling in the Arctic OCS planning areas (Hope Basin, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) by extending recently completed efforts. The proposed improvements will implement a curvilinear grid to enhance resolution in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, configure and execute a 10-year hindcast simulation to provide interannual variability, and incorporate higher resolution, satellite-derived forcing fields in an 18-month ice-scale simulation. The model to be improved is the model in use by MMS for arctic oil-spill-risk analyses. The effort will be based on public-domain models which will enhance peer review and scientific creditability. The study will upgrade the circulation model to SPEM version 5.1, keeping the MMS arctic circulation model state-of-the-art. (SPEM originally stood for Semi-Spectral Primitive Equation Model, but SPEM version 5.1 retains the acronym while no longer using a spectral component.) The study will build on prior ice model/SPEM coupling experience, but will upgrade to ice models specifically designed to work with SPEM. Based on the information available at this time, the Government considers this to be a single source procurement and proposes to negotiate a contract with Rutgers University. However, firms who believe they can meet the minimum requirements are invited to submit in writing an affirmative response to this announcement. An affirmative response shall include literature, brochures, and a detailed description to show a bona fide ability to meet the requirements specified above. Each affirmative response will be evaluated for the ability to meet all the required specifications. This notice is for information purposes only. A Request for Proposal is not available. Firms who request such documents will be considered nonresponsive to this request and will not be considered. This notice may represent the Government's only official notice of this procurement. (036)

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