Department of Commerce, Mountain Administrative Support Center, Procurement Division, MC3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303-3328

58 -- CLOUD-PROFILING DOPPLER RADAR DUE 112696 POC See text The Environmental Technology Laboratory (ETL) of the U.S.Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) partner to commercialize a prototype, autonomous, 35-GHz, cloud-profiling Doppler radar. These radars are destined for world-wide deployment for long-term climate research. They are designed to run continuously for more than two years, to have a peak power of 100 watts and a maximum average power of 25 watts (pulse coded), and to be highly sensitive (-38 dBZ at 20 km altitude). These vertically pointing (non-scanning) radars might also be used near airports to assist in air traffic control, and to warn of icing conditions. The radars are composed of several hardware and software components, all of which have been specified, but some of which need refinement and/or improvement. The CRADA partner will work with ETL to re-engineer certain radio frequency, digital, and mechanical components, to refine and improve system software, and to thoroughly document the radar to industry standards, so that users are provided with needed operations, maintenance, and safety manuals and so that the CRADA partner can manufacture and support future radars with no assistance from ETL. The software that is used on the radar can be divided into two categories, private and government owned. The private-sector software operates the radar itself and is the intellectual property of Radian International Electronics Division. The government software is ETL-produced; it monitors the condition of the radar, automatically calibrates the radar, and is used for communicating with users and controllers. As part of the CRADA, ETL will receive (negotiable) royalty payments for the ETL-produced software on each unit sold. ETL wishes to sign a CRADA before January 1, 1997. The CRADA partner must be willing to locate several employees in Boulder, Colorado, not necessarily full-time but spanning a period of several years, to assist in the engineering, assembly, packaging, testing, and documentation of the radars. Selection of the CRADA partner will be based on experience and capability; proposed level and length of commitment to engineering, marketing, and product support; proposed marketing strategy; ability to locate staff in Boulder for an extended length of time; and benefit to the Government (sum of cash payments, contributions in kind, and royalties). Selection will be made by a four-person panel of Boulder-based Government scientists, engineers, and/or managers. Contact Dr.M.J. Post (303/497)6048, mpost@etl.noaa.gov) on technical issues or Jo Novosel (303/497)6588, jnovosel@etl.noaa.gov) on administrative issues. Written responses are to be submitted to Jo Novosel, DOC, NOAA, ET, R/E/ET, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303, no later than 3 P.M. MST, November 26, 1996. (0310)

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