U.S. Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/OFA/PGAS/Contract Administration Branch -- OFA513, 1305 East West Highway -- Station 7604, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

A -- DESIGN AND VALIDATION OF MULTI-SENSOR DAMAGING WIND ALGORITHM SOL 7-4172 DUE 072197 POC Sandy Souders, Ina Merson (301) 713-0854 WEB: Click here to contact the Purchasing Agent by e-mail, Sandy.K.Souders@NOAA.gov. NOAA/NWS intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Texas A&M University, Cooperative Institute for Applied Meteorological Studies (CIAMS) for the design and validation of a multi-sensor damaging wind algorithm. This project will establish a cooperative applied research program between the Cooperative Institute for Applied Meteorological Studies at Texas A&M University, the NWS Southern Region (including the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), the developer of the Algorithm), and the Houston Weather Service Office to improve and validate the performance of the Damaging Downburst Prediction and Detection Algorithm (DDPDA) in a semi-tropical environment and to determine the benefit of using changes in cloud-to-ground lightning characteristics as a precursor to downbursts. This project will lead to an improved Damaging Wind Algorithm and a better understanding of the influence of environmental conditions on severe straight-line wind events. The main goals of the project are: 1) validate the performance of the algorithm in a semi-tropical regime as a function of environmental conditions using soundings, multiple Doppler radar coverage, and storm surveys: 2) determine the range dependency of parameters used in the algorithm; 3) improve the algorithm performance by considering a sequence of precursor events; 4) determine the benefit of incorporating cloud-to-ground lightning characteristics into the algorithm. Since severe winds affect life and property, these objectives are important to the operational mission of the National Weather Service and related activities in the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration. Other offerors that have the ability to provide this type of service are invited to submit information as to their capabilities and any other pertinent data to the address above, to be received no later than 15 days after the date of this notice. No solicitation document exists; therefore, a request for such document will not be considered. Award will be made under Simplified Acquisition Procedures. (Reference No. 7-4172) **** (0188)

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