Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 FBO #0284
SOLICITATION NOTICE

F -- Charter Vessel for Mapping the Bethnic Habitats

Notice Date

9/10/2002
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

Contracting Office

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Administrative Support Center, Norfolk Federal Building, 200 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA, 23510
 

ZIP Code

23510
 

Solicitation Number

Reference-Number-EASC-02-00886
 

Response Due

9/24/2002
 

Archive Date

10/9/2002
 

Point of Contact

Michelle Morales, Contract Specialist, Phone (757) 441-6526, Fax (757) 441-3786, - Melvyn Desjarlais, Supv. Contract Specialist, Phone (757) 441-6647, Fax (757) 441-3786,
 

E-Mail Address

michelle.r.morales@noaa.gov, melvyn.a.desjarlais@noaa.gov
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Total Small Business
 

Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format of FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are bineg rquested adn a written solicitation will not be issued. The reference solicitation number is issued as an invitation for bid (IFB). The solicitation document incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular number 2002-08. The applicable NAICS code is 541370. The following clauses and provisions are applicable: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items; 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items; and 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items. Offers are due by 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on September 24, 2002. Statement of Work Mapping the Benthic Habitats within the York River, VA The NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) and the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) are working together to map benthic habitats within the NERR and adjacent areas of the York River, VA. This work is part of a larger effort by NOAA to develop spatial data for key elements of the research reserve system. To map benthic habitats within the Chesapeake Bay NERR, CSC and the Reserve will use a combination of techniques, including traditional benthic sampling, sediment profiling imagery (SPI), multibeam acoustics, and a high-resolution video sled. This array of sampling gears will allow the Center and the NERR to examine the synergies of sampling at multiple spatial scales and collecting data on different aspects of the benthic community in order to make recommendations to the research reserve system on optimum sampling strategies. The purpose of this SOW is to obtain from a contractor: ? All equipment, supplies, and crewmembers needed to accomplish the field portion of the study; ? All sample and data processing needed to prepare benthic habitat maps that fully integrate the data; ? A detailed report that assesses the unique elements and overlaps of each data stream as compared to each other to past studies of the York River and adjacent portions of Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay NERR will provide the research vessel for this study and the captain and crew needed to operate the research vessel. Sampling will occur between September 30 and December 31, 2002. The exact date will be subject to the availability of the research vessel. The contractor shall be prepared to mobilize equipment, supplies, and crew at any time during this period. The exact sampling plan that will be used is dependent upon the technical specifications of the equipment that is used, which will not be final until a contract is in place. Therefore, only a general description of the plan can be given and upper limits set on the amount of data collected. Contractors should use limits to gage the level of effort need to fully process the samples and data stream into stand-alone products and then into integrated maps of the benthic habitats within and adjacent to the NERR. Sediment Profile Imagery Sediment profile imagery shall be collected from up to 200 stations. The contractor shall provide the camera and all equipment (e.g., frame and weights) and supplies needed to operate and maintain the profiling camera. This shall include providing a portable davit and electric winch that can be used for deploying the camera should the davit onboard the vessel prove unable to handle the SPI camera at the required station-production rate. The contractor also shall ensure sufficient electrical power is available onboard the vessel for operating the SPI camera. The contractor also shall provide a crewmember that will be onboard the research vessel to operate the camera, monitor camera performance, diagnose all problems with camera operation, and make all needed adjustments and repairs to the camera during the fieldwork. This crewmember shall maintain a log that records station identification and other information to unambiguously determine how photographs relate to station coordinates. The contractor shall process the film, mount all slides, and use the field log to label the station, drop, and photograph number of each slide. If digital images are collected rather than 35 mm slides, the contractor will name each image to distinguish station, drop, and photograph number. The contractor shall analyze the SPI photographs visually and electronically according to methods described in Diaz (1995) (Diaz, Robert. 1995. "Benthic habitat classification of selected areas of Narragansett Bay, RI." Final Report to the US Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division). The contractor shall use best professional judgment to select the best photograph from each station and do a visual analysis of that photograph that includes, at a minimum, the following parameters: 1. The station, photo number and time-of-day identifiers; 2. Sediment type; 3. Descriptions of the physical features of the sediment surface; 4. Descriptions of the biological features of the sediment surface; 5. Enumeration and descriptions of any infauna present; 6 Enumeration and descriptions of any epifauna present; 7. Enumeration and descriptions of voids present below the surface; 8. Biological Habitat Quality as measured by Nilsson and Rosenberg, 1997 (Benthic Habitat Quality Assessment of an Oxygen Stressed Fjord by Surface and Sediment Profile Images." Journal of Marine Systems. Volume 11. Pages 249 to 264.) The contractor shall use best professional judgment to select one representative image from each station and perform a computer-assisted analysis that includes, at a minimum, the following parameters: 1. Measurement of the minimum, maximum, and mean depths of the apparent redox potential discontinuity; 2. Measurement of the minimum, maximum, and mean penetration depths of the SPI camera; 3. Measurements of the surface area of any gas or feeding voids present. The deliverables for the processing of the SPI imagery shall be: ? all slides (labeled and mounted) or digital images; ? a copy of the electronic images used for the computer-assisted image analyses, if not included in the above; ? a QA/QC report describing how error checks were made and consistency in reporting was maintained; ? the field log; ? an Excel spreadsheet (or similar file approved in writing by the COTR) that for each photograph lists the above parameters as well as notes about image quality and accuracy of interpretation. Benthic Grabs Benthic grabs shall be collected from up to 50 stations. The contractor shall provide a standard Young grab (or similar device approved in writing by the COTR) for the benthic sampling and perform the laboratory analyses of sediment texture and benthic community analysis. Two grabs will be collected at each grab station. Samples for benthic community analyses will be processed in the field by gently washing the samples through a 0.5-mm sieve and preserving the organisms and remaining debris in buffered formaldehyde. The contractor shall provide all materials needed to process the benthic grabs in the field and for transporting the samples to the laboratory. Samples for sediment texture and organic content shall be mixed and two sub-samples (each sub-sample consisted of 100 to 200 grams of sediment) collected and stored in sealed Whirl-Pak bags and packed in ice until they can be placed in a freezer. Samples for sediment texture shall be kept frozen until ready for processing. Sediment texture shall be analyzed according to standard geological procedures. The deliverable for the sediment texture samples shall be a report that, at a minimum, lists for each sample: 1. Folk Scale Description 2. USACE Scale Description 3. Percent Gravel 4. Percent Sand 5. Percent Silt 6. Percent Clay 7. Inman's Median Phi 8. Folk's Mean Phi 9. Folk's Standard Deviation Phi 10. Folk's Skewness 11. Folk's Kurtosis Samples for sediment organic content will be processed by the Center or by NERR staff and will not be the responsibility of the contractor after the contractor delivers the samples to the on-site staff from the Chesapeake Bay NERR upon the termination of each day's field work. Samples for benthic community analyses shall be processed in the laboratory by: ? emptying the entire contents of the sample containers or bags onto a 0.5-mm sieve and wash away residual formalin; ? placing the animals and debris into a 1-liter bottle and stain with Rose Bengal; ? rewashing the sample over a 0.5-mm sieve; ? removing all animals from the debris and placing them into labeled vials; ? by sample, identifying and enumerating the animals. Biomass shall be measured as wet weight, dry weight, and ash-free dry weight. Samples from which archive specimens are removed, which shall only be done for taxonomic purposes, shall be listed along with the specimens removed for the archive. Taxonomic groupings for biomass shall be: Porifera, Cnidaria, Polychaeta, other Anneilda, Bivalvia, Gastropoda, other Mollusca, Amphipoda, Isopoda, Ostracoda, Tanaideaca, Mysidacea, Reptant Decapoda, Natant Decapoda, other Crustacea, Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, other Echinodermata, Phoronida, Urochordata, and Miscellaneous. The deliverables for the benthic community analyses shall be: ? an Excel spreadsheet (or similar file approved in writing by the COTR) that lists for each station all taxa found, the number of individuals from each taxon, and either the NOAA or contractor-developed species-identification codes; ? an Excel spreadsheet (or similar file approved in writing by the COTR) that lists for each station the biomass for each taxonomic group; ? a report that describes processing methods and results of the QA/QC checks and lists the taxonomic authorities used for identifying the organisms. Multibeam Bathymetry and High-Resolution Video Sled. Multibeam bathymetry and high-resolution videography shall be collected along continuous transects to provide cm-scale coverage and estimates of rates of meter-scale spatial change. Multibeam spatial positional accuracy shall be within a few meters for optimal discrimination of habitat variability and for integration with the sediment profile imagery and grab data. High-resolution video (mm-scale) is needed to ground-truth the acoustic data and to resolve the nature of physical and biological processes structuring the bottom. The contractor shall provide all acoustic, video, and computer equipment needed to collect and analyze these data. Depths within the area to be sampled vary from intertidal (1 to 2 meters) to 25 meters. The variety of habitats, sediment types, and water column conditions will be high. They will range from tidal freshwater clays and silts with detritus and gas to oligohaline, uncompacted silt deposits bounded by sandy shoals with relict oyster reefs to mesohaline deep silty-clay bottom channels bounded by shoals of various composition known to support several fisheries. The survey area includes the submerged habitats within the Chesapeake Bay NERR and is approximately 5 square kilometers. The deliverables for the multibeam bathymetry and high-resolution videography are: ? GIS data for use with ArcView software that integrates both the broad-scale (multibeam) and small-scale (video) information and describes both physical and biological habitat characteristics; ? FGDC-compliant metadata for all GIS data. Technical Report The contractor shall prepare a report that fully describes the results of the survey and recommends mapping strategies that can be used by the research reserve system and other groups for mapping benthic habitats within estuaries. The report shall characterize the benthic habitats in the survey area, discuss the physical and biological processes influencing their occurrence and distribution, and discuss the relevance of these habitats in a coastal management context. This report shall be prepared in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect format. The contractor shall submit a proposal of not more than 5 pages in length that includes qualifications of the principle investigator and key personnel and a cost estimate for fulfilling the requirements of this Statement of Work. All deliverables from this project shall be submitted in draft and final versions to the NOAA Coastal Services Center by June 30, 2003 and August 31, 2003, respectively. The technical point of contact for this work is Linda Iocco, Linda.Iocco@noaa.gov.
 

Web Link

Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/EASC/Reference-Number-EASC-02-00886/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: York River, Virginia

Country: USA
 

Record

SN00163013-F 20020912/020910221640 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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