SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- Microwave Atmospheric Water Vapor And Temperature Monitoring Radiometer System
- Notice Date
- 12/19/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- #334515
— Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B130, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1410, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1410
- Solicitation Number
- AMD-SS18-02
- Point of Contact
- Tracy M Bisson, Phone: 3019758448
- E-Mail Address
-
tracy.bisson@nist.gov
(tracy.bisson@nist.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Contracting Office Address Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640 Background: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing microwave atmospheric water vapor and temperature monitoring radiometer system that can be user-located and user-relocated to a variety of different high altitude astronomical observatory locations, such as Cerro Paranal in Chile (2635 m altitude) or Mauna Loa in Hawaii (3394 m altitude), and be pointed by the user towards the stars or the moon. NIST's Physical Measurements Laboratory (PML) Remote Sensing Group of the NIST Sensor Science Division intends to use this on a project to use an optical/infrared telescope system to make accurate spectral and radiometric measurements of the light from certain standard stars. After market research results are obtained and analyzed, minimum requirements specifications for the microwave atmospheric water vapor and temperature monitoring radiometer system will be established. NIST may use these established specifications in conducting a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order in the future. If a minimum of two (2) qualified small businesses are identified during market research stage, then any resulting competitive procurement may be considered for a small business set-aside. Requirements: NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 334515, as those domestic sources with 750 employees or less. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. Product Requirements: The intent is for this system to be used alongside an astronomical telescope, and pointed at the same star (or moon) as the telescope, to monitor the atmospheric conditions along the optical path to the star (or moon) during nearly clear-sky, low-humidity, nighttime conditions. The system will usually be outside during operation. It will often also remain outside during periods of non-operation, and exposed to a much wider range of weather conditions than those encountered during its use for measurements, and it therefore must be able to survive, but not operate, when exposed to weather conditions that include events such as rain, fog, wind, and snow. Specific minimum performance requirements for the microwave radiometer system, that must all be met at the same time, are: 1.Must include a sufficient number of microwave channels that sample the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line for atmospheric water vapor determination. 2.Must include a sufficient number of microwave channels that sample the 55 GHz oxygen absorption line for atmospheric temperature determination. 3.Must have a field of view about the line of sight, defined as the angle subtended between the half-power points, of 5 degrees or finer, and the water vapor and temperature channels must be co-aligned within this field of view. 4.Must include retrieval algorithms, written in delivered software, that compute the total precipitable water vapor (PWV) content, in units of mm of water, of the atmospheric column along the line of site above the microwave radiometer, from the microwave radiometer measurements, as well as water vapor and temperature profiles at zenith. 5.Must measure total PWV in the range of 0 mm to 20 mm without saturation. 6.Must measure total PWV in the range of 0 mm to 9 mm with uncertainty of +/- 0.1 mm (coverage factor k=1 see Note 2 below). 7.Must measure atmospheric temperature profiles at zenith with a spatial resolution of 1 km and uncertainty of +/- 1 kelvin (k=1). 8.Must measure water vapor profiles at zenith with a spatial resolution of 1 km and uncertainty of +/- 0.5 g/m3 (k=1). 9.Must include a computer-controlled motorized elevation stage to provide pointing of the microwave radiometer line of sight at any user-controlled elevation angle from zenith to either horizon (180 degrees), having 0.2 degree step-size (or finer) and 10 degrees per second (or faster) slew rate. 10.Must include a computer-controlled motorized azimuth stage to provide pointing of the microwave radiometer line of sight at any user-controlled azimuth angle (in the range 0 to 360 degrees) in the plane normal to zenith having 0.2 degree step-size (or finer) and 10 degrees per second (or faster) slew rate. 11.Must include an infrared radiometer, operating in the 10 micrometer atmospheric transmittance window, that is co-aligned with the microwave radiometer line of site and provides an indication of thin high cirrus clouds in the field of view, having a sensitivity limit below -100 degrees centigrade, a noise level below 0.5 kelvin, and a brightness temperature uncertainty of +/ 1 kelvin (k=1). 12.Must include a portable computer (PC), operating on the Windows 10 or higher version operating system, that provides remote (via ethernet connection to the microwave radiometer) and automated control, data acquisition, retrieval algorithm processing, data display, and data recording. The PC must control the azimuth and elevation stage angle and the azimuth stage angle, and acquire raw data from the microwave radiometer and infrared radiometer, and process the data into calibrated total PWV, water vapor profile, and temperature profile data. 13.The microwave radiometer control software running on the PC must enable the user to automate the process of scanning the microwave radiometer line of sight to track a given star or the Moon as it moves across the sky due to Earth rotation during the night. If the control software does not have star-tracking software built in, it must have a dynamically-linked library (DLL), or the equivalent, to enable the user to programmatically (i.e. automatically using a user-provided program, rather than just interactively from the front panel) input updated values of elevation angle and azimuth angle at least once per minute to track the star through the night. In this case the user would provide and install user-provided software on the PC, which computes the elevation and azimuth angles, then sends them to the control software DLL for updating to these elevation angle and azimuth angles. 14.During operation at any fixed elevation and azimuth angle, the microwave radiometer must complete a new water vapor and temperature measurement every minute or less. The uncertainties for the measurements stated above apply to 1 minute measurement time per line of sight. 15.Must include an internal calibration source that maintains the radiance temperature calibration of the microwave radiometer at the uncertainty levels specified above through the night during operation. 16.Must include an external calibration source that provides full-aperture radiance temperature calibration of the microwave radiometer against a black body spectrum at the liquid-nitrogen boiling-point temperature. 17.Must operate outside of any buildings, at mountain top astronomical observatories at night, at altitudes up to 3400 m, with commensurate reduced barometric pressure. 18.Must include an enclosure and heater system for the microwave radiometer that controls the receiver temperature to a fixed point to within +/- 0.1 centigrade, while the outside temperature varies through night within the range of -30 degrees centigrade to 30 degrees centigrade, and keeps the system dry and protected in the event of rain, fog, snow, and wind. 19.Must operate on less than 400 W of electrical power in the range of 90 to 230 Volts Alternating Current (VAC), 50 Hz to 60 Hz. 20.Must fit inside of a box measuring 1 m x 1 m x 1 m, excluding stand, external calibration source, and PC. 21.Must weigh less than 100 kg. 22.Must include training of one to four NIST staff on the operation of the microwave radiometer and all associated hardware and software prior to delivery. Notification of the proposed training date(s) and location must be made by the vendor at least 60 days prior to the training date(s), and the date(s) must be agreed upon by the NIST contracting officer prior to scheduling. Note 1: By "passive," it is meant that the system measures the amount of the naturally-emitted microwave radiation from water and oxygen in the atmosphere that enters the radiometer, and infers the amount of water vapor and temperature from these measurements. The term "passive" is used to distinguish the system from an "active" system, which would supply the radiation and measure the return. Note 2: Accuracy specifications are stated in terms of uncertainty at a coverage factor k = 1, where this is defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as including both the systematic (bias) component of uncertainty and the random (root-mean-square, RMS) component of uncertainty, and corresponds to a 68 % confidence level. It is the equivalent of a 1-sigma uncertainty for a uniform (i.e. Gaussian) probability distribution. Instruction to Responders: Companies that are capable of providing this microwave atmospheric water vapor and temperature monitoring radiometer system are requested to email a detailed report describing their abilities to tracy.bisson@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1.Name of the company(s) that offer the required supply. In addition, provide a point of contact for the company(s). 2.Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery. 3.Interested vendors shall address their capability of providing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts. 4.Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research.
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