Attachment 1 - Draft Performance Work Statement (REQUIREMENTS-24-3213).pdf

DR

AF

T

Performance Work Statement

(PWS)

For

Advanced Technology Demonstrator Radar Back End

Improvements and Engineering Test Support

DATE: January 2025

Prepared by NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory

Table of Contents

1 BACKGROUND & SCOPE 3

2 ENGINEERING TASK REQUIREMENTS 3

3 GROUND RULES 6

4 DELIVERABLES 6

1 BACKGROUND & SCOPE

1.1 BACKGROUND

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NOAA NSSL) operates a radar called the Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) in Norman, OK, as part of its Phased Array Radar (PAR) research program. The purpose of this PWS is to provide technical support and improvement of the radar back end in order to ensure lifecycle sustainment of the ATD and extension of its capabilities to support novel engineering and weather research.

1.2 SCOPE

The scope of this effort includes work to address obsolescence of subsystems as well as future needs; continued support and enhancement of the backend software; and operational support to ensure the ATD is fit to achieve data collection goals.

2 ENGINEERING TASK REQUIREMENTS

This contract broadly outlines categories of tasks to be performed, with examples of the potential subtasks. Priority of task execution is dependent on the current research priorities as well as other factors. The Government will issue more specific Task Orders (TOs) throughout the execution of the contract to clarify the realization of these Engineering Task Requirements in the present project phase. Even within a TO, because this contract involves close collaboration with the Government on a quickly evolving project, the Contractor shall look to the Government for guidance on setting priority of execution.

2.1 Subsystem sustainment and improvement activities

As the ATD radar is now mature and in the middle portion of its expected operational lifecycle, the emphasis of work turns to supportability and improvement. A few custom components are experiencing obsolescence and sourcing challenges. In addition, the Government has identified areas of desired future research that are not supported by the original design. This task is intended to cover activities related to research, design, and implementation of concepts to improve and replace ATD subsystems.

2.1.1 The Contractor shall research possible sustainment paths (e.g. replacements, upgrades, sourcing) for subsystems identified by the Government for replacement or improvement in following Task Orders. The Contractor shall communicate closely with the Government during the research phase to ensure that alternatives considered take into account the Government’s future research plans.

2.1.2 The Contractor shall apply unique understanding of the existing back end subsystems (e.g. functions, interfaces, and constraints) to develop proposed designs detailing how subsystem changes would be implemented within the ATD.

2.1.3 The Contractor shall participate in implementation and testing of subsystems changes on the ATD system.

2.1.4 As changes are implemented, the Contractor shall update its documentation on the ATD back end subsystems. Updated documents shall be submitted for review by the Government before final delivery.

2.1.5 The Contractor shall perform investigatory work such as an Engineering Study necessitated by the Government on specific topics that may affect already realized subsystems (e.g. the receiver noise issues) either individually or as specified by the Government with other affiliates as necessary. Once the investigatory work is finalized, the Constrator shall propose a potential solution, if any, to the Government.

2.1.6 The Contractor may be necessitated by the Government to perform obsolescence studies on the radar back end, to include viable options of identified components or subsystems with obsolescence issues.

2.2 Operational support

It is expected that during this contract, the majority of ATD operations will be conducted by the Government and its affiliates. Nevertheless, occasional operational support is needed when the Contractor’s unique knowledge of the radar back end may accelerate operation and testing efforts.

2.2.1 The Contractor shall engage in weekly meetings to plan daily activities in light of overall program status and milestones.

2.2.2 The Contractor shall apply its unique understanding of the radar back end software to assist the Government and its affiliates with test setup, engineering data collection, and analysis, as needed by the Government.

2.2.3 The Contractor shall conduct continued testing to identify areas for improvement in speed, quality, and robustness of radar data generation and processing.

2.2.4 As problems are identified with the radar back end subsystem, these shall be resolved promptly so as not to unnecessarily delay progress toward project milestones. Problems at an interface between the back end subsystem and other subsystems shall be promptly addressed in cooperation with the organization responsible for the other component on the interface.

2.2.5 The Contractor shall produce weekly written summaries of work performed. Execution of this requirement may be informal (e.g. email or shared document); however, clear and thorough content is expected. Each summary should contain, at a minimum:

• A list of the activities worked on.

• Descriptions of any software changes made to the production ATD system, including in the Contractor’s development account. If applicable, a list of bugs addressed.

• Any non-reverted configuration changes to the production ATD system, including in the Contractor’s development account.

• Any new calibrations created or existing calibrations non-trivially modified.

• A summary of any test testing activities and key takeaways (if a testing activity remains uncompleted, a summary of what has been attempted and the results).

2.3 Back end software improvements

Sections 2.1-2.2 reference potential software modifications in the form of bug fixes or additional capabilities. The software engineering support effort involves the modification, improvement, and/or extension of existing software developed under Government contract residing on the ATD radar and/or ATD radar development systems. This section provides the specific requirements for software modifications as they become necessary to support project milestones, as defined in 2.1-2.2.

2.3.1 The Contractor shall resolve or otherwise respond to bug reports reported by Government maintainers and users, following established workflows. Progress toward bug resolutions and outstanding work shall be reported in biweekly application software teleconferences.

2.3.2 As directed by the Government, the Contractor shall explore improvements to the software testing/build/deployment processes, including those for embedded subsystems.

2.3.3 The Contractor shall follow established version control conventions and ensure all code changes are checked in.

2.3.4 The Contractor shall be involved in transitioning software to the Government.

2.3.4.1 Software shall be written with the intention of eventual maintenance by others (i.e.

clear, well documented, following established conventions/software development framework).

2.3.4.2 As directed by the Government, the Contractor shall involve Government representatives in the development/building/deployment process and/or provide training on structure and maintenance of Contractor-developed software.

2.3.4.3 The Contractor shall document software and software modifications. Documentation shall be geared toward enabling the government to support the back end software independently. Documentation may take the form of manuals, reference documents, drawings, commented code, or other formats as deemed useful toward this objective.

2.4 Supply material and hardware/modifications

Sections 2.1-2.2. reference potential hardware modifications. This section provides the specific requirements for hardware modifications as they become necessary to support project milestones, as defined in 2.1-2.2.

2.4.1 The Contractor shall provide a means to acquire and deliver hardware or material required to achieve program objectives (for example: delivering spares to replace failed equipment or developing hardware enhancements necessary to support implementation of government-required radar capabilities).

2.4.2 Hardware and material procured under this contract will become Government property.

2.4.3 The Contractor shall document hardware and hardware modifications. Documentation shall be geared toward enabling the government to support the back end hardware independently. Documentation may take the form of manuals, reference documents, drawings, commented code, or other formats as deemed useful toward this objective.

3 GROUND RULES

3.1 All products developed under this contract shall be considered Government property and shall have no license encumbrances to the Government, the overall design, development and proprietariness may be retained by the Contractor .

3.2 Government Inspection and Acceptance of Deliveries:

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will have the authority to reject or require correction of any deficiencies found in deliverables. If no comments are provided, the deliverable will be deemed to have been accepted by the Government. In the event of rejection of any deliverable, the Contractor will be notified in writing by the Government Contracting Officer (CO)/COR of the specific reasons why the deliverable was rejected. The Contractor shall correct the rejected deliverable within the timeline on specific Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) and resubmit to the CO/COR for acceptance.

4 DELIVERABLES

Deliverables will be defined at the level of individual Task Orders throughout the execution of the project.