Floats Sources Sought - NRMAH0002200392 (Posted).pdf

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Oceanic Core Argo Floats

Sources Sought

NR-MAH000-22-00392

The government is issuing this Notice solely for conducting market research in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 and this Notice does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, Request for Proposal, or Request for Quotations. The government is not issuing a solicitation at this time;

furthermore, the government makes no assertion they will issue a solicitation for this requirement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and the government cannot accept responses to form a binding contract, nor can the response lead to or affect a potential offeror's ability to respond to future synopsis/solicitation, which may or may not follow or restrict the U.S. Government's ultimate acquisition approach. Additionally, any information submitted in response to this notice the U.S.

Government will not provide reimbursement, nor is it obligated to. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisitions and Grants Office (AGO) on behalf of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) requests information on any potential contractor that may be able to satisfy the government’s needs described below. Interested entities that are able to meet the requirements set forth in this Notice are encouraged to send a capability statement to the Contracting Officer by the due date; responses to this notice should including the following information:

Email Address for Responses: Kyle.Shaffer@noaa.gov

Due date for Responses: April 9, 2022, 5:00pm Eastern Time.

− Company Name

− DUNS/SAM Unique Entity ID

− Business Size or Socioeconomic Status as defined in FAR Part 19

− Brief statement of capabilities to perform the requirements contained within this notice.

− Statement indicating whether your company manufactures and distributes the ‘end product’ you are submitting in response to this notice, or if your company is the distributor of a different company’s ‘end product’ that is not produced by your company.

− Name of the company that manufactures the ‘end product’ provided in your response to this notice.

− A statement indicating whether the end product(s) your company are submitting in response to this Notice qualify as ‘domestic end products’ IAW 41 U.S.C. chapter 83, ‘eligible products’ IAW 19 U.S.C. 2501 Trade Agreements Act (TAA), or end products of a foreign country that is not covered by TAA.

mailto:Kyle.Shaffer@noaa.gov

− Interested vendors are encouraged to submit real-world performance testing reports that contain evidence the floats described in your response meet the government’s Technical Specification while both on the ocean’s surface and submerged. Performance Testing Reports should include the floats performance over multiple 10-day cycles (more cycles and more floats being better) throughout the operating range of zero through 2000 dbar. Specific measurements of the floats energy usage and storage throughout the performance test should be contained within the report.

The unit of measure for Battery Energy and Capacity should be as follows: Energy Storage measured in Mega Joules (MJ); Energy Usage measured in Kilo Joules (KJ) per 0-2000 dbar cycle including operation and data transmission for all sensor data and other data.

NAICS CODE

334519 – Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing and the small business size standard is 500 employees.

DESCRIPTION

Argo (www.argo.net) is an international effort to measure the temperature and salinity fields in upper two km of the global ocean by populating it with an array of approximately 4,000 profiling Argo floats (hereafter floats) equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth (hereafter CTD) instruments that telemeter their data to shore.

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to identify sources that can furnish floats that meet the governments anticipated Technical Specification and anticipated Delivery Schedule needs, outlined in this Notice.

DELIVERY ADDRESS

Ship To: NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

7600 Sand Point Way Bldg. 3

Seattle WA 98115

DELIVERY SCHEDULE

The capability to deliver an initial shipment containing a minimum of six float within 60 days After Receipt of Order (ARO) of the first order; subsequent deliveries at 2-week intervals thereafter.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

a) The floats must be capable of profiling from the ocean surface to a minimum pressure of 2,000 decibar (dbar); the floats must be capable of completing full cycles from the ocean’s surface to 2,000 dbar and back to the surface, once every 10-days.

b) The floats must be equipped with CTD sensors capable of measuring pressure continuously from 2,000 dbar to within 4 (and preferably 1) dbar of the ocean’s surface. The floats must report pressure averaged temperature and salinity values at pressure intervals of 2 dbar. As an alternative to the forgoing, the floats should be capable of spot sampling at predetermined, programmable pressures.

c) The floats must be capable of parking below the ocean surface at a user-defined and programmable pressure setting, for a length of time set by the user. The ascent from 2000 dbar to the surface must take less than 12 hours. The descent from the surface to 2000 dbar must also take less than 12 hours in total.

d) The floats must be able to determine their position with an accuracy of ± 3 meters using GPS, with a backup lower quality Iridium position fix.

e) The floats must be able determine their position and transmit their scientific, engineering, and other necessary engineering and meta- data for each profile via the Iridium system within a maximum time of 30-minutes.

f) The floats must have sufficient energy to perform a minimum of 200 cycles (more is better) from zero through 2,000 dbar with each cycle 10-days in time length. Additionally, the floats’ energy source must meet the requirement for continuous CTD sampling and data transmission defined within these specifications.

g) The CTD must be able to measure and report temperature within an accuracy range of ± 0.002 °C, salinity must be measured and reported to an accuracy of ± 0.01 g kg-1, and pressure must be measured and reported with an accuracy of ± 2.5 dbar.

h) The floats must be capable of detecting and avoiding sea ice, while storing at least 36 profiles of CTD and other engineering and met data for transmission when the float next encounters ice-free conditions.

i) The floats must be capable of remote reprogramming via Iridium communications with basic commands to reset their mission. Examples of the types of basic commands that the float must be capable of accepting and changing from the original user-set data values are the float’s sampling protocols, parking pressures, profiling pressures, and cycle times.

j) The floats must be capable of determining their position by the Global Positioning System (GPS) and transmitting both the coordinates of the floats geographical location, along with the environmental data values required within this specification, to shore via Iridium in either Router- Based Unrestricted Digital Internetworking Connectivity Solutions (RUDICS) or Short Burst Data (SBD) format.

k) The floats must be capable of testing their subsystems upon command and reporting their test results within a timeframe of 2 hours or less.

l) The floats should be as light as possible but must not weigh more than 26 kg.

m) The floats must be easily deployable from a research vessel by one person.

n) The furnished floats must be calibrated, assembled, ballasted, weighed, and tested to ensure conformance with the government’s specification.

o) The floats must be furnished in packaging designed for horizontal & vertical handling with forklifts and/or pallet jacks.

p) The floats must be enclosed for shipment by packaging the product using methods and materials that meet or exceed ISO 2247:200 and ISO 2248:1985. The enclosed Floats must be delivered in durable shipping crates that meet or exceed ISO 6346:1995 and can legally shipped internationally. The floats must include The International Air Transport Association (IATA) certification that the floats and their containers meets IATA requirements for air shipping eligibility.