Salients_SCOfloats-16-T-5040.doc

Minimum NAVOCEANO Autonomous Profiling Float Salient Characteristics

I. Item: C-130 Air Deployable, Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) Autonomous Profiling Float.

II. Description: An autonomous Lagrangian profiling circulation float which is an air/surface deployable instrument capable of operating in the open sea and providing underwater profile measurements of salinity, temperature, and pressure. The main housing of the float encloses the batteries, circuit boards, satellite transmitter, and all other pertinent electronics. The primary function of the subsurface float is to provide a platform that has the capability to drift at a depth where the float is neutrally buoyant and also cycles vertically from an operator-specified depth to the surface then returns to an operator-specified depth. The float system, upon contact with the water, is capable of freeing itself from the deployment package.

III. Salient Characteristics:

A. Deployment

1) The float must be air-deployable and surface-deployable. The profiling float must contain all associated packaging and rigging.

2) All float deployment containers should accommodate seating for attachment of a parachute canopy capable of withstanding the force of a C-130 aircraft deployment from a specified altitude above 500 feet.

3) The float must be routed directly to NAVO after deployment. After the float platform has been activated by the user, the manufacturer must not collect, nor process, nor archive any float data.

B. Performance

1) The float must solely utilize alkaline batteries; the float must not contain lithium batteries nor contain lithium power sources.

2) The float must be capable of operating unattended for at least 65 profiles to a depth of at least 2,000 meters at pre-programmed or operator-specified intervals.

3) The float must be capable of collecting data according to a user-approved sampling interval (spot-samples) or in a continuous, high-resolution mode.

4) The Short Burst Data Iridium float must be capable of being commanded to remain at surface and to transmit position until instructed to resume normal operating cycle.

5) The float must be capable of collecting data from shallow water depths of 50 meters or less at pre-programmed or operator-specified intervals and also be able to collect profile data from a specified depth with zero park time.

6) The float must be capable of collecting data from multiple profiling cycles in less than 24 hours.

7) The float must be capable of obtaining the first profile independent of the user-specified park and profile cycle interval.

8) The profiling float must use SBE 41/41 CP or equivalent Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) module, as recognized and approved by the Argo Program.

9) The float must be capable of automatic pressure activation.

10) The float must be capable of operating over a water density range of at least10 sigma-t.

11) The float CTD’s conductivity sensor must be capable of measuring ocean conductivity over the range 0 to 90 millisiemens/centimeter.

12) The float CTD’s conductivity sensor must be capable of measuring ocean conductivity with an accuracy of 0.00 millisiemens/centimeter.

13) The float CTD’s sensor must be capable of measuring ocean temperature over the range of -5 to 40 degrees Celsius.

14) The float CTD sensor must be capable of measuring ocean temperature across the full measurement range with an accuracy of ± 0.002 degrees Celsius.

15) The float CTD sensor must be capable of measuring ocean pressures across the full depth operating range with an accuracy of ± 2 decibars.

16) The float CTD sensor must be capable of sampling data at a rate of at least once every two seconds.

17) The float must support in-water operations from sea state 0 through sea state 6 as per the International Sea and Swell scale.

18) The float must be capable of sensing and recording directional acceleration at a specified constant depth. In an effort to achieve maximum use of the data for drift analysis, consideration shall be given to quality and ease of use.

C. Communications

1) The autonomous profiling float must report through the DoD Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) using the Iridium satellite Short Burst Data (SBD) based system utilizing bi-directional communication protocol for data dissemination and platform position determination. The float must use a GPS receiver for position determination. The vendor’s modem IMEI must be DoD-approved and not a commercial IMEI and should transmit data via the DoD EMSS Gateway. The same IMEI must be provided by the vendor to the U.S. Navy for provisioning and activation by the U.S. Navy as necessary.

2) The Iridium SBD float must be capable of reporting detailed engineering data (including all necessary parameters to control and troubleshoot the float especially in shallow water operations) along with the profile data in short burst format to U.S. Navy servers.

3) The Iridium SBD remote control commands shall include the ability to at a minimum:

a. Modify the park/drift depth

b. Modify the amount of time spent at the specified park/drift depth

c. Modify the ascent rate

d. Modify the park/drift pressure sampling rate

4) The Iridium SBD float must be capable of receiving a file over air containing commands that will change the settings of the operating parameters of the float.

5) The float must be capable of being re-programmed after delivery to communicate profile data and engineering information from the surface more than once within 24 hours to accommodate shallow-water operations.

6) The float must contain a rudimentary encryption capability in order to satisfy DoD emerging requirements.

D. Pre-deployment

1) The float must be capable of being stored in a climate-controlled warehouse or aboard U. S. Navy vessels for at least 1year.

2) Ballasting options for the profiling float must include at least one of the following features as specified within each individual purchase order:

a. Totally self-ballasting,

b. Pre-ballasted for a specified area of the ocean before delivery, and/or

c. Equipped with ballasting rings/weights and additional necessary supplies capable of allowing weight adjustments upon delivery.

Possible ocean deployment areas include, but are not necessarily limited to, the South China Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Sulu Sea, and the Arctic. Different depth sampling intervals may be specified by the user for different areas of the ocean.

3) The float must be capable of running self-diagnostic tests initiated by the user.

4) The float must be capable of being re-programmed to change operating parameters at the user's facility. The float should also include the capability to connect directly to a government laptop in an approved manner.

Vendor must contact NAVOCEANO POCs Kyle Rushing (228-688-5021) or Matt Kuhn (228-813-4174) for specifics of:

a. Depth settings and sampling frequencies

b. Data formats

c. Ballasting specifications

5) The vendor must provide software and software updates to the U. S. Navy no later than delivery of the float for decoding the transmitted data stream as Government Off the Shelf (GOTS) software, applying calibration coefficients, and producing an output file containing: temperature ((C), pressure (dbar), depth (m), conductivity (S/m), salinity (PSU), and positional information.

6) All source code must be included as GOTS software. This software must be compatible with the Red Hat Enterprise 6 (or later) Linux operating system for a PC, and the software must be delivered to run on a DoD system as a single, specific, non-privileged user. Root privileges must not be required to execute or build the software and the software must use relative paths. The software must be directly supplied to the U. S. Navy and be DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) compliant (reference http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/index.html).

7) The vendor must provide a digital copy of the technical specifications (including ballasting and calibration details), float pre-deployment, deployment, testing, operational software and user guides with each delivery order.

8) If the vendor cannot meet or exceed any of the salient characteristics stipulated in this salient characteristics document as per their currently available Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) system, the vendor must state the short fall in their quote and the Government will take this information under consideration.

9) Quotes must itemize the following expenses:

a. The cost of complete air-rigged packing for Iridium SBD floats listed as a separate line item

b. The optional cost for air-rigged packing without a parachute for Iridium SBD floats

c. Shipping/freight costs

IV. Packaging:

1) Each shipping container must always be clearly marked on the outside to indicate any unevenness or weight imbalances, when applicable, to avoid injury to personnel, and to avoid damage to packaging or the actual float due to stacking imbalances.

2) Each float must be marked on the hull area with only the float serial number which must be provided by the manufacturer.

3) Each float must be packaged in its own individual shipping as well as a separate deployment container.

4) The presence of a parachute must be indicated on the exterior of each shipping container to quickly assess and confirm delivery specifications for invoice approval.

5) The presence of tools, documentation and/or accessories must be indicated on the shipping container to help minimize inspection efforts.

6) All documentation (including shipping records) and containers must be marked with their associated contract number and the delivery order number.

7) Each deployment container located inside the shipping container as well as the shipping container itself must be visibly labeled with an impact monitor to indicate when a float has been exposed to a potentially damaging jolt during transit or storage.

V. Delivery:

1) Upon delivery, the vendor must provide the necessary accessory(s) required to connect the float to a government laptop for communication. The vendor must also provide the accessories required to prepare the float for deployment as indicated in these salient descriptions.

2) The vendor must provide a utility software program(s) to verify the validity of the user's proposed operating parameters for a float to protect against misconfiguration and loss of communication to the float.

3) The vendor must provide the software program code and subsequent upgrades that will decode the float profile data.

4) All instruments must be shipped to the following unless otherwise specified:

TO:

NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC OFFICE

RECEIVING OFFICER N62306

MSAAP B9134, CODE N114 UIC: N62306

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, MS 39522-5001

TEL: 228-689-8786

ATTN:

LEE CHAMBERS

PHONE:

228-688-5654

EMAIL:

LEE.CHAMBERS@NAVY.MIL

VI. Inspection and Acceptance:

The government shall retain the ability to refuse delivery if there is obvious damage to product and or shipping containers upon arrival at the government premises.

Rev. 08/03/16