NRL-MRY SOW 7.13.2020.docx

Statement of Work (SOW)

Atmospheric Aerosol Prediction and Applications Research and Development

Attachment 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of Work (SOW) 1 Introduction The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the Navy and Marine Corps. NRL’s Marine Meteorology Division (MMD) conducts a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development directed toward environment information superiority for the Navy/Marine Corps and DoD.

MMD’s core business includes:

· To understand and simulate the behavior of the atmosphere and its constituents on local, regional, and global scales, including its interaction with the ocean, land, cryosphere, and middle atmosphere;

· To invent, develop, and implement new capabilities and systems for objective environmental analysis and prediction; and,

· To integrate new capabilities into automated systems for assessing risk and analyzing impact of atmospheric conditions on Navy/DoD operations and weapons systems.

MMD has two research Branches with different focus areas of interests. The Atmospheric Dynamics and Prediction Branch focuses on basic research and scientific and technological development related to the analysis and prediction of atmospheric processes that impact fleet operations and mission planning. Particular emphasis is placed on the investigation and quantitative description of dynamics and physics of the lower atmosphere and air-sea-land interface, on scales that range from the turbulence scale to the scale of planetary weather systems. Numerical data assimilation and prediction systems are developed to optimally estimate the three-dimensional state of the global and regional mesoscale atmosphere in real-time through assimilation of a variety of in situ and remotely sensed observations (e.g. satellite, radar); and to integrate these analyses forward in time through the use of sophisticated numerical models. These multi-scale prediction systems are transitioned for operational use in providing a broad range of environmental guidance to the fleet. The Branch also develops on-demand weather impact information systems and transitions them to operations to support naval missions in a variety of warfare areas, most notably strike, marine and special operations, and chemical-biological warfare. The Branch develops weather impact on-scene data analysis/nowcast/forecast systems and multisensory meteorological satellite data applications. Special focus is given to tropical cyclones, which affect fleet forces around the globe.

The Meteorological Applications Development Branch develops automated, customer tailored, on-demand weather impact information systems and transitions them to operations to support naval missions in a variety of warfare areas, most notably strike, marine and special operations, and tactical decision aids for planning Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The Branch develops weather impact on-demand and on-scene data analysis/nowcast/forecast systems; multisensory meteorological satellite data applications; atmospheric aerosol data analysis and prediction systems; meteorological decision aids; hazardous weather-related applications guides; and tactical weather information delivery techniques. Special focus is also given to tropical cyclones, which affect fleet forces around the globe, and to the analysis and prediction of factors that obscure visibility, such as clouds, precipitation, and aerosols. The Branch integrates new scientific knowledge, and machine learning with the analysis and prediction systems into automated weather interpretation systems for Navy and other DoD operations, including the effect of atmospheric conditions on weapons systems, electromagnetic/electro-optical (EM/EO) propagation, and mission planning. Various techniques are explored and utilized--such as data fusion, data assimilation, data mining, and other artificial intelligence methodologies--to exploit locally available, remotely sensed, on-scene, and through-the-sensor observations. The Branch also conducts field measurement programs for model verification and to provide basic and exploratory research characterizing the physics of aerosols.

1.1 Background

The specific objectives of this contract are to support NRL MMD research efforts and transitions to operational customers in the following areas:

· Numerical methods for numerical weather prediction (NWP)

· Fine scale aerosol and cloud microphysics prediction

· Ensemble prediction methods

· Data assimilation

· Aerosol source characterization and the predictability of aerosol particles in the vicinity of sensitive cloud systems

· Data assimilation of remotely sensed and other non-conventional data

· New and novel methods for providing environmental support directly to the warfighter, especially using tactical through-the-sensor data

· Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques and system development

· Nowcasting including combined model, satellite and radar data

· Meteorological applications in decision making process

· Weather impact on piloted aircraft and UAS operations

· Aerosol measurement, characterization, and electro-optical effects

· Ducting, refractivity, and electro-magnetic effects

· Research that increases our knowledge of the effects of the atmospheric environment on ship and air platforms as well as on shipboard, airborne, and land-based communications, sensors and weapons systems

· Meteorological impact on electromagnetic (EM), electro-optical (EO), and acoustic sensor performance

· Atmospheric dispersion of chemical and biological agents

· Software engineering for development and support of evolving methods, techniques, processes, systems, applications, and IT environments.

1.2 Scope

This SOW covers work to be performed by the Contractor in support of the research areas enumerated above and their transitions. It also allows for work in emergent research areas as specified by NRL MMD, which will be guided by Technical Direction Memorandums (TDMs) provided by NRL MMD to the Contractor that may shift work between work areas or tasks, or require pursuit of certain lines of inquiry within an emergent research area.

From time to time, as the result of the progress of the research activities, NRL MMD research tasks may be directed into new areas. The contractor may be asked to perform in these areas with efforts such as basic research, application development, documentation development, and transition.

2 Statement of Work

2.1 Prediction System Research and Development

Under NRL’s technical direction, the Contractor shall perform basic and applied research in fields including but not limited to atmospheric sciences and machine learning.

2.1.1 The Contractor shall conduct basic research in such areas as Aerosol prediction systems and tropical cyclone characterization, occasional field experiments, instrument calibration, optical properties of aerosols, aerosol transport including various species over open waters and land, work associated with planetary boundary layer, source, transport, and sink functions including cloud processing.

2.1.1.1 The Contractor shall coordinate data exchanges with such entities as University of Washington and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), and Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).

2.1.2 Prediction System Development: The Navy Atmospheric Aerosol Prediction System (NAAPS) is a global aerosol prediction system whose outputs feed the Target Acquisition Weapons System (TAWS). Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS®[footnoteRef:1]) is a mesoscale/tactical scale air/ocean and aerosol prediction system. [1: COAMPS® and COAMPS-OS® are registered trademarks of the Naval Research Laboratory.]

2.1.2.1 The Contractor shall develop and implement a finalized ensemble version of the NAAPS (e-Naval Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System) and COAMPS®.

2.1.2.2 The contractor shall evaluate the large scale and final scale aerosol prediction including collecting observations.

2.1.2.3 The contractor shall develop ensemble analysis methodologies to analyze forecasts.

2.1.2.4 The contractor shall provide forecasting and instrumentation maintenance in field experiments/operations.

2.1.2.5 The contractor shall research and analyze biomass burning plumes, tropical meteorology and clouds; develop code for testing, data distribution, and documentation; and, participate in routine compliance projects and/or programs.

2.1.2.6 The contractor shall interface with meteorologists, scientists and other technical personnel to certify that departmental activities are conducted according to client specifications and guidelines.

2.1.2.7 The contractor shall develop and implement basic operating procedures to ensure that meteorological data collection and processing requirements are handled in accordance to NRL MMD standards.

2.1.2.8 The contractor shall test and review routine existing codes and standards for creating models, weather research and forecasting mesoscale models and trajectory forecast models using, but not limited to, FORTRAN, C, Python, Perl, MySQL, and IDL.

2.1.2.9 The contractor shall implement and test modifications to the forecast model control structures as well as upstream and downstream interfaces.

2.1.2.10 The contractor shall maintain and monitor the near-real-time external data downloads including both satellite and model data.

2.1.3 Transition Prediction Systems to Operations. The contractor shall support the transition of developed software and databases to operational customers including the configuration management, development of manuals and documentation, development of training material, and technical support for operations tests and evaluations.

2.2 Tactical-Scale Environmental Forecasting and Warfighter Research and Development Under NRL’s technical direction, the Contractor shall develop functions and routines for NRL MMD’s Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System – On Demand System (COAMPS-OS®1) model, and GeoIPS which forms the basis of Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center’s (FNMOC’s) mesoscale and tactical scale weather prediction and satellite data processing operations.

2.2.1 Validation and Verification

2.2.1.1 The contractor shall participate in research and development efforts leading to better prediction of atmosphere-ocean interactions.

This includes investigations into methods of coupling various atmospheric and ocean models to accurately model the air-sea interactions.

2.2.1.2 The contractor shall run the coupled models in various scenarios (various geographical locations, seasons, and configurations) and verify the results against actual observations.

2.2.1.3 The contractor shall present the findings in professional meetings and document the results in scientific papers.

2.2.1.4 The contractor shall produce robust model routines for transition to operational use at FNMOC. This effort shall involve extensive testing on FNMOC computers and verification and validation efforts to certify that the model results are better than or at least equal to the results from the current models.

In addition to running COAMPS-OS® itself, this effort also includes providing proper Navy Global Environmental Model (NAVGEM) boundary conditions to COAMPS-OS®’ runs.

2.2.1.5 The contractor shall assist in development of the Geolocated Information Processing System, including implementation of new functionality, evaluation of processing efficiency, and monitoring/updating operational processing.

2.2.2 Tactical Scale Operations. COAMPS-OS® is capable of producing short-range/nowcasting, small-scale, high-resolution forecasts of weather for tactical planners.

2.2.2.1 The contractor shall develop methods for the ingestion of new data types (e.g., radar data including Doppler radar and data from Unmanned Aerial Systems/Vehicles (UASs)).

2.2.2.2 The contractor shall depict model outputs in forms that are immediately actionable by warfighters. This effort includes continuing development of the Common Data Viewer (CDV).

2.2.2.3 The contractor shall provide the application of the model outputs to tactical decision aids that predict the influence of the battlespace environment on weapons and sensors for NRL MMD and other developers.

2.2.2.4 The contractor shall integrate coupled (e.g., ocean, ice, land) modeling to produce better modeling of both coupled system based on an understanding of their mutual interactions.

2.2.3 Integration of Doppler Radar Data. Doppler radars such as the AN/SPY series, can produce a wealth of meteorologically significant data, including information on wind fields, cloud tops, vertically integrated liquid, refractivity, and storm tracking.

2.2.3.1 The contractor shall continue working with NRL MMD to assimilate these data into the COAMPS-OS® model in order to provide a more complete characterization of the battlespace environment.

2.2.3.2 The contractor shall provide quality control of the data and incorporate them into the databases that supply ®-OS.

2.2.3.3 The contractor shall investigate the integration of the data into the COAMPS-OS® model itself and the effects on the model predictions.

2.2.4 Integration of Data from UAS-Mounted Sensors. UASs can also provide useful information directly from the battle space.

2.2.4.1 The contractor shall conduct efforts as above to incorporate UAS-based data into the COAMPS-OS® model, and to assess the impact of UAS on model predictions.

2.2.5 COAMPS-OS® Common Data Viewer. Within the COAMPS-OS® effort, NRL MMD has also been developing the Common Data Viewer, which provides a visualization tool for COAMPS-OS® and other Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) data. The CDV also provides a set of services, compatible with the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Domain Net-Centric Architecture and the DoD Architecture Framework, which will enable it to integrate seamlessly with other information systems to present a unified picture to the warfighter. Those same services can also be used by other developers at NRL MMD so that their projects also are easier to develop and integrate.

2.2.5.1 The contractor shall continue the development of COAMPS-OS® services, compatible with the frameworks noted above, to support the Web-based presentation of data from COAMPS-OS® and other sources in a manner that provides user friendly tools for visualization of weather effects on Navy weapons and sensors.

2.2.5.2 The contractor shall continue integration, documentation, and Research and Development so that they will be accessible as a framework for use by other NRL MMD developers.

2.2.6 COAMPS-OS® Transition to Operations. The contractor shall support the transition of developed COAMPS-OS® software components and databases to operational customers including the configuration management, development of manuals and documentation, development of training material, and technical support for operations tests and evaluations.

2.2.7 Testing of environmental forecasts. The contractor shall conduct tests of environmental models, environmental characterization processing and data QC and QA at the Secret or Top Secret/SCI classification level.

2.3 Tier2/Tier3 Application Research and Development

Applications forming the information base for Battlespace On Demand (BOND) Tier 2 & 3 METOC impact assessments include, but are not limited to, COAMPS-OS® (LEGS), ATCF, Builder, JMV, GODAE, GeoIPS.

Battlespace On Demand (BOND) Tier 2 & 3 METOC impact assessments are:

· BOND Tier 2 Applications: Performance Surfaces of Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) sensitive parameters which will affect and place impact on Naval operations.

· BOND Tier 3 Applications: Integration modules of METOC performance surfaces in Naval operational decision making systems and processes.

2.3.1 Under NRL’s technical direction, the Contractor shall develop METOC Tier 2 and 3 applications to support warfighter decision making process. The contractor shall provide research and development for NRL’s Tier2/Tier3 products or derivative products and Tier2/Tier3 transition efforts at the NIPR, and SIPR levels.

2.3.2 The contractor shall provide data collection, data analysis, programming, scripting, validation and coordination with FNMOC or other Programs of Record (POR).

2.3.2.1 The contractor shall develop METOC Tier2/Tier3 applications to produce tactical weather sensitive parameters which can be incorporated in warfighters’ decision making processes.

2.3.2.2 The contractor shall develop EM, EO, and acoustic applications.

2.3.2.3 The contractor shall develop data fusion with intelligence information/data applications (e.g. pirate attack risks, coast guard drug interdicting application, etc.).

2.3.2.4 The contractor shall develop and test of the wind/wave/current applications for the purpose of ship routing and sortie operations.

2.3.2.5 The contractor shall assist NRL with the operational Tier2/Tier3 products in FNMOC classified environment.

2.3.2.6 The contractor shall document findings and modifications.

2.3.2.7 The contractor shall provide computer code and develop run scripts and demonstrate the computer code execution on Government computer and network systems.

2.3.3. Tier2/Tier3 Product Transition to Operations. The contractor shall support the transition of developed Tier2/Tier3 products and databases to operational customers including the configuration management, development of manuals and documentation, development of training material, and technical support for operational tests and evaluations.

2.4 Research Coordination and IT Tasks

2.4.1 Research Coordination: The contractor shall coordinate all meteorological and oceanographic development software components within Contractor’s tasks.

These tasks may originate from various sponsors and requirements.

2.4.1.1 The contractor shall prepare the necessary documents, spreadsheets and graphics.

2.4.1.2 The contractor shall analyze task projects through use of personal knowledge of the particular functional subject matter and augment knowledge with reference materials as needed.

2.4.1.3 The contractor shall provide response and take action to resolve in accordance to NRL MMD standards and deliverables.

2.4.1.4 The contractor may interact directly with original requestor, advise others on how to respond or escalate to a higher level if needed.

2.4.1.5 The contractor shall contribute to a shared knowledge database to facilitate response consistency and to document complex issue resolution.

2.4.1.6 The contractor shall monitor customer inquiries for a specific functional area, track progress and resolution of escalated inquiries.

2.4.1.7 The contractor shall assist less experienced staff in developing appropriate responses.

2.4.2 Research IT Tasks: NRL MMD requires specific IT assistance for its research efforts.

2.4.2.1 The contractor shall provide troubleshooting assistance for the task development in a highly complex networked environment consisting of multiple networks, computer operating systems, and equipment manufacturers.

2.4.2.2 The contractor shall install hardware/software related to the research task orders and associated networking components on their IT needs.

2.4.2.3 The contractor shall diagnose and troubleshoot problems with individual or multiple computer systems to maintain proper functioning; resolve issues of complexity, including contacting and assisting vendors.

2.4.2.4 The contractor shall provide NRL policy compliance in monitoring aspects of network architecture, planning, implementation, creation of operational procedures, and security related to research task development and executions. The contractor shall perform computer studies and projects relative to area of assignment; implement change in NRL policies and/or procedures, as required for contract task performance.

2.4.2.5 The contractor shall research, analyze, and provide hardware/software recommendations to NRL research projects. The contractor shall perform technical analyses of complex software, hardware and transmission facilities using various diagnostic tools in support of efficient network operations.

2.4.2.6 The contractor shall provide requirements and coordination with other naval commands to establish demonstration and feedback environment(s) at the SIPR classification level.

2.4.2.7 The contractor shall provide software design and programming development for NRL project requirements that include algorithms, data formats, databases, application program interfaces (API), user interfaces (UI), geospatial applications, and others as directed.

2.4.2.8 The contractor shall provide expertise in the various programming languages and frameworks supporting NRL research projects, including but not limited to Python 2.x, Python 3.x, Java, JavaScript, FORTRAN, C++, HTML/CSS, Apache, and Flask.

2.4.2.9 The contractor shall provide expertise in the various software development tools required for NRL research projects, including but not limited to, Cylc, Jira, Bitbucket, Bamboo, GIT, and Subversion.

2.4.2.10 The contractor shall maintain relationships with NRL IT staff and perform IT tasks as required.

3 Special Requirements This section describes the special requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

3.1 Security

All contractor personnel who require access to Secret or TS/SCI material shall possess a final security clearance at the appropriate level based on a favorably completed DoD investigation at time of proposal submission. The contractor shall ensure that all classified material is handled in accordance with the issued DD 254, the National Security program Operating Manual (NISPOM) (DoD 5220.22M) and all NRL and applicable Security Program Guides/Directives.

Contractors issued a DoD interim secret security clearance may ONLY work on unclassified tasks as outlined in the SOW (Specifically, tasks 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 (except for subtask 2.3.2.5), and 2.4). Unclassified IA or IT positions are NOT authorized with a DoD issued interim secret clearance. Contract Facility Security Officers (FSOs), and/or NRL CORs, are required to report immediately to Code 1230 any derogatory information regarding a contractor holding an interim Secret clearance, either on- or off-site. FSOs and NRL CORs shall also notify Code 1230 when a contractor’s interim or final clearance has been declined or revoked.

Contractor personnel performing any function designated as a component of the Cyber Security Work Force (CSWF), and/or having privileged user access to NRL information systems will require background investigations and security clearances commensurate with the access level and security classification of the system being accessed as specified in DON 5239.2M (2009). System Administrators with privileged access may work in the computing, network and/or enclave environments. System Administrators with privileged access shall meet the training and certification requirements for IAT level I at the computing environment (CE), IAT level II at the network environment (NE), and IAT level III for the enclave environment as specified in DON 5239.2M (2009). The initiation of an SSBI is required for all System Administrators with privileged access serving in these positions.

3.1.1 DD Forms 254

The Contractor shall be granted access to classified information necessary for performance of this contract upon contract award as specified in the base contract DD Form 254. All contractor personnel with access to unclassified information systems, including e-mail, require at a minimum a favorable National Agency Check (NAC).

4 Acronyms/Abbreviations