SDA HQ085021S0001-10 CP2MRS STTR.pdf

Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) and

Opportunity Announcement

HQ085021S0001-10

Compact Passive Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer and Sounder (CP2MRS)

Which program will fund this topic?

STTR

DoD Technology Areas:

Space Platforms, Sensors

RT&L Technology Focus Areas:

Space

What type of proposals will be accepted?

Phase I

I. INTRODUCTION

The Space Development Agency (SDA) is issuing an SBIR/STTR Opportunity (SBO) inviting submissions of innovative research concepts supporting the advancement of our national defense space capabilities. In particular, SDA is interested in the preliminary design of a compact passive polarimetric microwave radiometer and sounder (CP2MRS) for space-based environmental monitoring (SBEM).

This SBO is issued under the SDA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR, HQ085021S0001. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein must be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under HQ085021S0001, found here:

https://go.usa.gov/x724e.

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items.

Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of https://go.usa.gov/x724e origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised that foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

a. Eligibility

Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of HQ085021S0001 for full eligibility requirements.

This SBO, HQ085021S0001-10, is being funded by the STTR program. The research objective of this SBO is also issued as an SBIR opportunity under SBO HQ085021S001-

09. Please review Section 3.1 subparagraph (b) and (c) of HQ085021S0001 for full eligibility requirements of the SBIR and STTR programs.

b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information

Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, and Section 2, Award Information, of HQ085021S0001 for additional details on the structure of this opportunity and prospective awards.

For this SBO, SDA will accept Phase I proposals for cost of up to $250,000 for a 12-month period of performance.

Proposers awarded a Phase I contract will be eligible to submit a proposal for Phase II and will be contacted by SDA at the appropriate time during their Phase I period of performance. If selected, Phase II will have a cost of up to $1,700,000 for a duration not to exceed 24 months.

c. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission Information, of HQ085021S0001 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in HQ085021S0001 and the research objectives of this SBO are considered non-conforming and therefore will neither be evaluated nor considered for award.

The technical volume of proposals shall not exceed 20 pages. Commercialization strategy shall not exceed 5 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 20-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of HQ085021S0001 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation.

d. Evaluation of Proposals

Please refer to Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, of HQ085021S0001 for a full description of the proposal evaluation and selection process.

e. Due Date/Time

Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, and Cost Volume inclusive of supporting documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR

Innovation Portal (DSIP) per the instructions in Section 4, Application and Submission Information, of HQ085021S0001 no later than June 15, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET.

f. Company Commercialization Report

Please refer to Appendix A, Section A.3.f of HQ085021S0001 for Company Commercialization Report guidance.

II. TOPIC OVERVIEW

a. Objective

Develop a preliminary system design for a next-generation compact passive polarimetric microwave radiometer and sounder capable of performing multiple SBEM functions from low earth orbit (LEO).

b. Description

SDA is responsible for orchestrating the development and fielding of the DoD’s future threat-driven National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), a resilient military sensing and data transport capability via a proliferated space architecture primarily in LEO. To achieve this mission, SDA uses novel approaches to accelerate the development and fielding of military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantage in space for national defense.

Weather conditions critically impact the effectiveness of Department of Defense missions. Today’s accurate weather forecasts rely on timely observations from space. To deliver SBEM products from the NDSA, SDA seeks a preliminary system design for a next-generation compact passive polarimetric microwave radiometer with modular imaging and sounding capability to measure ocean surface vector wind (OSVW), tropical cyclone intensity (TCI), and vertical temperature and atmospheric moisture profiles from LEO. The modular instrument shall perform imaging or sounding, but not both, depending upon which mission module is installed. The mission modules may interface to common data processing and power conditioning subsystems.

The successful instrument design will be based upon mature technology (readiness level 5 or greater) from recent SBEM program payloads, such as the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSM/IS), the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s WindSat radiometer [1], the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer (COWVR) originally designed for the ORS-8 satellite. These instruments and their variants have decades of flight heritage, but their size, weight, and power (SWaP) are not compatible with NDSA small satellites. This program will address the SDA mission need by producing a Phase I end item data package (EIDP) comprised of a preliminary instrument design report, requirements verification analysis report, and Phase II validation test plan for the compact modular instrument that can be deployed as a sounder on one NDSA satellite and a surface imager on another.

The CP2MRS Phase I preliminary instrument design report shall include computer aided design (CAD) renderings, drawings, specifications, and other documents that define the instrument and its supporting subsystems and facilitate future benchtop and flight prototypes. The preliminary design shall conform to the following technical performance measures (TPMs) when in the sounder or the imager configuration, as noted in the tables below. TPMs are categorized in two tiers: Mission-Level and Instrument-Level.

CP2MRS Mission-Level TPMs

Imaging: OSVW Parameter Value Units Comment Horizontal Spatial Resolution (HSR)

≤30 km Alternatively, horizontal cell size (HCS) to reflect multiple channels and footprints that are combined and resampled in signal processing

Measurement Uncertainty:

Wind Speed

≤1.5 m/s For wind speed 5 – 7 m/s and 7 – 10 m/s

Measurement Uncertainty:

Wind Speed

≤2 m/s For wind speed 10 – 25 m/s

Measurement Uncertainty:

Wind Direction

≤30 deg For wind speed 5-7 m/s

Measurement Uncertainty:

Wind Direction

≤20 deg For wind speed 7-10 m/s

Measurement Uncertainty:

Wind Direction

≤15 deg For wind speed 10-25 m/s

Refresh 6 hours Individual instrument swath width must be large enough to facilitate required refresh rate from a family of systems (FoS) with constellation parameters provided as Government Furnished Information (GFI)

Geolocation Accuracy ≤7 km

Imaging: TCI Parameter Value Units Comment Horizontal Spatial Resolution <15 km Significantly less than 15 km

HSR is desired Accuracy (Calibration), Brightness Temperature

<1 K

Precision (Noise-Equivalent Differential Temperature)

<1.0 K

Scene Sampling, Along-Scan >2 Samples/ iFOV iFOV denotes instrument instantaneous field of view

Scene Sampling, Cross-Scan N/A N/A No gaps

Refresh 6 hours Individual instrument swath width must be large enough to facilitate required refresh rate from a family of systems (FoS) with constellation parameters provided as Government Furnished Information (GFI)

Geolocation Accuracy ≤7 km

Sounding: Atmospheric Moisture (Surface to 100 mb)

Horizontal Spatial Resolution ≤15 km

Vertical Reporting Interval 20 mb Surface to 850 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 50 mb 850 mb – 100 mb Measurement Uncertainty, Clear Conditions

20% or 0.2 g/kg Surface – 600 mb

Measurement Uncertainty, Clear Conditions

35% or 0.1 g/kg 600 – 300 mb

Measurement Uncertainty, Clear Conditions

35% or 0.04 g/kg 300 – 100 mb

Measurement Uncertainty, Cloudy Conditions

20% or 0.2 g/kg Surface – 600 mb

Measurement Uncertainty, Cloudy Conditions

40% or 0.1 g/kg 600 – 300 mb

Measurement Uncertainty, Cloudy Conditions

40% or 0.04 g/kg 300 – 100 mb

Geolocation Accuracy ≤5 km ~30% of HSR

Sounding: Atmospheric Temperature (Surface to 0.01 mb)

Horizontal Spatial Resolution ≤40 km Surface to 20 mb Horizontal Spatial Resolution <200 km 20 mb – 0.01 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 20 mb Surface to 850 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 50 mb 850 mb – 300 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 25 mb 300 mb – 100 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 20 mb 100 mb – 10 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 2 mb 10 mb – 1 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 0.2 mb 1 mb – 0.1 mb Vertical Reporting Interval 0.02 mb 0.1 mb – 0.01 mb Measurement Uncertainty, Atmospheric Temperature

2.5 K Surface – 700 mb, 1-km layers

Measurement Uncertainty, Atmospheric Temperature

1.5 K 700 – 300 mb, 1-km layers

Measurement Uncertainty, Atmospheric Temperature

1.5 K 300 – 30 mb, 3-km layers

Measurement Uncertainty, Atmospheric Temperature

1.5 K 30 – 1 mb, 5-km layers

Measurement Uncertainty, Atmospheric Temperature

3.5 K 1 – 0.01 mb, 5-km layers

Geolocation Accuracy ≤5 km

Notes:

1. The design should assign an optimal spacecraft-centered nadir angle or earth incidence angle (EIA) between nadir and the heel of the sensor footprint on the earth.

An example for the DMSP SSM/IS instrument can be found in Figure 36 of Reference 2. Instrument swath width and LEO altitude are a function of EIA and are not prescribed here.

2. The instrument shall verify ocean surface wind vectors at 10 m above the ocean surface.

3. OSVW measurement uncertainty at wind speeds greater than 25 m/s is best effort.

4. Exploiting the Zeeman split at 118 GHz is desired, but not required.

5. In general, the instrument shall measure emissions from the earth and atmosphere (in terms of brightness temperature with various polarization states), at radio frequencies up to 183 GHz. To facilitate this, designers must devise strategies to manage new sources of radio frequency interference in an increasingly crowded spectrum.

Relevant examples include satellite broadcasts at 11 GHz and the new 5G millimeter-wave band that starts at 24.25 GHz. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) characterization of the benchtop prototype in a laboratory environment with noise sources such as these is reserved for Phase II.

6. The design should assume a nominal calibration drift over time, to be verified in Phase II.

7. Ka and W-band vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures comprise TCI measurements.

8. Degrade product allowable: non-zero precipitation within 1.5 x HSR of measurement

9. Excluded conditions for OSVW Imaging: >2 mm/hr precipitation or contamination from radio frequency interference (RFI) detected within the sample.

10. Excluded conditions for TCI Imaging: RFI detected within a single pixel defined as the 3 dB-down antenna footprint.

CP2MRS Instrument-Level TPMs

Parameter Value Units Comment Total Mass ≤25 kg Total mass of the instrument and its supporting subsystems Average Power <70 W Stowed Volume <6,900 cm3 20 cm x 10 cm x 34.5 cm Lifetime on Orbit 2 Years

Notes:

1. The instrument should incorporate a shield to block noise from solar radiation. Note that the mission LEO is non-sun synchronous.

2. The antenna design should include features that limit noise due to self-emission.

3. An instrument with a stationary, electronically steerable array (ESA) antenna is of interest, but not required.

4. Investigators should determine instrument output data formats and assess the impact on data storage resources onboard the spacecraft and the size of the output data stream. In addition, they should innovate critical supporting features, including methods and subsystems for instrument calibration, cybersecurity measures, and graphical user interface (GUI) and data display formats.

c. Phase I (12 months)

The Phase I analysis report shall include a narrative that introduces the verification analyses that were performed and, for each analysis, discusses the objective/hypothesis, parameters, assumptions, initial conditions, and expected results. Analysis results shall be compared to TPMs in a summary of findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The Phase II validation test plan shall describe a future benchtop prototype, instrumentation, and test protocol aimed at verifying instrument performance, including calibration and SNR, in a laboratory (anechoic chamber) environment with realistic noise sources. In addition to laboratory validation testing, Phase II builds on Phase I work by producing a detailed design of the flight instrument and its supporting subsystems.

Phase I Schedule/Milestones/Deliverables

• Month 1: Project kickoff briefing to SDA Emerging Capabilities Cell Chief detailing the proposed technical approach and schedule with milestones.

• Month 4: Quarterly progress report including technical progress to date and the technical plan for the remainder of Phase I.

• Month 6: Interim progress briefing to the Emerging Capabilities Cell Chief detailing technical progress to date, significant tasks accomplished, major risks, a technical plan for the second half of Phase I, and any potential issues or problem areas that require the attention of SDA.

• Month 7: Quarterly progress report including technical progress to date and the technical plan for the remainder of Phase I.

• Month 10: Quarterly progress report including technical progress to date and the technical plan for the remainder of Phase I.

• Month 12: Final technical progress report and briefing of the EIDP, including the preliminary CP2MRS instrument design, requirements verification analysis report, and Phase II validation test plan. The briefing shall also compare the present design to the state-of-the-art in passive polarimetric microwave SBEM instruments.

d. Phase II (24 months)

Phase II executes a detailed design of the flight instrument payload that builds on the results of Phase I. This includes computer aided design (CAD) renderings, detailed drawings, specifications, and other documents that define the instrument and its supporting subsystems in sufficient detail to enable prototyping of the flight instrument in Phase III. Government furnished information (GFI), in the form of supplementary mission requirements and host spacecraft interface definitions released after Phase II kickoff, shall inform the Phase II design work.

In addition to the detailed design, Phase II shall also construct a benchtop prototype (breadboard) of the instrument and its supporting subsystems. The breadboard is part of a validation test apparatus that includes equipment necessary to characterize instrument performance and a test protocol aimed at verifying instrument performance, including calibration and SNR, in a laboratory (anechoic chamber) environment with realistic noise sources.

Detailed design and validation test reports comprise the Phase II EIDP. This, in addition to the benchtop instrument prototype shall be delivered at the end of the Phase II period of performance.

Phase II Schedule/Milestones/Deliverables

• Month 1: Project kickoff briefing to SDA Emerging Capabilities Cell Chief detailing the proposed technical approach and schedule with milestones.

• Month 4 and 7: Quarterly progress report including technical progress to date, risk, and project management information.

• Month 12: Annual principal investigators (PIs) meeting that reviews technical progress since kickoff and discusses the plan for the remainder of the project, including changes to the project performance measurement baseline as a result of realized risks.

• Month 16 and 20: Quarterly progress report including technical progress to date, risk, and project management information.

• Month 24: Phase II report delivery and final review that includes results and recommendations for Phase III.

e. Flight Testing and Dual Use Applications (Phase III)

Phase III work would target transition and commercialization of the CP2MRS instrument.

Given the emergence of private small satellite constellations, commercial applications of this research may include the integration of the CP2MRS instrument with a commercial small satellite bus to provide weather observations as a service. DoD/military applications include, but are not limited to, integration with DoD space vehicles to perform weather observations and forecasting to inform military operations around the world.

f. References

1. Gaiser et. al, The WindSat Spaceborne Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer: Sensor Description and Early Orbit Performance in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 42, 11, pp. 2347-2361, 2004.

2. https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/d/dmsp-block-5d.

3. National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Integrated Operational Requirements Document (IORD) II, 2001.

g. Keywords

Space-Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM), Microwave Radiometer, Microwave Sounder, Passive Sensing, Low Earth Orbit, Weather Observations

III. SUBMISSION of QUESTIONS

From April 27, 2021 to May 12, 2021, this SBO is issued for Pre-Release. During the pre-release period, proposing firms have an opportunity to contact topic authors at osd.pentagon.ousd-r-e.mbx.hq085021s0001@mail.mil to ask technical questions about specific BAA topics. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through the DSIP Topic Q&A module.

Once SDA begins accepting proposals on May 12, 2021, no further direct contact between proposers and topic authors is allowed unless the topic author is responding to a question submitted during the Pre-release period. However, proposers may submit written questions through the DSIP Topic Q&A module at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login. The DSIP Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on May 12, 2021 and closes to new questions on June 1, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET. Once the BAA closes to proposal submissions, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding a submitted proposal is allowed.

SDA intends to use electronic mail for all correspondence regarding this SBO. Questions related to the technical aspect of the research objectives and awards specifically related to this SBO should be emailed to osd.pentagon.ousd-r-e.mbx.hq085021s0001@mail.mil. Please reference SBO HQ085021S0001-10 in the subject line. All questions must be in English and must include the name, email address, and the telephone number of a point of contact.

Technical support for the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET. Requests for technical support must be emailed to DoDSBIRSupport@reisystems.com with a copy to osd.pentagon.ousd-r-e.mbx.hq085021s0001@mail.mil.

III. SUBMISSION of QUESTIONS