SOW_TotalLightning.docx
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- Commercial Total Lightning (TL) Data Feed
- Solicitation number
- EAD_TL_DATA_FY27_SSN
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This is a Statement of Work (SOW) for the acquisition of total lightning (TL) data by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the National Weather Service (NWS). The SOW establishes requirements for continuous, real-time delivery of cloud-to-ground (CG) and cloud flash (CF) lightning data across the continental United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, with coverage extending 500 kilometers offshore. The contractor must deliver data via secure TCP/IP interface using AES-128 binary encryption in a NOAA-approved format compatible with AWIPS and N-AWIPS systems, with a maximum delivery time of one minute from detection to reporting for 99 percent of all flashes and pulses.
The base requirement specifies five levels of lightning products, with Level I representing raw streaming data and Level III consisting of NOAA-repackaged one-minute data packets; Levels II, IV, and V encompass contractor-generated and government-generated products. Technical requirements mandate 60 percent or higher detection efficiency over 90 percent of the 48 contiguous states, 2-kilometer location accuracy for 99 percent of the coverage area, no more than 2 percent false detection rate, and provision of detailed flash data including latitude, longitude, time to microsecond accuracy, polarity, peak current, number of sensors used, pulse multiplicity, and in-cloud height estimates. The contractor must maintain 24/7 operational capability with a designated point of contact, provide status information and quarterly regional detection efficiency reports, announce planned outages at least two weeks in advance, and maintain system availability with no more than 72 cumulative hours of outages over any 12-month period. NOAA retains the right to archive all data at National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and other facilities, to redistribute Level I through V data to authorized federal, state, local, and non-governmental users under cooperative agreements, and to generate derivative Level III, IV, and V products for operational and research purposes without attribution restrictions beyond incorporation into other NOAA products.
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ACQUISITION SENSITIVE
STATEMENT OF WORK
CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING DATA FOR NOAA AND NWS
ACQUISITION SENSITIVE
CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING DATA FOR NOAA AND NWS
TOTAL LIGHTNING DATA FOR NOAA AND NWS
1. INTRODUCTION
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses lightning data in its present operations and to explore new ways of using lightning data in concert with complementary data from other sources, i.e., the vast network of Lightning Mapping Arrays, Radar and Satellite data, as well as data from GOES-R and later Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). This Statement of Work (SOW) covers NOAA’s requirements for its total lightning data, which includes cloud flash (CF) lightning (i.e., cloud-to-air, cloud-to-cloud, intra-cloud) and cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning data.
1.1 BACKGROUND
Several Federal Government agencies have purchased lightning data from a contractor since 1991. NOAA, under the Department of Commerce (DOC), administered previous contracts for itself and on behalf of other agencies. Since 2010, NOAA has purchased lightning data under contract centered solely on NOAA’s requirements. NOAA has recognized the lightning data it acquired as the contractor’s proprietary information and has worked with the contractor to prevent unauthorized distribution of the data.
1.2. SCOPE
This SOW describes NOAA’s base requirement and optional requirements for the continued acquisition of total lightning data and the methodology for its delivery to NOAA line offices. Included are the requirements for the data itself, archival of the data and redistribution of the data (to include products with data). Also included are the restrictions that NOAA will accept regarding the redistribution of this specific lightning data.
1.3. TYPES OF LIGHTNING
This SOW addresses total lightning (TL) data, which is inclusive of CG and CF lightning data. These lightning types are defined below, in accordance with the Federal Lightning Capability Requirements (report number FCM-R27-2008 referenced on https://www.icams-portal.gov/resources/ofcm/reports2.htm). These definitions will apply throughout this SOW.
A CG lightning is lightning originating in a cloud and striking the ground or some natural or man-made feature on the ground. CG lightning in this SOW refers to either a flash or stroke. A CG flash is comprised of a return stroke and up to 15 subsequent strokes. NOAA requires data for both strokes and the flashes that contain them.
A Cloud Flash (CF) is any lightning flash that does not strike the ground, and it includes in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-air lightning. In the scientific literature, this is often called an intra-cloud flash, which, strictly defined, is a flash that stays within a single cloud. Other types of cloud flashes include a cloud-to-cloud flash and cloud-to-air flash. The research and operational potential of components of a CF flash are high, and NOAA requires more than just a symbol or dot to represent a CF flash. CF flashes are comprised of pulses (can be called “events”) that can define the vertical and horizontal extent of lightning, thus enabling an accurate gauge of convective potential and evolution.
TL is lightning data that include cloud-to-ground, in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-air lightning.
1.4. LEVELS OF LIGHTNING PRODUCTS
This SOW addresses five levels of lightning data/products: Levels I, II, III, IV, and V. Table 1-1 defines these lightning data levels whose definitions will apply throughout this SOW.
TABLE 1-1
| LEVEL |
| DESCRIPTION |
| I |
| Streaming data as received from the prospective contractor using the approved format for use by NOAA. NOAA reserves the right to archive these data at one or more national centers (such as the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Storm Prediction Center (SPC), Aviation Weather Center (AWC) and the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL)). Also, the contractor will provide archived, quality-controlled data to NOAA on request at no added cost (within preordained geographic and historical time bounds). |
Examples:
1. Streaming data received directly into a NOAA facility from the prospective contractor using the approved format.
2. NOAA procures a previous year’s TL or CF lightning data from the contractor.
| II |
| Contractor-generated products containing total lightning data. The product can be an application on NOAA equipment or an actual separate piece of hardware. |
Examples:
1. Time-lapse loop of detected lightning displayed on an Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) platform
2. Lightning data overlaid on a radar image on a contractor-provided platform.
3. Lightning data displayed on a contractor-provided platform (e.g. software only solution, software & hardware only solution), capable of quickly displaying real-time streaming lightning data over small geographic areas or large geographic areas from the Pacific to Atlantic oceans.
| III |
| NOAA-required repackaging of contractor-provided streaming data into 1-min packets of information. The data is unchanged in content, but is formatted differently than the Level I data to meet NOAA requirements (basically each file requires a WMO header). The data packets should identify individual strokes and flashes. No additional data other than that required is included in the product, meaning the entire Level I data stream need not be included in the Level III product. The dissemination of this product does not constitute redistribution of the contractor’s data because the original data cannot be readily extracted from the NOAA product. Note, for the purposes of this SOW, the prospective contractor must be capable of providing the current NOAAPORT one-minute product through at least one of NOAA’s point-of entry for use by NOAA’s users in the required format specified, herein. Data provided under this level is archived at the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI). |
Example:
One-minute TL data is provided to NOAA’s Telecommunications Operations Center in encrypted format (government code) and archived at a pre-defined NOAA facility.
| IV |
| NOAA-generated and value-added products integrating lightning data (Level I or III) along with other types of data in order to generate a new service product. The new product may identify detected lightning or areas of lightning. The dissemination of this product does not constitute redistribution of the contractor’s data because the original data cannot be readily extracted from the NOAA product. |
Examples:
1. Level I or III lightning data overlaid on a satellite image
2. A graphic product outlining areas of detected lightning along with wild land fire potentials denoted.
| V |
| NOAA-generated products using lightning data as an input, but not displaying the actual contractor-transmitted lightning data. |
Examples:
1. Map of detected thunderstorms without related TL lightning data
2. Map of forecast “lightning” (formerly thunderstorm) probability that uses lightning data as an input into the forecast
3. Government-generated products overlaid on radar and satellite images as zones of lightning without depicting the actual base information.
For further details about redistribution rights, see section 7.6 and its sub-sections.
1.5. TL LIGHTNING DATA USERS
This section addresses data users covered by this SOW. Current users and possible additional future users are also discussed. Section 1.5.1 addresses NOAA users, Section 1.5.2 describes associated Government users, and Section 1.5.3 addresses users associated under agreement with NOAA, but are outside the Federal Government.
1.5.1. NOAA USERS
NOAA lightning data users include any line office within NOAA including, but not limited to, the National Weather Service (NWS), National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). NWS will ensure that all NOAA line offices that use the TL lightning data comply with the terms of use.
NOAA ingests all lightning data into the NWS AWIPS and National AWIPS (N-AWIPS) systems to support its operational mission of issuing accurate and timely meteorological, oceanographic, and hydrological warnings, watches, forecasts and other related products. There are some centers within NCEP that are able to stream data to contractor-provided applications and NCEP applications, and many WFOs are able to view lightning data via GRAnalyst (outside of AWIPS). NOAA also incorporates lightning data into its multi-radar/multi-sensor (MRMS) system and plans to incorporate more advanced lightning data in the future. NOAA also uses lightning data for research purposes to improve meteorological and hydrological forecasts and warnings, and archives these official products under the Service Record Retention System. Lightning data acquired under this SOW will be integrated with other data types to produce new products and applications (Level III, IV, and V products, above).
The Aviation Weather Center is particularly interested in both CONUS and OCONUS total lightning data. As part of their international commitments, AWC forecasts thunderstorms globally from T+06 to T+36, in 3 hour increments. The forecasts are in automated grid format for all time steps, and in a hand drawn chart format for T+24. The TL lightning data helps forecasters identify areas of thunderstorms, especially low topped and/or embedded thunderstorms, and it is AWC’s primary means of verification. The verification is also used to improve forecasting skill. AWC and Centralized Weather Support Units (CWSUs), which directly support air traffic for certain regions of the United States, use TL data to visualize convective corridors in threatening clouds within 50-100 miles of airport.
Lightning data are foundational observations at the Storm Prediction Center, both CONUS and OCONUS. Lightning data are fundamental to the real-time identification of thunderstorm occurrence, location, coverage, intensity and trends. In particular, TL is correlated more directly with thunderstorm updraft intensity compared to CG lightning, and “Lightning Jump” algorithms that compute the time rate of change of TL can provide enhanced lead time prior to a storm becoming severe. The data are also used in the development and improvement of SPC’s probabilistic thunderstorm and severe thunderstorm prediction guidance (calibrated SREF-based and Perfect Prog methods). The data are necessary to accurately diagnose and predict dry thunderstorm occurrence, a major contributing factor of fire starts. Further, the data play a key role for convective winter weather.
Fire Weather Operations - Incident Meteorologists and the forecasters that support them depend on TL lightning data to give customers from land management and state/local agencies advanced warning on areas of clouds and smoke where convection will likely occur. This is needed to help locate areas of potential fire ignition. This is especially true in the mountainous western U.S. where weather radar cannot adequately portray convection due to terrain blockage, and because CF data can be used to predict where and when CG lightning may occur, getting firefighters and other out of danger. NWS MDL applies TL data to produce convection as well as TL probability and potential forecast guidance products (issued each hour for CONUS and slightly beyond) for use in tactical and strategic aviation management, wildfire management and public safety applications.
As stated above, NOAA reserves the right to archive lightning data and request historical archives from contractor at no added cost. See Sections 6 and 7.6.2 for further details on the archiving requirement.
1.5.2. OTHER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USERS
This SOW is generally not intended to provide non-NOAA Agencies with TL lightning data for their respective missions. However, NOAA reserves the right to provide TL lightning data to another Federal Agency when that agency is collaborating with NOAA under a written agreement for the purposes of advancing NOAA’s mission. Other non-NOAA Agencies that require lightning data for their own missions will not be able to obtain that data through this SOW. Requests for broadband TL lightning data to meet entire agency requirements will be coordinated with the contractor. NOAA will ensure that the Federal agency receiving NOAA provided lightning data is made aware of the terms of use for this data and NWS (which manages the lightning contract for NOAA) will make every effort to ensure that the other agency adheres to any restrictions that NOAA has accepted under this SOW. Agencies may receive either Level I or III lightning data and/or Level II/IV/V products under this SOW according to stipulations noted above.
1.5.3. NON-FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USERS
Non-federal users constitute two groups as follows:
1. State and local government users
2. Non-government users
Sections below describe NOAA’s affiliation with these groups.
1.5.3.1. STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT USERS
Several state and local government users cooperate with NOAA line offices receiving TL lightning data. These state and local government users may receive either Level I or III lightning data and/or Level II/IV/V products under this SOW provided they have a documented agreement with NOAA line offices. The data may be received from NOAA or directly from the contractor.
NOAA will identify at the contractor’s request, state and local government agencies receiving lightning under this SOW. State and local government users will adhere to the same agreement as NOAA with the TL lightning data contractor.
1.5.3.2. NON-GOVERNMENT USERS
Non-government organizations, companies, and institutes cooperating with NOAA might need TL lightning data to satisfy their agreement/contract obligation. These include cooperating organizations and support contractors. Cooperating organizations are organizations with a cooperative working relationship with one or more NOAA agencies. Support contractors are organizations that have contracts with one or more NOAA line offices to perform a task(s) for NOAA. The tasks may involve operational use of TL data, application development, or research. NOAA reserves the right to provide lightning data to non-federal users with which it has a direct relationship under written agreement or contract. Requests for broadband TL data to meet other requirements outside the mission scope will be coordinated with the prospective contractor. Any non-federal agency receiving NOAA-provided lightning data will adhere to the same agreement as NOAA has with the prospective contractor under this SOW. Users may receive either Level I or III lightning data and/or Level II/IV/V products under this SOW.
1.5.4. UNAUTHORIZED USERS
There are three types of users not authorized to receive lightning data under this SOW:
1. Organizations not having a relationship with a NOAA user under a written agreement.
2. Organizations, including government agencies, using the data for any commercial purpose.
3. Non-U.S. governments, unless a specific bilateral or multi-lateral agreement has been established. Such agreements will be coordinated with the prospective contractor.
1.6 GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
Geographical areas are defined Appendix A and will include CONUS, adjacent areas and parts of Alaska and Hawaii.
2. SERVICES RENDERED
The prospective contractor shall provide lightning data to meet NOAA’s basic requirement at a minimum (Section 2.1). The contractor shall have a network in place to meet the basic requirement, or have legal access to data from another organization’s network to meet the base requirement. The contractor will need to have a network in place to meet any optional services that NOAA requires. However, if an optional service is requested, the contractor must be able to meet the requirement within a period of 3 months from the date it receives the request.
2.1. SCOPE OF WORK REQUIREMENT
The contractor shall deliver TL (Level I or III) lightning data in a NOAA-approved format (i.e., meeting current AWIPS or N-AWIPS requirements) for CONUS (Appendix A) to meet the base requirement. CONUS TL is considered the base requirement under this SOW for the prospective contractor to meet to be deemed compliant.
2.2. NEW INCLUSIONS UNDER THE BASE REQUIREMENT
NOAA will have separate baseline requirements under this SOW for CONUS areas (See Section 4.1.1). These requirements are based on the type of lightning data (TL), Level (I or III), and the geographic areas covered. To fully support NOAA operations for severe weather activity and safety, TL lightning flashes must contain information on pulses (i.e., events) that comprise thse TL flashes. Hawaii and Alaska (southern part of the state inclusive of Juneau, Anchorage, and extending to Fairbanks) require TL data.
There is also a requirement for contractor-supplied archived data (Level I).
3. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
The contractor shall supply lightning data meeting the technical requirements described in all subsections below.
3.1. LIGHTNING DETECTION NETWORK
The contractor shall have legal access either through their own network or through some agreement with another lightning provider to supply lightning data that meet the requirements within this SOW. The contractor shall have legal access to lightning data 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Lightning shall be collected via a data streaming method, but shall also be required to provide the data on a 1-minute basis for the base requirement in conformance with the NOAA format and encryption requirements (meeting requirements of AWIPS/N-AWIPS and adhering to government-provided encryption code). The 1-minute data product shall be made available to NOAA users (via NWS Telecommunications Gateway) in one minute or less after detection.
The format for each lightning product is delineated in the following paragraphs. In general, the TL lightning data consists of the following content:
· NWS-specific header record
· Record type (either lightning data report or “keep alive” record)
· Date and Time (UTC with milliseconds accuracy)
· Latitude and Longitude (location within 2 km accuracy)
· Stroke/pulse count per flash
· Polarity (negative or positive)
· Peak current amplitude (kA)
· Type of event: CG or CF The lightning data shall be provided via Secure Shell TCP/IP interface, with the data (with the exception of the first record which is to be a WMO header record) being encoded to ensure limited access to the lightning data. The lightning data shall be handled as sensitive information and protected from access by the general public. The contractor shall encrypt the binary lightning data using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) technique (FIPS 197). Information on this algorithm can be found using the following link:
http://csrc.nist.gov/archive/aes/index.html The encryption key size shall be 128 bit (i.e., AES-128). NOAA will provide the encryption key to the contractor upon contract award, with new key assignment reviewed and coordinated with the contractor on a bi-annual basis.
Total Lightning Format:
At a minimum the data must include flash and pulse details, which can be divided up into flash only, pulse only, or combined pulse (i.e., event) and flash data. The format of the pulse data must be very similar to flash data; NWS will work with the contractor on adjustments as necessary.
Data Associated with total lightning should include:
· Pulse (i.e., event) or flash time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), accurate to the microsecond
· Latitude in decimal degrees, minimum of 4 decimal places. 5 decimal places desired
· Longitude in decimal degrees, minimum of 4 decimal places, 5 decimal places desired
· Polarity (negative or positive)
· Peak current for cloud-to-ground (CG) or peak radiated field normalized to 30 km for in-cloud (IC) lightning, both in amperes.
· IC/CG classification: by definition, a pulse is classified as "CG" when it contains a return stroke. Any pulse that does not contain a return stroke is classified as "IC." However, it should be stressed that the IC classification may include other types of non-CG lightning, including narrow bi-polar events.
· Number of sensors utilized in locating a lightning flash/pulse: this number varies between 5 (minimum) and 25 (maximum) sensors.
· Multiplicity: a lightning; flash can consist of many strokes and pulses. Therefore, this number represents the number of pulses in a given flash.
· In-Cloud Height: this parameter estimates the height of the IC lightning in kilometers. This value can be as high as 20 km. Desired accuracy is near 500 meters; vendor should identify accuracy of location at specific altitudes.
· Pulse information (pulse being component of intracloud flash). The table below shows what NWS is looking for in terms of format of pulse portions of non-CG flashes. It does not have to be exactly like this but NWS is trying to make format as transparent as possible.
Total lightning data record format (excluding NWS specific header record) shall conform to the Total Lightning Data Bulletin Description document, as outlined below:
| Byte |
| Description |
| 0 | |
| MSB of the number of bytes for the combination packet. [Integer] |
| 1 | |
| LSB of the number of bytes for the combination packet [Integer] |
Flash packet
| 2 | |
| Number of bytes for the Flash packet [Integer] |
| 3 | |
| Flash Type. [Integer] "0" signifies a CG flash, "1" signifies an IC flash, and “9” signifies a keep‐alive packet with no lightning data. Any flash containing at least one pulse of type 0 is a CG flash; flashes containing only pulses of type 1 are IC flashes. |
| 4 | |
| “Time” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 4, 5, 6, and 7 are combined to form an unsigned 32 bit binary integer that represents the number of non‐leap seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). |
| 5 | |
| “Time” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 6 | |
| “Time” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 7 | |
| “Time” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 8 | |
| Millisecond byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 8 and 9 are combined to form a 16‐bit binary integer that represents milliseconds. To determine the complete lightning time, combine the total non‐leap seconds from Bytes 4, 5, 6, and 7 with the milliseconds value from Bytes 8 and 9. |
| 9 | |
| Millisecond byte 2, LSB [Integer] |
| 10 | |
| “Latitude” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 10, 11, 12, and 13 are combined to make a signed, 32 bit binary number that represents the latitude position in which negative numbers are represented by the two’s complement. This is, a signed number where a positive value represents North latitude and a negative number represents South latitude. To extract the latitude from the binary number, convert the number to the signed decimal value and divide by 10,000,000 (10 power 7). |
| 11 | |
| “Latitude” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 12 | |
| “Latitude” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 13 | |
| “Latitude” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 14 | |
| “Longitude” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 14, 15, 16, and 17 are combined to make a signed, 32 bit binary number that represents the longitude position in which negative numbers are represented by the two’s complement. This is a signed number where a positive value represents East longitude and a negative number represents West longitude. To extract the longitude from the binary number, convert the number to the signed decimal value and divide by 10,000,000 (10 power 7). |
| 15 | |
| “Longitude” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 16 | |
| “Longitude” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 17 | |
| “Longitude” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 18 | |
| Peak Current byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 18, 19, 20, and 21 are combined to make a signed, 32‐bit binary number of amperes of peak current. |
| 19 | |
| Peak Current byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 20 | |
| Peak Current byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 21 | |
| Peak Current byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 22 | |
| Reserved |
| 23 | |
| “IC Height” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] In-Cloud Height estimates the height of the IC lightning in kilometers. This value can be as high as 20 km and it should be noted that it will be most accurate in locations with a high sensor density. Bytes 23 and 24 are combined to show 16‐bit binary number of IC Height. |
| 24 | |
| “IC Height” byte 1, LSB [Integer] |
| 25 | |
| “Number of Sensors”. [Integer] An 8‐bit binary number. |
| 26 | |
| “Multiplicity”. [Integer] This 8-bit number represents the number of pulses in a given flash. |
| 27 | |
| CheckSum. [Integer] The value of this byte is calculated by adding all other bytes to a byte variable and subtracting the result from 256. |
Bytes 28‐53 in the Combination Packet contain the first pulse sub‐packet content. The content will repeat, following the same pattern, for all subsequent pulses.
| 28 | |
| Number of bytes for the Pulse packet. [Integer] Contains the length of a packet and the value should be 26. |
| 29 | |
| Pulse Type. [Integer] "0" signifies a return stroke, "1" signifies any other kind of pulse and “9” signifies a keep‐alive packet with no lightning data. |
| 30 | |
| “Time” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 30, 31, 32, and 33 are combined to form an unsigned 32 bit binary integer that represents the number of non‐leap seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). |
| 31 | |
| “Time” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 32 | |
| “Time” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 33 | |
| “Time” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 34 | |
| Millisecond byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 34 and 35 are combined to form a 16‐bit binary integer that represents milliseconds. To determine the complete lightning time, combine the total non‐leap seconds from Bytes 30, 31, 32, and 33 with the milliseconds value from Bytes 34 and 35. |
| 35 | |
| Millisecond byte 2, LSB [Integer] |
| 36 | |
| “Latitude” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 36, 37, 38, and 39 are combined to make a signed, 32 bit binary number that represents the latitude position in which negative numbers are represented by the two’s complement. This is, a signed number where a positive value represents North latitude and a negative number represents South latitude. To extract the latitude from the binary number, convert the number to the signed decimal value and divide by 10,000,000 (10 power 7). |
| 37 | |
| “Latitude” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 38 | |
| “Latitude” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 39 | |
| “Latitude” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 40 | |
| “Longitude” byte 1, MSB. [Integer, signed] Bytes 40, 41, 42, and 43 are combined to make a signed, 32 bit binary number that represents the longitude position in which negative numbers are represented by the two’s complement. This is a signed number where a positive value represents East longitude and a negative number represents West longitude. To extract the longitude from the binary number, convert the number to the signed decimal value and divide by 10,000,000 (10 power 7). |
| 41 | |
| “Longitude” byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 42 | |
| “Longitude” byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 43 | |
| “Longitude” byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 44 | |
| Peak Current byte 1, MSB. [Integer] Bytes 44, 45, 46, and 47 are combined to make a signed, 32‐bit binary number of amperes of peak current. |
| 45 | |
| Peak Current byte 2, LSB+2 [Integer] |
| 46 | |
| Peak Current byte 3, LSB+1 [Integer] |
| 47 | |
| Peak Current byte 4, LSB [Integer] |
| 48 | |
| Reserved |
| 49 | |
| “IC Height” byte 1, MSB. [Integer] In-Cloud Height estimates the height of the IC lightning in kilometers. This value can be as high as 20 km and it should be noted that it will be most accurate in locations with a high sensor density. Bytes 49 and 50 are combined to show 16‐bit binary number of IC Height. |
| 50 | |
| “IC Height” byte 1, LSB [Integer] |
| 51 | |
| “Number of Sensors” |
| 52 | |
| “Multiplicity” [Integer] This 8-bit number represents the number of pulses in a given flash. |
| 53 | |
| Checksum. [Integer] The value of this byte is calculated by adding all other bytes to a byte variable and subtracting the result from 256. |
| 54-79 | |
| Pulse 2 sub‐packet (same description as Bytes 28-53) |
| n | |
| Combination Packet Last Byte Checksum. [Integer] The value of this byte is calculated by adding all other bytes of the combination packet to a byte variable and subtracting the result from 256. |
Other quality metric and vendor defined fields provided by the contractor when available will be added to the data feed in coordination with NOAA’s downstream data ingestion and processing applications.
The contractor shall provide the network required to meet the base requirement as specified herein. The network may be owned, operated, and maintained by the prospective contractor or owned by other organizations. If the prospective contractor supplies data from another organization’s network, the prospective contractor must have legal rights to redistribute these data.
The prospective contractor shall have a 24-hour/7 day per week point of contact available for operational service, troubleshooting, and questions. The prospective contractor shall provide the appropriate access information to NOAA for this service.
3.2. LIGHTNING DATA REQUIREMENTS
The prospective contractor shall supply lightning data in real-time that meets all requirements outlined in Table 3-1. Refer to all subsections of 4.1 for a discussion of the geographic areas.
| PARAMETER |
| REQUIREMENT |
| Location Accuracy |
| 2 km for 99% of the area within the zone; the location of a TL flash/stroke is the location of center of channel vertically above a point on ground. |
| Timing Accuracy |
| Contractor shall provide as part of response, reported to the nearest 0.001 seconds or better. |
| Detection Efficiency |
| 60% or higher for over 90% of the 48 contiguous states; >50% over HI and southern AK |
| Probability of False Detection |
| No more than 2% of all reported flashes/pulses shall be due to non-lightning causes |
| Probability of False Flash Type Identification |
| No more than 20% of all reported TL flashes/pulses shall be misclassified as other types of lightning |
| Polarity |
| Need to ascertain if cloud area (origin) is positive or negative in overall change |
| Estimated Peak Current |
| Peak current in amperes shall be reported for all flashes |
| Number of pulses per flash |
| All recorded pulses shall be reported |
| Data Delivery Time |
| Total time from the time the flash or pulse occurs to the time that flash or pulse is reported shall be one minute or less for 99% of all flashes/pulses. |
TABLE 3-1
LIGHTNING DATA TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
TOTAL LIGHTNING (TL)
3.3. STATUS INFORMATION
With any lightning detection system, sensor or communication failures can result in a degradation of the data or a complete loss of data over specific areas or even over the entire network. The prospective contractor shall furnish system status information to distinguish areas of no lightning activity from areas of degraded performance or missing data. This information shall be transmitted in a notice to each receiver site. The notice shall identify areas where the specified performance requirements cannot be expected. State by state or regional detection efficiency (preferably actual/reported versus modeled) shall be reported on a quarterly basis by the vendor to the COR.
The prospective contractor’s system shall detect all network changes or outages that adversely affect the performance of the system. The expected impact of these changes shall be reported within two minutes from the time of the outage and repeated at least every ten minutes during the time of the outage. These changes may be expected or unexpected. They may result from sensor, communications, or processor failures, or from planned maintenance. Other causes of outages include solar storms and the effect of solar eclipses on satellite communications. Expected outages shall be reported to NOAA at least two weeks in advance except outages due to the effect of a solar eclipse on satellite communications shall be reported one month in advance and expected outages due to solar storms reported one day in advance. Systems degradation information shall include estimates of the resulting changes in detection capability and location/timing accuracy. Any expected outages due to the effect of solar eclipse on satellite communications used to transmit lightning data shall also be reported; the specific outage message shall be repeated at least once a day until the outage is over.
NOAA requires global and regional maps detection efficiency and location/timing accuracy, updated on a weekly basis, to ascertain any impacts to TL lightning data from network changes or sensor outages. This information is very important for severe weather situations, fire weather applications, lightning safety, detecting thunderstorms over remote areas, and research use of data.
The contractor shall propose how they will provide technical information and back it up with real network information, statistical evidence, peer-reviewed studies, and comparison with independent LMA networks/ground truth to show they will meet each of the performance categories identified in Table 3-1, as well as in Section 4.
See Section 7.4 for more information on outages.
4. GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS
The prospective contractor shall offer coverage based on geographic areas covering all CONUS and OCONUS (e.g., Hawaii and Alaska) geographical areas. Section 4.1 identifies the zone and Appendix A contains a detailed description and map of each zone.
4.1. GEOGRAPHIC ZONES
The following sections describe the terrestrial and marine zones and the geographical area coverage.
4.1.1. TERRESTRIAL ZONES
The prospective contractor shall offer TL data for CONUS, the base requirement.
Coverage for CONUS will include coverage up to 500 km offshore and over adjacent land areas including Canada and Mexico.
The terrestrial zones are defined in Appendix A contains maps and detailed descriptions of these areas.
4.1.2. MARINE ZONES
Marine zones are included in the specifications for CONUS area.
4.1.3. OCONUS ZONES
Areas covered OCONUS includes all TL lightning data outside of CONUS area, as defined in Section 1.6.
5. LEVEL II, III, IV AND V DATA/PRODUCTS
Level I lightning data can be used to generate Level III data, and Level II, IV and V products. Descriptions of Government and contractor-generated Level II, III, IV, and V data follows.
5.1. GOVERNMENT-GENERATED LEVEL III, IV AND V LIGHTNING DATA
NOAA may generate Government-developed Level IV and V products based wholly or partially on the prospective contractor’s lightning data (Level I or III). The content of these data/products will be determined by NOAA. These data/products will be used operationally and as a source of data for research purposes as well as provided to NOAA’s customers as stated in Section 1.5 and subsections. This includes the use of strokes for TL flashes and pulses for CF flashes.
6. ARCHIVED DATA
Archived lightning data (Level I or III) is considered as any lightning data more than 24-hours old. Archived data provided by the prospective contractor will be delivered in an easily read electronic form. The contractor shall deliver TL (Level I or III) lightning data in a NOAA approved format (i.e., meeting current AWIPS or N-AWIPS requirements) for CONUS TL (Appendix A) to meet the requirement.
6.1. LEVEL I AND LEVEL II DATA
The prospective contractor may archive Level I data in the form it is transmitted to NOAA and also in a quality-controlled form, i.e., additional quality control has been applied post facto. Both the original and quality-controlled data shall be available to NOAA. Regardless, if the prospective contractor elects to archive Level I data in the transmitted form or not, NOAA reserves the right to archive these data at the NCEI and other national centers such as NWS MDL. NOAA will not archive Level II products, unless the results were issued as part of an official record.
6.2. LEVEL III, IV AND V DATA AND PRODUCTS
NOAA reserves the right to archive Level III data, and Level IV, and V products.
6.3. CONTRACTOR’S ARCHIVE
The prospective contractor shall state the length of time lightning data is retained in its archive. The prospective contractor shall also state sensor changes, changes to the network (e.g. increased sensors in the Pacific Northwest by adding five sensors in Washington State and three in Oregon) and detection efficiency of lightning data in its archive. This information shall be included by the prospective contractor in Tab I of the proposal. If the prospective contractor plans to dispose of any data from its archive, the prospective contractor shall offer the data to NOAA before disposing it. NOAA should be notified at least 3-6 months before contractor archive disposal is to begin.
The prospective contractor shall make archived data available in an electronic form or the ability to download via the Internet for each geographic area on a monthly basis. NOAA line offices will not distribute these data beyond the agency procuring them except that these data may be distributed to other organizations with cooperative arrangements.
6.4. NOAA ARCHIVE
NOAA may store data in line office repositories, at the user and receiver sites, or in the permanent national archive at NCEI. NWS Meteorological Development Lab and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction may also archive the data. The redistribution of archived data is outlined in Section 7.7.2.
7. DATA/PRODUCT DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS
7.1 DATA DELIVERY
The prospective contractor shall deliver streaming lightning data to NOAA as a continuous data stream and the NOAA 1-minute product with an Internet protocol (IP) connection to NOAA’s National Weather Service Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG).
7.1.1 KEEP ALIVE MESSAGE
During periods when no lightning activity is observed the prospective contractor shall transmit a “keep alive” message indicating that no lightning is occurring throughout the zone. This message is necessary to inform the users that the lack of reported lightning is not due to a failure in the lightning detection network or communications.
7.1.2. HEARTBEAT
The prospective contractor shall add “heartbeat” packets to the data stream whenever 60 seconds have elapsed without receipt of a data packet.
7.2. DELIVERY METHODS
Several ways to receive lightning data are described in Sections 7.2.1. through 7.2.3. NOAA line offices can select the method that best meets their needs; for ease of access and use with other data sets, AWIPS will always be preferred over other processors of lightning data. An option for the contractor is to consider the data format needs of GRAnalyst which many forecasters use to examine lightning data outside of AWIPS.
7.2.1. NOAAPORT
NOAA will receive Level I/III lightning data from the prospective contractor via the NWSTG.
From there CONUS and OCONUS data will be provided and disseminated in real-time via the NOAAPORT/Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN). Level I data may also be disseminated through NOAAPORT/SBN. It will also end up with various offices of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) via a separate feed after distribution to NWSTG. The NOAAPORT/SBN broadcast is intended to meet NOAA’s operational needs, but other users authorized under this SOW can also receive lightning products and data through NOAAPORT.
Lightning data transmitted through NOAAPORT will be encrypted so that unauthorized users may not use them. NOAA will provide the encryption scheme as part of the contract award.
7.2.2. DATA STREAMING
The prospective contractor shall deliver lightning data to the NOAA sites requiring this type of delivery in a continuous data stream. In some cases, this data will be received at receiver sites and could be redistributed to NOAA user sites as specified in section 1.5 and sub-sections. In other cases, the data will be received directly from the prospective contractor at the user site. See the subsections under 7.3 for definitions of receiver and user sites.
Lightning data distributed in a data stream will be transmitted through a secure link to prevent unauthorized use.
7.2.3. INTERNET ACCESS
The prospective contractor shall also provide very reliable and timely products, namely an internet accessible product and a web-based application product, e.g., software, capable of displaying near real-time lightning data as well as querying historical data from the contractor for monitoring purposes over variable sized geographic domains including CONUS and sub-CONUS sized movable domains. This product will be developed to meet NOAA’s needs for a product that can be used by forecasters, incident meteorologists, and cooperating organizations that need limited access to lightning data.
7.3. RECEIVER SITES AND USERS SITES
Sections 7.3.1 through 7.3.2 describe receiver and user sites and the relationship between the two.
7.3.1. RECEIVER SITES
A receiver site is a primary location receiving lightning data either as streaming data directly from the prospective contractor or the 1-minute data product. In general, a receiver site is the first entry point into an agency. Government generated Level III, IV, and V data may be produced at receiver sites for dissemination to user sites.
7.3.2. USER SITES
User sites are locations, which may not necessarily be co-located with receiver sites, using lightning data. User sites are the operational units using the lightning data, not individual work stations. Example: A co-located NWS Weather Forecast Office and River Forecast Center is a user site, but each individual forecaster’s work position would not be counted separately. The use may be for operational purposes, research or testing.
7.4. AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY
The contractor’s lightning detection network shall operate and transmit data to NOAA line offices 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Any failure, regardless of the length of time, of either the detection network or of the contractor’s communication system resulting in a loss of availability is defined as a system outage. Any detected loss of transmitted packets will be reported immediately to NWS Operations Center and system messages will be sent to AWIPS recipients as well as to NWS NCEP centers. Contractor shall have process in place to retransmit missing packets immediately.
Systems outages at any receiving site shall not occur for more than 72 cumulative hours over a 12 month period. Of this time no more than 24 hours shall occur during any 30-day period. Outages greater than 1-hour shall require notification to the NWSTG.
The prospective contractor shall grant credits to NOAA against the monthly recurring charges whenever:
1. The system outages exceed a total of 72 hours over any 12-month period, or
2. The system outages exceed 24 hours over the previous 30-day period.
Periods of system outage shall be figured to the nearest hour increment. Credits shall be calculated on a prorated basis using a 30 day month and applied to the monthly billing period. The following equation will be used to calculate credits:
The prospective contractor shall designate a 24 hour-a-day, seven days-a-week point of contact for system problems. The prospective contractor shall initiate corrective action within 1 hour of receiving a report of a problem.
The Prospective contractor shall provide stable network operation, communications, and data display for the entire life of the contract. If the prospective contractor independently makes any modification to its system affecting the lightning data received by NOAA, the prospective contractor shall provide, cost-free to the Government, any hardware or software necessary to insure continuous receipt of data by the government.
The prospective contractor shall monitor the operation of its system 24-hours a day, seven days a week and notify NOAA Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) of any system outages or significant changes. The prospective contractor will also set up a process for NOAA customers to be immediately notified of outages thru special system file or call to NWS Operations Center; NWS centers and forecast offices can then see notification on AWIPS/N-AWIPS systems and adjust operations accordingly. System outages include maintenance (scheduled or unscheduled) or any change implementation requiring the detection network or communications to be out of service. Planned outages shall be announced at least two weeks in advance. Unplanned outages shall be announced as soon as possible after the prospective contractor becomes aware of the outage. This information is necessary to inform Government users of apparent changes in lightning activity due to changes in the performance of the prospective contractor’s lightning detection network or communications.
7.5. GOVERNMENT TESTING
NOAA reserves the right to verify the characteristics of the prospective contractor’s claims, performance metrics, and delivery methods as needed prior to, and after contract award. There are further testing requirements that will be communicated between NOAA and the contractor. The prospective contractor shall provide as much supporting evidence as possible concerning claims, performance characteristics and verification for all required specifications within this SOW. Third party verification will be required.
7.6. ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRACTOR LIGHTNING DATA
The primary risk in delivery of lightning data to NOAA is associated with the data encryption/decryption, and data format. To reduce risk in this area, when there are any data field or format changes, the contractor shall provide NOAA with sample lightning data in the form of a Red Hat LINUX-compatible TAR format CD containing encoded lightning data in compliance with the contract data format requirements. The sample lightning data shall include 10 records each containing FLASH (U.S. data), and Real-Time (International data) Cloud-to-Ground lightning. The contractor shall provide a set of lightning data which is un-encrypted and which represents the encrypted data. NOAA will verify the effectiveness of the encrypting technique by comparing this data to the content of the encrypted data following decryption. NOAA acceptance of the data shall be dependent on: 1) verification that the data content meets the requirement of the contractor data format specification, and 2) verification that the encryption technique complies with the requirements of the NIST Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) technique (FIPS 197). During this analysis, NOAA will verify that the header record is constructed in accordance with the contract specification and that it is not encrypted.
7.7. REDISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
The data provided under this contract may be used in any manner by NOAA, including incorporation within any other information product or system of NOAA, and redistribution, in whole or part, without attribution as incorporated into other NOAA derived products as long as such products do not have sufficient information to readily retrieve the original content of the lightning data provided by the prospective contractor. All products should include name of contractor for attribution. Further information on data rights and archiving is contained in Sections 6 and 7.6.2.
The following sections describe the rights of NOAA to redistribute lightning data.
7.7.1. REDISTRIBUTION OF REAL-TIME DATA
Level I Through V Data/Products - NOAA may redistribute Level I, II, III, and IV Data/Products to any NOAA line offices and to any organization defined under Section 1.5 & subsections. Data may only be distributed to organizations under the auspices of the WMO or to foreign governments with which NOAA has explicit agreements about the exchange of lightning data in foreign countries, with which international arrangements have been established with a partnering NOAA line office, and with a formal agreement from the contractor. Non real time data/products may be included in scientific papers or journal articles with proper acknowledgement to the prospective contractor where applicable. Internet redistribution is allowed to participating agencies through secure Internet connections that deny access to unauthorized organizations or individuals.
Level V Data - NOAA may freely distribute the Level V Data to any user.
7.7.2. REDISTRIBUTION OF ARCHIVED DATA
The redistribution of archived data is bounded by the same contract user requirements described in Section 1.5 and sub-sections.
Level I Data - Level I data will be archived at NOAA national centers (see Section 6.1), and it may be disseminated to the other NOAA line offices and to any other organization that requests the products through a NOAA line office. Requests from other organization not specified as being authorized users per this contract, shall be approved only with prior, written agreement from the contractor.
NOAA may disseminate archived Level I data to line offices included in the contract. Dissemination to cooperating organizations shall require the prior, written approval of the contractor
Internet redistribution is allowed to NOAA line offices secure Internet connections that deny access to unauthorized organizations or individuals.
Level II Products - NCEI and other NOAA offices will not archive Level II products unless they were issued in an official capacity.
NOAA line offices may disseminate archived Level II data to lightning data users as stated in Section 1.5 and sub-sections.
Internet redistribution is allowed to NOAA line offices and lightning data users as stated in Section 1.5 and sub-sections through secure Internet connections that deny access to unauthorized organizations or individuals.
Level III Data and IV Products – NOAA line offices may redistribute archived Level III data and Level IV products to NOAA participating agencies as described in Table 1-1, and Section 1.5 and sub-sections. The redistribution of Level III data to other organizations shall require the prior, written approval of the contractor.
Participating line offices may disseminate archived Level III and IV data/products to the participating NOAA line offices included in the contract and to their cooperating organizations as outlined under Section 1.5 and sub-sections. Dissemination to cooperating organizations shall require the prior, written approval of the contractor.
Internet redistribution is allowed to participating agencies through secure internet connections that deny access to unauthorized organizations or individuals.
Level V Data - NCEI and NOAA line offices may freely distribute the archived Level V Data to any user.
8. OPTIONAL SERVICES
8.1 CONTRACTOR DEVELOPED APPLICATIONS
The prospective contractor may make available to NOAA Level II TL lightning products. These products shall be offered as options under this SOW and the prospective contractor must describe…
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