Li-Cor Supplies for Eddy Covariance System

The USDA, ARS, intends to award a sole source procurement to LI-COR, Inc.,4647 Superior Street, Lincoln, NE, USA, 1-402-467-0700, as they are the sole source for this type of sensors and eddy covariance system pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253 (C)(1) and FAR 6.302-1. Only One Responsible Source and No Other Suppliers or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The award will be for 4 25-watt solar packages, 1 biomet backup battery for data retention module, 4 CSAT3 power cables, 4 CSAT3 RS-232 serial cables, 3 ethernet interfaces, 4 tipping bucket rain gauges from Texas Electronics TR-525M, 4 antenna mounting posts, 5 industrial grade 16 GB USB drives, 4 cell modems, 4 FluxSuite, 2 data acquisition modules and one data retention module for building four eddy covariance flux towers.

Eddy covariance towers are the assemblage of different sensors which are connected into a single data logging platform, functioning together as a unit. These systems are designed in such a way that only the components from the same supplier are compatible. For example, the Flux Suite is a data hosting platform that can be used with the data analyzer produced from the LI-COR. Since items/components that we are acquiring at this time complement previous purchases (already in stock) and was acquired from the same supplier, it is the only supplier that can supply the missing components. Therefore, in order to avoid the mismatch of sensors and parts and to ensure the compatibility with the resources we already have.

The contractor is the sole manufacturer and authorized distributor of the required supplies.