Commercial Temperature Dew Point Sensor

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)/SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY - Solicitations are not available at this time. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government and respondents will not be entitled to payment of direct or indirect cost incurred in responding to this. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI/Sources Sought are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Easter Acquisition Division (EAD), located in Norfolk, VA is conducting market research for the purpose of assessing the current and near future marketplace and potential vendors capable of off-the-shelf sensor for a temperature/dew point sensor that, at a minimum, is substantially compliant with the meteorological performance requirements contained in this document to NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS). Information provided in response to this Sources Sought will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for determining how to proceed in the acquisition process for the is for the replacement of the currently deployed TSL model 1088 temperature/dew point sensor and Vaisala model DTS1 dew point sensor association with the ASOS program. This Sources Sought notice is a request for interested parties to describe their technical capabilities and demonstrated tools, processes, and service capabilities. All interested contractors are requested to provide written response to the questions below. A response to this Sources Sought is necessary in order to assist NWS in determining the potential levels of interest, adequacy of competition, and market maturity and technical capabilities within the business community to provide the required capabilities. The anticipated associated NAICS code is 334519, Weather tracking equipment manufacturing with a business size standard of 500 employees. Requested Information The Government welcomes industry comments, questions and suggestions that will aid it in understanding industry capabilities, developing its acquisition strategy and finalizing the Statement of Work (SOW). In an effort to benefit fully from industry responses to this Sources Sought, vendors are encouraged to schedule one-on-one information exchanges with the Government. One of the principal outcomes of vendor/government dialog will be to ensure that alternate approaches that may reduce cost and risk are considered in the follow-on procurement. The Government may therefore utilize the information provided to refine its acquisition strategy to maximize competition among viable acquisition alternatives. It is not the Government's intent to disclose vendor proprietary information and trade secrets to the public. The information submitted by vendors during the market research period may be used by the Government in preparing its Request for Proposal (RFP) and finalizing the SOW, provided this can be done without disclosing proprietary vendor information that is protected from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and other laws and regulations. Provide a brief overview of the recommended commercial technical requirements that can meet the requirements in Attachment I. Describe any technical issues or challenges to performing the technical requirements to NOAA/NWS ASOS. Does the attached draft sensor requirements provide sufficient detail to describe the technical requirements that encompass the work to be performed under this effort? Are the required services available under an existing ordering vehicle available for NOAA use? If "No", please provide your technical comments/recommendation on elements of the draft SOW that may contribute to a more accurate proposal submission and efficient, cost effective effort. Multiple or alternative approaches are welcome. Although this Sources Sought requests specific information, it is not intended to discourage innovative thinking on the part of industry to propose alternative solutions or approaches that the Government may not have considered. Vendors responding should provide a point-of-contact, including: Representative's name, email address, mailing address, and telephone number. Respondents shall include the following information in their submissions: Name of Company Cage Code and DUNS Number Address Point of Contact/Company Representative Phone Number/Email Address Size standard classification Response Format Please submit one (1) electronic Adobe Acrobat Portable Document File (PDF) format, formatted for 8.5" by 11" sheets, single-spaced. All documents submitted (including charts and graphs) should be limited to no more than twenty-five (25) pages. Delivery Requirements The Government requests all electronic responses be received by 12:00 PM Eastern Time, on April 13, 2020 to the Contracting Specialist to the email address listed below. Primary Point of Contact: Margaret Williams, Contracting Specialist contact@example.gov Phone: +1 (555) 000-0000 Contracting Office Address: Norfolk Federal Building, 200 Granby Street Norfolk, Virginia 23510 United States Place of Contract Performance: TBD Silver Spring, Maryland United States ATTATCHMENT 1.0 Requirements This describes the requirements for a standard sensor(s) that measures temperature over differing ranges: (two temperature range requirements): -40 - F (-40 - C) to 130 - F (54 - C) and relative humidity from 0 - 100% , and -80 - F (-62 - C) to 130 - F (54 - C) and relative humidity from 0 - 100% 1.1 Operational Environment The temperature/relative humidity sensor shall provide accurate reporting of temperature and relative humidity without degradation of performance in severe outdoor environments consistent with all U.S. locations. The temperature/relative humidity sensor will be integrated into the ASOS and therefore must meet the stringent requirements for equipment located at ASOS sites. The temperature/relative humidity sensor shall meet all stated requirements when exposed to any combination of the following environments. Dust/pollen Continuous exposure to wind driven respirable dust and/or pollen. Salt Fog Continuous exposure to severe coastal marine environment. Temperature Extremes Continuous exposure to a wide range of ambient temperatures. Rain Exposure to continuous heavy rain that may be experienced at any USA location. Freezing Precipitation Exposure to continuous freezing rain and/or drizzle. Solar Insolation Exposure to desert environments. Electromagnetic Interference Exposure to radio frequency energy as may be experienced in a typical airport environment. Snow and blowing snow Exposure to continuous white-out conditions due to snow and/or blowing snow. 1.2 Characteristics 1.2.1 Aspirator The sensing element shall be mounted in a housing that is aspirated by a motor driven fan/blower or naturally aspirated. The rate of aspiration shall be sufficient to ensure that the sensor meets all requirements when installed in the worst-case environment as described in paragraph 1.1 of this document. If aspiration is achieved by a motor driven fan/blower, the fan/blower shall be rated for continuous duty over the entire operating temperature range as specified in paragraph 1.0 of this document. The aspirator housing shall be designed to eliminate measurement errors induced by direct or indirect solar radiation effects. The rate of aspiration shall be continuously monitored by the sensor, and an error shall be indicated if the rate becomes insufficient for the sensor to accurately report dew point temperature. 1.3 Meteorological Performance The temperature/relative humidity sensor shall be capable of reporting the average temperature and relative humidity for the previous one-minute sample period. The sensor shall measure the temperature and relative humidity to the accuracies specified in the following tables: Temperature Accuracy Specification Cold Weather Sensor Temperature Range (F) Accuracy Resolution -80 ? Ta < -58 1.8 0.1 -58 ? Ta ? 122 0.9 0.1 122 < Ta ? 130 1.8 0.1 Temperature Range (F) Accuracy Resolution -40 ? Ta ? 122 0.9 0.1 122 < Ta ? 130 1.8 0.1 Relative Humidity Accuracy Specification Relative Humidity Range (F) Accuracy Resolution 0% ? RH <90% - 2%RH 1% 90% ? RH ? 100% - 3% RH 1% The sensor shall meet the requirements of this paragraph over the entire environmental range specified in paragraph 2.0 of this document. 1.4 Data Link to ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System). The temperature/relative humidity sensor shall be polled once per minute by the interrogation equipment. The ASOS will send American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) characters to the dew point sensor and will wait for the appropriate response. The sensor shall transmit an ASCII response to this interrogation within 250 milliseconds. The communication link shall be RS232 communication for sending and receiving data. Control characters and control procedures shall be compatible with ANSI X 3.28 and ANSI X 3.66 respectively.