Hyperspectral Imager

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify potential sources capable of performing the effort described herein pursuant to FAR part 10, Market Research and FAR part 19, Small Business Programs. This is for planning purposes only. Any information submitted by respondents to this Source Sought Notice is voluntary. The Air Force does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Respondents should not construe this notice as a commitment by the Air Force for any purpose, and should refrain from providing proprietary information in the response. 1. INTRODUCTION: This is the initial step in the planning process for Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager. The 377 MSG/PKB at Kirtland Air Force Base seeks sources to Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager. 377 MSG/PKB anticipates conducting a competitive acquisition for this effort. The effort is expected to result in a Firm-Fixed-Price contract. NAICS code is anticipated to be 333314, size standard 500 employees. Specifications follow and are attached: Specifications: Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager Full VIS Spectrum Hyperspectral Imager Acquisition This instrument should have the ability to record sequential images of changing bandpass in the range of 400 - 1000 nm. The recommended method of changing the instrument's filter bandpass is through the use of 1 - 2 Liquid Crystal Tunable Filters (LCTFs). The required filter bandpass switching time is ? 50 ms at wavelengths less than 700 nm and ? 200 ms at wavelengths between 700 - 1000 nm. Radiometric sensitivity of the complete imaging system is to be limited by the sensitivity of the LCTFs chosen, not by any other optical component e.g. foreoptics or re-imaging optics. Two different foreoptics are required: (1) a 180 field-of-view (FOV) "fish-eye" lens at or less than an F-number of F/1.1 and (2) 90 FOV lens at or less than F/1.0. The foreoptics are to be changed manually by the end-user. Telecentric imaging is not required. Efficient conservation of - tendue from the foreoptics, through the filtering section, to the reimaging onto the focal plane array, is required at a level commensurate with industry-standard optical design tolerances. Every attempt to minimize commonly occurring aberrations, to industry-standards, must also be made and documented. The detector should be of a material optimized for imaging in the visible spectral region, and should be, at a minimum, a "1/2-inch" size. An Electron-Multiplying Charge Coupled Device (EMCCD) or Scientific Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor (sCMOS) is highly desirable for fast imaging sequences and reduced read noise. Also, full NIST-traceable radiometric calibration, with full documentation, is required. This requirement holds for every pixel in the detector area. Thus the vendor must provide evidence that the radiometric responsivity takes into account off-axis geometric effects such as those of the filter bandpass and vignetting. Finally, all required cabling for non-interactive, computerized control and data acquisition is required. Data acquisition software that runs on Linux is required. ? Imager description from the Keo Scientific Ltd. Website: THE NORUSCA-II IMAGER An important component of NORUSCA-II involved designing a compact but sensitive all-sky imager suitable for auroral studies, a component Keo Scientific provided significant input to. More information on the resulting NORUSCA-II Imager is found here. The imager accepts a 35 mm diameter interference filter (or a Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter) and is eminently suitable for panchromatic or filtered observations of aurora, twilight/dawn phenomena, stratospheric clouds, and meteor observations. The imager comes complete with a P.I. Acton ProEM 512B EMCCD camera (8.2 mm x 8.2 mm CCD), foreoptic(s) and filter(s) of your choice, calibration and data acquisition software. NORUSCA-II IMAGER OPTICAL SPECIFICATIONS: o Paraxial focal length: 3.5 mm o FOV: dependent on choice of foreoptic(s) o Linear FOV on CCD: 8.0 mm diameter circle o F-number: f/1.1 (180 degree FOV lens) o Spectral range: 430-1000 nm o Resolution: 100 lp/mm center, 80 lp/mm (edge) o Lens mount: C-mount o Optics Dimensions: 320 mm length, 110 mm max diameter Selected Filters are: VIS2 400 - 720 nm NIR1 700 - 1100 nm 2. INSTRUCTIONS: All businesses capable of providing Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager are invited to respond electronically. Responses shall include company name, address, DUNS number, CAGE code, point of contact with email address and telephone number, and indicate business size (small business, small disadvantaged business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business, woman-owned small business, or HUBZone) using NAICS 333314, size standard 500 employees. The Air Force reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside for any subsequent acquisition based upon responses to this notice. Small business respondents should provide a statement of capabilities to assist the Air Force in making a set-aside decision. Statement of Capabilities are limited to 2 pages, and should demonstrate capability to provide Brand Name or Equal to: Keo Scientific NORUSCA II imager Responses must be received no later than 18 February 2019, 12:01 PM MST and addressed to Michael Monte, Contract Specialist, contact@example.gov and Brenda Hamilton, Contracting Officer, contact@example.gov.