METEOROLOGICAL MODELING, ANALYSIS, AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE SERVICES (MMASS)

1.0 Description 1.1 The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), Systems Development Directorate (SDD) and AMIC DET 2/OL/PKA (Patrick AFB, FL) are conducting Market Research for non-personal services for information and planning purposes in support of the possible acquisition of meteorological modeling, analysis, and subject matter expert services. This Sources Sought is one of the elements of the Government's Market Research and will be used to determine the acquisition approach and, if needed, to determine sub-contracting goals. Therefore, if a contractor has the capabilities to participate as a contractor/sub-contractor, please provide that information. 1.2 The Sources Sought Notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quote (RFQ) or an Invitation for Bid (IFB). The Government may use the information obtained from responses to this notice in determining its acquisition approach, but the issuance of this notice does not restrict the Government acquisition approach. The Government contemplates award of a 5-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, with a five (5) year ordering period. 1.3 Interested firms should submit information as to the capabilities, capacity and experience to perform the tasks set forth in the draft performance work statement (PWS). Firms should state if there is interest to participate as a prime contractor or sub-contractor. Sub-contracting information will assist the Government to determine sub-contracting goals. 1.4 The capabilities package should describe relevant contract experience offered to Government and commercial customers. Include a reference to the contract number, magnitude, place of performance and points of contact for each example provided (name, point of contact, mailing address, e-mail, telephone number, and the company's web page (if applicable)). Submitted information shall be UNCLASSIFIED. 1.5 The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541990. The small business size standard for annual average gross revenue for the last three fiscal years is not to exceed $15M. 2.0 Information 2.1 Estimated Period of Performance (POP): 1 July 2019 - 30 June 2024 2.2 Security Requirements: The contractor shall have a final U.S. Government issued TOP SECRET facility security clearance and be DCID 6/4 eligible with a current SSBI. No classified safeguarding required. Other details will be provided in the contract DD Form 254. 3.0 Requested Information 3.1 Company capability statements shall provide administrative information and shall include the following at a minimum: 3.2 Name (point of contact), mailing address, e-mail, telephone number and company's web site (if applicable). 3.3 The facility security clearance of the offeror or alternate arrangement that allows the offeror to conduct classified work. 3.4 Firms responding must state whether they are a Small Business (SB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), HUBZone Small Business (HSB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), Historically Black College or University or Minority Institution (HBCU/MI), 8(a) firm, an Indian Tribe or Alaskan Native Corporation or a large business based on the size standards in Para 1.5 above. 4.0 Responses 4.1 Please submit your capabilities packages to AFTAC/SDBC, Attn: Ms. Rebecca Albo, AFTAC Bldg. 10989, 1020 S. Patrick Drive, Patrick Air Force Base, FL 32925. Offerors MUST notify Ms. Rebecca Albo of the United States Postal Service (USPS) tracking number upon shipment of classified packages [email: rebecca.albo.1@us.af.mil or phone: (321) 494-9898]. Any questions may be directed to the Contract Specialist, Ms. Charlotte Simon, email: charlotte.simon@us.af.mil, or to the Contracting Officer, Ms. Michelle Raines, email: michelle.raines@us.af.mil. Questions must be received no later than 1 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on 10 September 2018. Responses must be submitted no later than 1 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on 13 September 2018. No facsimile responses will be accepted. The Government will not award a contract solely on the basis of this Sources Sought, nor will it reimburse the contractor for any costs associated with preparing or submitting a response to this notice. 4.2 Responses shall be limited to ten (10) pages. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 4.3 It is the submitter's sole responsibility to verify the package was delivered or the e-file was received and can be viewed. 5.0 Industry Discussions: AFTAC representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks. Industry discussion requests will be considered no later than 1 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on 10 September 2018. 6.0 OMBUDSMAN (APR 2014) (a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, Lt Col Aaron D. Judge, 114 Thompson St., Building 586, Room 129, Langley AFB, VA 23665-2769, Comm: (757) 764-5372, facsimile number (757) 764-4400, E-mail: aaron.judge@us.af.mil. Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU/HQ AFICA/AFISRA/SMC ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330- 1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431. (INTERIM CHANGE: See Policy Memo 14-C-05). (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer. (End of Clause) 7.0 Questions: Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the Contracting POCs stated in Para 4.1 above. Questions will be answered via posting on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 1:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on 10 September 2018 will be answered. 8.0 Summary: THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT to identify potential prime or sub-contractors that can provide non-personal services for meteorological modeling, analysis, and subject matter expert services. The information provided in this announcement is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. AFTAC has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed and release of this Sources Sought should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT DATE: 9 July 2018 METEOROLOGICAL MODELING, ANALYSIS, AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE SERVICES (MMASS) This Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract will provide subject matter expertise, atmospheric science, modeling, and the development of technical capabilities with emphasis in the following areas: (a) Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model for meteorological prediction and atmospheric event reconstructions; (b) atmospheric transport and dispersion (T&D) with emphasis on weapons of mass destruction (WMD); (c) urban environment T&D; (d) development and implementation of airborne material source term estimation (STE) methodologies for WMD defense applications; (e) Space Weather modeling; and (f) operational software development. Both Research and Development (R&D) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) tasks are expected. SPECIFIC TASKS: Atmospheric Modeling Services: The contractor shall use and adapt the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model for meteorological prediction and atmospheric event reconstructions. The contractor shall provide atmospheric modeling and simulation of the following; Atmospheric phenomena from continental (1000's of km) to micro (1-2 meters) scales, atmospheric transport and dispersion (AT&D) with an emphasis on problems involving WMD. The contractor shall provide urban environment transport and dispersion modeling, including the modeling of atmospheric conditions, wind flow, and material transport and dispersion within urban environments where buildings and surface obstructions are present. The contractor shall have demonstrated experience with a diverse set of models including: The Quick Urban Industrial Complex (QUIC) modeling system, "Building-aware" Large Eddy Simulation (LES) based atmospheric models with in-line AT&D capabilities. The contractor shall provide development and implementation of airborne material source term estimation (STE) methodologies. The contractor shall conduct detailed testing, verification, and validation (V&V) of meteorological and AT&D models and tools. The contractor shall implement and execute scientific models on advance computing platforms such as Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) based platforms. The contractor shall have demonstrated experience with a diverse set of models including: Second-order Closure Integrated PUFF (SCIPUFF) model, Hybrid Single Particle Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, Gaussian Plume Models, WRF-CHEM with in-line AT&D capability, and LES based atmospheric models with in-line AT&D capabilities. The contractor shall have demonstrated experience working on large software development teams developing operational software for Department of Defense (DOD) operational modeling and analysis systems. The contractor shall have demonstrated experience with a diverse set of models including: Hazard Prediction and Analysis Capability (HPAC) modeling system, Joint Effects Model (JEM) modeling system. The contractor shall have demonstrated experience modeling the upper-atmosphere (stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere) with the following models: The Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamic General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM), the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamic General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). The contractor shall be an internationally recognized expert in the development and implementation of airborne material source term estimation (STE) methodologies and atmospheric transport and dispersion models for WMD defense applications. Subject Matter Expertise Services: The contractor shall provide expertise in atmospheric modeling with demonstrated expertise applying these models to problems that range from continental (1000's of km) to micro (1-2 meters) scales. The contractor shall provide expertise in the development and implementation of airborne material source term estimation (STE) methodologies for WMD defense applications. The contractor shall provide expertise in the following disciplines: Boundary layer meteorology processes, turbulence, atmospheric Transport and Dispersion (T&D), DOD Weapons of Mass Destruction applications (e.g., HPAC, JEM). The contractor shall provide technical reports and subject matter expert panel reports, demonstrated by a record of peer-reviewed publications on relevant science and technical topics and subject matter expert panel reports. Space Weather Modeling Services: The contractor shall provide upper atmosphere modeling, analysis, and model validation with space weather tools. The contractor shall provide hardware and software development related to space weather modeling and analysis. The contractor shall provide internationally recognized expertise in upper atmosphere and space weather topics. Software Development and Optimization Services: The contractor shall develop, optimize, and implement operational numerical weather prediction and AT&D modeling solutions demonstrated with the following modeling systems: WRF, HPAC, and JEM. The contractor shall design and implement modeling and software solutions utilizing a variety of languages including the following: FORTRAN, C/C++, Java, and Python. The contractor shall profile the computational performance of scientific modeling capabilities and implementing performance optimizations using High Performance Computing (HPC) technologies. The contractor shall provide software architecture for scientific modeling applications. The contractor shall manage and execute within an agile software development lifecycle. The contractor shall provide project management of software development using the following tools: Version control (e.g., GIT, Rational Team Concert), Issue tracking (e.g., Jira, Rational Team Concert), Integration tools (e.g., Jenkins, Rational Team Concert). Expert Panel Services: The contractor shall provide meteorological modeling expert panel support for programs within AFTAC. The expert panel technical expert shall have the ability to give expert advice on briefings, presentations, data calculations as they pertain to AFTAC related topics, and travel to foster relationships between outside entities and AFTAC. DELIVERABLES: Deliverable Schedule STATUS REPORT Delivery by email is acceptable. Work progress status reports shall be provided monthly with first report due NLT fifteen (15) calendar days after end of TO's 1st month period. Reports shall not be disseminated beyond AFTAC CONTRACTOR FUNDS STATUS REPORT Delivery by email is acceptable. Work progress status reports shall be provided monthly with first report due NLT fifteen (15) calendar days after end of TO's 1st month period. Reports shall not be disseminated beyond AFTAC TECHNICAL REPORT - STUDY/SERVICES Draft shall be provided NLT fifteen (15) calendar days after completion of research. Final report due NLT twenty (20) calendar days after draft submission. Reports shall not be disseminated beyond AFTAC SOFTWARE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION (SPS) SPS shall be provided when the software development and testing are completed and NLT thirty (30) calendar days prior to end of Task Order POP. SOFTWARE USER MANUAL (SUM) SUM shall be provided NLT the time of software delivery for implementation. Reports shall not be disseminated beyond AFTAC FINAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL REPORT Report due NLT seven (7) calendar days prior to end of Task Order POP. Report shall not be disseminated beyond AFTAC