Site Operator for Grand Bay

The U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA/Air Resources Laboratory, plans to negotiate on a sole source basis with Mississippi Department of State - Marine Resources, 1141 Bayview Ave., Biloxi, MS 39530, to provide the services of a site operator to perform the daily operations and data collection and dissemination activities associated with maintaining this site. The monitoring site is located within the boundaries of the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), and Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Moss Point, MS. The site provides long-term, continuous measurements of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols, with an emphasis on trace mercury species in the atmosphere. Measurements will include, but not be limited to, gas phase measurements of elemental mercury (Hg0), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), and fine particulate mercury (FPM), as well as of mercury species deposited in precipitation at the site. Ancillary physical and chemical measurements, to aid in air mass identification and chemical correlative studies, will include carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NO, NOY), ozone (O3), aerosol black (soot) carbon (BC), and meteorological parameters (Temperature, pressure, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation rate and volume). Additional measurements may be added periodically, as budgets permit. In addition to the routine, long-term measurement program, it is anticipated that short-term intensive observation periods (IOPs) of trace gas an aerosol measurement, as well as investigations into process-level studies of atmospheric deposition, will occur at the site on a periodic basis. The operator will be responsible for routine instrument operation, rudimentary instrument repair and troubleshooting, and data collection and dissemination on a continuing basis, and will be called upon to assist in short-term intensive measurement campaigns at the site, during which time the suite of measurements will be expanded. Specific Tasks Include: - Installation of sampling equipment, with oversight from ARL scientific staff - Site infrastructure improvements (tower installation, sampling trailer installation, maintenance of physical security protocols and safeguards, etc.). - Responsibility for relocation of mobile sampling trailer and tower-mounted sampling equipment in advance of severe weather and flooding events, with little lead time or notification. - Daily checks of instruments, including notation of instrument operating parameters, malfunctions, etc., and timely notification of ARL scientists in the event of problems - Periodic notation of gas pressures in calibration and dilution gas cylinders - Calibrations, filter changes, and routine instrument maintenance on a prescribed basis - Data download and dissemination to ARL staff on a prescribed basis - Maintenance of an inventory of necessary supplies and equipment at the site, in consultation with Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) personnel, and notifying ARL staff when expendable supplies must be replenished. - Providing assistance to ARL staff in instrument diagnosis, trouble shooting, and repair, as directed - Collection of precipitation samples, in accordance with National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) and Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) protocols - Maintaining a detailed on-site log book, calibration history, and instrument parameter history; documenting all changes to operational settings, procedures, and protocols. - Other duties as assigned Deliverables: - The operator shall submit all required documentation and site operations forms, sample collection forms, etc., to NADP and shall maintain an electronic log for maintenance, calibrations, etc. This contracting activity is essential to the conduct of research under ARL's Air Quality Program. In 2006 ARL was tasked with establishing in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) region a monitoring site for the measurement of mercury species in the atmosphere. As ARL has no research facilities or divisions in the GoM region, it was necessary to partner with area research institutions. The site was established within the boundary of the Grand Bay NERR, on land owned by the Grand Bay NWR. The National Estuarine Research Reserve system operates under a cooperative agreement between NOAA and state governments. Managers at the Grand Bay NERR enthusiastically embraced ARL's plans to establish the site within their facility, as the proposed monitoring site promised to complement ecosystem mercury monitoring underway at the NERR.