Continued Redesign of the Balloon-Borne Electric Field Meter

PURCHASE REQUEST #NR-MAG000-22-01126 Continued Redesign of the Balloon-Borne Electric Field Meter

****NOAA’s Acquisition & Grants Office, Western Acquisition Division-Boulder, intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) with Leeman Geophysical, LLC.

 ****The sole source determination is based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Oceanic & Atmospheric Research (OAR) National Severe Storms Lab (NSSL) has a need for the replacement of the internal electronic of the balloon-borne Electric Field Meters (EFM).

This acquisition is for the continued redesign of the replacement of balloon-borne Electric Field Meter (EFM) and modification of new capabilities to make operation and data analysis easier. Additional redesign measures were identified during award 1305M320PNRMA0546.  The required supplies or service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems or equipment and Leeman Geophysical, LLC, is uniquely qualified to meet the requirement. The only current producer of EFM sensor components is Leeman Geophysical, LLC. Current existing and operating EFM sensor components at NSSL were produced by Leeman Geophysical, LLC. The sensor operates by computing voltage differentials across two spheres with custom motor controls and orientation recording to compute the full vector of the electric field when carried by a helium balloon, therefore it is imperative that additional sensors each operate in the same manner (i.e. sampling rates, sensitivity, accuracy, communications, etc.) with the same software, data formatting, and hardware to integrate with existing sensors without sacrificing data integrity.

Period of Performance:

120 days from date of award.

***This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is available.  However, firms that believe they can provide the service as described that fully meets the Government’s requirements may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact within 15 days after publication of this synopsis. Such documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.