Electronic Systems Center, R&D Contracting (ESC/PKRD), 104 Barksdale Street, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-1806

A -- AIRBORNE INFRARED MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS, AND INSTRUMENT OPERATION MODIFICATION, AND MAINTENANCE POC Iris M. Durden, Contracting Officer, 617-377-2907; Lisa A. Maille, Contract Specialist, 617-377-4018; Mr. David S. Akerstrom, Technical Contact, PL/GPOA, 617-377-3110. Research and Development sources are sought in support of the Phillips Laboratory Geophysics Directorate, Optical Environment Division, Airborne Measurements Branch (PL/GPOA), Flying Infrared Signatures Technology Aircraft (FISTA) program to continue work in the following areas: Reduce, correlate, analyze, and publish IR and visual data collected with emphasis on model validation and system requirements. Perform validation and verification of U.S. Government standard codes for electro-optical signature simulation. Operate, modify, maintain and fabricate equipment necessary to perform airborne infrared spectral, spatial, and radiometric measurements of backgrounds, atmospheric structure, and targets. These measurements will be conducted in the 0.2 to 15 micrometer wavelength region from the FISTA. Provide calibrated infrared (IR) measurements of aircraft in order to understand the phenomenology of aircraft signatures. This will require: (1) Converting spectral, spatial and radiometric infrared (IR) signature data from measured to absolute units and performing detailed analyses and studies on the data. (2) Digitizing and transferring data from interferometers, spatial mappers, and radiometers into a format necessary for further processing. (3) Providing a complete reduction of in-flight and ground-based data of aircraft, rocket, background, and target measurements made with interferometers, spatial mappers, and radiometers. (4) Converting measured spectral, spatial and radiometric IR signature data from measured units to absolute calibrated units. (5) Performing manipulations as required to compensate for noise, specific measurement artifacts, and other effects. (6) Reviewing, determining, and identifying characteristics associated with the normalization of directional and directional reflectance data from paint samples taken from measured targets. (7) Providing methods of describing signature parameters using existing computational analysis models that include the primary sources of infrared radiation (2-15 um) for aircraft, rocket, and ground targets. (8) Determining which target signature components are significant and evaluate their characteristics. (9) Analyze and improve the understanding of IR radiation from various environmental elements of target signatures. (10) Using state-of-the-art atmospheric transmission/radiation calculations to account for the effects of the intervening atmosphere between the measurement platform and the target. (11) Analyzing strategic and tactical aircraft signatures in various atmospheric scenarios and provide spectral plots of apparent scene contrast radiance, target radiance, and background radiance. (12) Comparing models of target signatures with actual measurements made by PL and other sources provided through PL. (13) Operating, maintaining, and modifying existing infrared measurement equipment for continued use on board the FISTA. Design and fabrication of new, innovative measurement equipment and compatible recording techniques as necessary to update FISTA capabilities as dictated by changing requirements. FISTA operates and maintains a variety of IR measurement instrumentation which include a Schottky-barrier Airborne Infrared Sensor (SAIRS), a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) instrument, three interferometers, and various other IR and visual sensor systems. The particular instruments used for each mission are selected based on the data requirements of the requesting agencies program. These instruments are maintained and stored at PL/GPOA and are installed on the FISTA prior to each deployment. The items listed are not Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), but equipment to be maintained under this acquisition. (14) Providing up to four (4) flight-qualified professional personnel, with TOP SECRET clearances, scientifically trained and familiar with IR techniques, to accompany Air Force personnel on the Air Force FISTA (NKC-135A) aircraft for the purpose of data collection. A total of six hundred and forty (640) hours total per year of flight duty time is nominally required for all four (4) flight qualified personnel. These flight qualified personel will be required to obtain and maintain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) class III flight examination certificates, and Air Force physiological, survival and aircraft familiarization training to initialize and maintain flight qualification status. Interested potential sources should respond by indicating their ability to meet the following screening criteria, of equal importance: (a) Design, construction and upgrading of spectral and spatial airborne infrared measurement equipment, (b) Operation and maintenance of airborne infrared measurement equipment for data collection, analysis and interpretation, (c) Using existing background analysis software to analyze and improve the understanding of data collection on optical/IR radiation from various environmental elements of the scenes. The work involves travel and flight on the FISTA NKC-135 aircraft for field observations and maintenance of instrumentation. The expected work load is 10.4 man-years per year for four (4) years. The period of performance will be forty-eight (48) months beginning in the first quarter of FY98. This effort is currently being performed under Contract No. F19628-93-C-0183 with Utah State University Research Foundation, Logan, UT. Offerors interested in documenting their capabilities to perform the work should reference Purchase Request PLGP689703000 in responding to the Deputy for Small Business, Attn: ESC/BC, Mr. Alan Hart, 275 Randolph Road, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-2818. Information on file at ESC/BC must be supplemented to document the capabilities in the above stated areas. Organizations not registered must submit complete qualifying information. Offerors should list persons from customer firms whom the Air Force may contact to verify applicable work experience and performance. Firms should also indicate their status if qualified as socially or economically disadvantaged. Each offeror responding to this synopsis is requested to submit with its reply a name and telephone number for a point of contact. Respondents must specify in their response whether they are a large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) concern, or women-owned small business and also specify whether they are a U.S. or foreign-owned firm. The Government will solicit those firms meeting the screening criteria in this synopsis. Organizations responding to this sources sought synopsis will not be notified as to whether or not they meet the screening criteria. Any offeror initially judged to be unqualified will be provided a copy of the solicitation upon request and any offer such as a firm may submit will be evaluated without prejudice. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors or potential offers during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The Ombudsman should be contacted with issues or problems that have previously been brought to the attention of the program manager and/or contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of the proposals or in the source selection process. The Ombudsman is Colonel Lee H. Hughes, ESC/CX, Director, Commander's Staff, (617)377-5106. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes, does not constitute an IFB or RFP, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Closing date for submission of the responses is thirty (30) days from the publication of this notice. See Numbered Note(s): 25. (0332)

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