DHHS, PHSs, Centers for Disease Control, NIOSH Procurement Branch -- Pittsburgh, P0 Box 18070, Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070

D -- DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER ALGORITHMS/SOFTWARE FOR OPTICAL REMOTE METHANOMETER SOL 254-98-0018(R) DUE 082198 POC Kathleen Gosliak, Purchasing Agent (412)892-6829; Michael L. Nowicki, Contracting Officer, (412)892-6427 Develop an optical device that can be used to scan a rectangular volume in an underground coal mine and determine the spatial distribution of methane within that volume. The device projects a beam of infrared radiation toward the surfaces enclosing this volume and then collects the reflected radiation that is not absorbed by the methane in the path. Multiple projections are made by fixing the instrument location and then rotating the optical device at fixed incremental angles while acquiring absorption data for each angle and corresponding path. The instrument is then repositioned and the procedure repeated. Data acquired from these two scans are used to generate a mesh of crossing points, which, in turn, can be used to define spatial elements within this space. The work to be done consists of developing appropriate numerical algorithms that can be applied to this data that are capable of predicting the methane concentration within each spatial element to within +/-10% of the actual concentration and then transferring these numerical operations to an embedded single-board PC that will reside in the instrument so that these determinations can be made in real-time. This is a 100% small business set-aside. Quotations are solicited from small businesses only in accordance with FAR 13.003(a)(3)(b)(1). Request for Quotations to be issued on or about 8/7/98. Posted 07/31/98 (W-SN231217). (0212)

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