A -- METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING IN SUPPORT OF HUMAN EXPOSURE MODELING

Notice Date

October 29, 2001

Contracting Office

U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contracts Management Division (MD-33), Attention: OARSC, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

ZIP Code

27711

Solicitation Number

RFQ-RT-02-00036

Response Due

November 12, 2001

Point of Contact

Joy Kimble, Contract Specialist, (919)541-2897

E-Mail Address

Contact the Contract Specialist at the above e-mail (Kimble.joy@epa.gov)

Description

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with the State Climate Office (SCO) of North Carolina in Raleigh, NC 27695, for Meteorological Measurements and Modeling in Support of Human Exposure Modeling in the Research Triangle Park, NC (RTP). The SCO manages a network of meteorological measurement stations over North Carolina, therefore, the comprehensive data base of original meteorological records held can be easily developed by the SCO. Also, the SCO staff have the expertise on meteorological instrumentation and measurements, which can assist the EPA in evaluating and recommending a strategy for future validation studies. Under this project, the Contractor shall develop and evaluate a local-scale meteorological modeling system for the RTP area of North Carolina and support the integration within EPA's developing Human Exposure Source to Dose Models. The contractor shall develop and evaluate a forecast version (detailed 24 hour forecast to support field measurement studies) and a diagnostic version able to provide a 1 km grid resolution using the ARPS Model (Advanced Regional Prediction System developed at the University of Oklahoma, Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms). This model is generally recommended to be operational at scales smaller than the presently used EPA regional Meteorological Model (MM5 developed at Penn State University) and has an operation version for comparison with the ARPS model. The contractor shall set up the RAMS (Regional Atmospheric Modeling System developed at Colorado State University and Mission Research Corporation) which is generally recognized as the best presently operational model for meteorological simulations down to local scale, especially since there is already a "large eddy simulation" version. The RAMS model may be the best model for linking with a human exposure model. The RAMS model shall be compared with the ARPS and MM5 model over the RTP area. The contractor shall support EPA's assessment of how best to interface a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) fine scale model to a regional meteorological model. This research contract supports EPA's human exposure modeling for air toxins development and will be transferable to other places. This will be closely coordinated with and supportive of present and future human exposure monitoring studies in the RTP area. EPA has a portable Mini SODAR unit and micrometeorological tower which have the capability of measuring the surface and near-surface wind field (up to 200 m) with very high resolution (5 m). The tower collects temperature and relative humidity at two levels (2 and 10 m) along with the surface winds (2,5,10 meters). Both these systems can operate on battery power which allows them to be set up almost anywhere. EPA has another SODAR that can measure the wind field up to 600 m with a 30 m resolution. These systems shall be moved to and operated at a range of locations to develop data measurements to support meteorological model evaluations by the contractor. The contractor shall support the data measurements collected from these systems along with the integration of data collected from the North Carolina State Climate Center meteorological stations as part of the development and evaluation of a local scale meteorological model. The contractor expertise on meteorological instrumentation/measurements shall support the maintenance of a quality assurance plan for meteorological measurements in support of the data collection and meteorological model evaluations. Objective: The specific objective for this project is to demonstrate the set up and application of a meteorological model for local-scale linkage to support of human exposure modeling. Measurements form EPA's meteorological measurement systems and the North Carolina State Climate Center meteorological measurement systems shall be used to support an evaluation of the meteorological model linkage to the local scale. Scope of Work: The following tasks support Meteorological Measurements and Modeling in Support of Human Exposure Modeling in the RTP Area. Task 1. Meteorological Modeling System Evaluation, Set Up and Application: The contractor shall evaluate the performance and potential application to local-scale meteorological (including MM5, ARPS, RAMS) models covering the range of meteorological conditions found in RTP. The contractor shall demonstrate how to set up the best model and provide to EPA prepared customization for extending the demonstration set up to ongoing application in the RTP area interfaced with routine measurement sites and routine National Weather Service model output. A report evaluating the performance and potential application of the MM5, ARPS, and RAMS meteorological models to interface with the local scales (<1km) of human exposure models. Demonstrations of model set up and applications shall be provided throughout the period of performance at significant points of progress. Task 2. Meteorological Measurements Support: The contractor shall operate and coordinate meteorological measurements from the EPA systems and the North Carolina State Climate Center meteorological sites. The contractor shall coordinate and report meteorological measurements in a format that supports the model development/evaluation studies in Task 1 and used to support future application. Progress reports summarizing activities and data collected shall be prepared to cover the project period. Task 3. QA/QC Maintenance and Support for EPA Meteorological Instruments: The contractor shall maintain Qaulity Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) for the EPA meteorological instrumentation/measurements. The QA/QC procedures shall be modified/upgraded as may be required to meet EPA guidance. Progress reports of QA/QC activities shall be prepared to cover the project period. All interested parties who believe they can provide the required services should fully explain their capabilities in writing within 15 days of the date of this announcement. No Solicitation is available. The intent of this synopsis is to determine if any additional source (s) exist and, therefore, no Request for Proposal (RFP) is available. Consequently, any response (s) failing to provide the aforementioned data but instead choosing to merely submit a routine letter requesting a copy of the RFP will be ignored. Submit response no later than 12 November 2001 to the U.S. EPA, Attn: Joy Kimble (MD-33), Contracts Management Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. No telephonic or faxed requests will be honored.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011031/ASOL005.HTM (W-302 SN511795)