NOAA: ROTRONIC Humidity Probes and Cables for National Weather Service (NWS)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to award a firm fixed price contract for ROTRONIC Humidity Probes and Cables for the National Weather Service (NWS) National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) at Stennis Space Center, MS. The Government intends to make an award to the responsive responsible quoter providing the best value in accordance with FAR 12.203(c)(2).

Brand Name Justification

The NDBC has been testing relative humidity sensors for decades. The Rotronic probe has shown the greatest accuracy and reliability in harsh marine environments with extensive marine testing. The combined air temperature and humidity probe must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with NDBC weather buoy and CMAN systems and the source is uniquely qualified to meet the requirement.

Manufacturers of meteorological instruments have a wide variance concerning technical specifications. New products require intensive laboratory testing prior to ever making it to a field trial. A field trial is then a minimum of a 1-year side by side testing of the new probe versus the current certified probe. For the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) that could mean a co-located buoy. The cost of this testing can go into excessive funding over multiple fiscal years. These instruments must return quality data because people's lives and their livelihoods depend on the NDBC returning the highest quality data for forecasting, warnings, and modeling. The purchase of other types of probes could result in sensors suffering premature failure rates, sensor corrosion, and inaccurate data. Accuracy is essential to protect life and property. The Government is not aware of any other humidity probes that meet the standard NDBC requirement of 0.8% RH accuracy.

This procurement is intended to replace the current humidity probes that are over 4-years old, lost at sea, or damaged beyond repair during fiscal years 2024 & 2025. Due to the specifications, it is recommended that this procurement of the HC2A-S3 probes and the associated accessories to be used on Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations be Brand Name Specific to Rotronic Humidity Probes. The selection of an alternate relative humidity and air temperature sensor would result in extensive laboratory and field testing before it could be used on an operational station. This includes the side-by-side testing of full systems (buoy hull/mast, and full payload and sensor suite) since the C-MAN payloads are not equipped to add extra humidity sensors which would result in additional labor and time delays costing the government excessive additional funding.

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