FAA Juneau Alaska Airport Wind System (JAWS)

**Market Survey**

I.  **Introduction:**

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of
finalizing the configuration of the operational successor to the current
prototype turbulence warning system at the Juneau International Airport
(JNU) in Juneau, Alaska. The prototype Juneau Airport Wind System (JAWS)
was developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
The successor JAWS will use a combination of existing sensors as well as
additional sensors as may be identified through the process identified
herein.

The FAA is conducting market research via this market survey to assess
business alternatives for the operation and maintenance of JAWS by
determining the capability and interest of service providers. If you are
interested in this opportunity, we request that you complete all parts
of this document as instructed below. We also invite you to submit
additional information to supplement the document that may offer greater
insight about your company and its capabilities.

This is a market survey, not a solicitation, screening information
request (SIR) or request for proposals (RFP). Please note that neither
the existence of this document, nor the process guarantees that a
Request for Proposal (RFP) or Screening Information Request (SIR) will
follow.

All interested parties are advised the FAA will not pay for any
information or administrative costs incurred associated with any
submission received from industry in response to this market survey.
Therefore, any costs associated with the submission will be solely at
the interested party expense.

II. **Background:**

As background, mountains and rugged terrain around the Juneau airport
restrict flight paths and can create complex and turbulent wind-flow
patterns. To reduce the risk of aircraft encountering severe turbulence,
the FAA currently requires that two major departure routes at JNU be
closed to Part 121 commercial aircraft whenever the centerfield and/or
three wind sensors on nearby mountains exceed wind limitations outlined
in FAA Operations Specifications for Part 121 air carrier operations in
Juneau.

The wind data collection and dissemination system currently installed at
JNU was deployed jointly by Alaska Airlines and the National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The sensor suite consists of a series of
anemometers placed strategically around the airport area on mountain
ridge-tops to gather wind information. The current prototype sensors are
planned to be transitioned into a fully operational wind information
system designated as JAWS. This FAA developed end-state system will
provide wind information customized to the airport\'s challenging
terrain, and will provide information required by the Operations
Specification.

It is anticipated that the information provided by JAWS will assist
users in maximizing the use of Juneau\'s turning-departure routes, as
well as supporting overall airport operational decisions. An essential
element of this system will be accurate and reliable wind sensors
capable of supporting airport operations under extreme snow and icing
conditions.

Additional technical information is available in Attachment 1, JAWS Wind
Description.

III. **Scope:**

The anticipated scope of any resultant contract would be for the service
provider to:

1)  Operate and maintain JAWS while meeting or exceeding performance
    parameters, such as availability and response time as defined by the
    NAS-SS-1000 weather system performance criteria. The FAA considers
    these weather services as essential services.

2)  Provide recommendations as to enhancing JAWS capability and
    reliability.

3)  Provide recommendations as to decreasing the cost and increasing the
    performance efficiencies of JAWS operations and maintenance
    activities.

4)  Periodically test JAWS to ensure it continues to meet FAA
    performance requirements.

5)  Train FAA air traffic personnel on the services.

6)  It is preferred that service personnel not be housed at the Juneau
    International Airport (JNU). If considering the use of the JNU,
    please elaborate on how much space would be required and how you
    plan to use it. If housed at the JNU, interested service providers
    must be able to meet FAA's requirements to obtain security
    clearance.

The FAA is anticipating a significant savings from a budget amount of
approximately \$800,000 per year. A performance based service contract
is anticipated with government furnished equipment being provided.

IV. **Purpose of the Market Survey :**

The purpose of this market survey is to gather appropriate information
that will assist the FAA to:

1)  Determine the final configuration of JAWS.

2)  Develop a broad understanding of capabilities that exist in the
    public and private sectors to operate and maintain JAWS.

3)  Obtain comments on high level requirements and acquisition approach
    described herein

4)  Determine the level of interest in operating and maintaining JAWS.

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V.  **Market Survey Response Requirements:\
    **

    1.  **Point of Contact:**

Questions and responses to this market survey must be directed and given
to:

> Peter DeWald
>
> Contracting Officer (AJA-46)
>
> 800 Independence Avenue, S.W.
>
> Room 406
>
> Washington DC 20591
>
> Phone: 202-385-8737
>
> Email: peter.dewald@faa.gov
>
> Delivery Address: 600 Independence Ave SW
>
> Suite 4W150, Cube 4W41HS
>
> Washington, DC 20202

In addition, please include the contact below on all technical
questions:

> Ralph Quallich
>
> Terminal Weather Branch
>
> Phone: 202-385- 8552
>
> Email: ralph.quallich@faa.gov
>
> []{.mark}

2.  **Delivery Instructions:**

Responses to this market survey shall be:

-   emailed to the contact listed in the section above;

-   received no later that [2:00PM EST]{.mark} on [February 9,
    2007;]{.mark}

-   no longer that 10 pages in length;

VI. **SURVEY**

Please provide information based on the following:

1.  **Business Declaration Form:** Please complete and sign.

2.  **Capabilities and Interest:**

    i.  List your capabilities to provide the services listed in the
        Scope section above.

    ii. Indicate whether you currently provide any weather related
        service to customers.

    iii. If you do not have the capability to provide the specific
         service listed, please list other services that may be related
         to the service.

    iv. Indicate other services (not listed in the table above) you
        currently provide that may be related to the aviation weather
        services function.

    v.  Indicate your level of interest in bidding on the JAWS services
        described in the Scope section above as a prime contractor or
        subcontractor. If your interest is as a subcontractor, list the
        specific services you are interested in offering.

3.  **Program and Technical Approach:**

    i.  Provide comments/suggestions as to the final configuration of
        JAWS

    ii. Provide comments on the viability of a service provider
        providing the services required to maintain and operate JAWS.

    iii. Provide input as to possible performance parameters and
         associated metrics a potential performance based service
         contract

    iv. Indicate whether or not it is reasonable to expect a significant
        savings from the budgeted amount indicated above. Please
        describe the basis for your answer.

    v.  Provide input as to a reasonable transition timeframe in terms
        of months after contract award. Describe the basis for your
        answer.

    vi. Describe the extent to which your service offering would
        physically interface with the NAS.

4.  **Customer Profile:**

    i.  Provide the name(s) of current and past customers for whom you
        provide(d) remote weather services.

    ii. Indicate the specific services you provide(d) to the customers
        you listed.

    iii. Indicate the duration of contract(s) during which you delivered
         services to the customers you listed.

5.  **Additional Information (Optional):**

Provide any additional information about your company's capabilities or
interests that are relevant to JAWS that have not been covered in the
survey questions above.

Attachment 1

Juneau Airport Wind System Description

**Physical Description of the System:**

The Juneau Airport Wind System (JAWS) end state is being installed at
the Juneau International Airport (JNU). The underlying algorithm,
developed by the National Center for Aviation Research (NCAR), generates
alerts that specify the location of the hazardous turbulence as well as
the intensity. The system will enable an Automated Flight Service
Station (AFSS) specialist to provide pertinent JAWS wind information to
general aviation pilots on request during preflight and in-flight
weather briefings and radio contacts.

The JAWS system, as depicted in Figure 1 below, is comprised of four
integrated and complimentary sub-systems: **1) The Wind Sensor
Sub-system, comprised of anemometers and wind profilers; 2) Data Ingest
and Analysis Subsystem where the data is ingested and the alerts are
generated; 3) the Display Subsystem; and 4) the Communication
Subsystem.**

**Figure 1. JAWS Sub-Systems**

The End-State JAWS includes a master station and eight remote stations.
The master station is a processor that will reside either in the FAA
tower equipment room or the AFSS at JNU. Three remote stations will be
on the airport. All other remote stations will be off-airport.

**1) The Wind Sensor Sub-System is comprised of a wind profiler
component and an anemometer component.**

The wind profiler component uses a doppler radar to estimate wind speed
and direction aloft to elevations up to 6000 feet. The wind profiler
model used for the JAWS is manufactured by Vaisala, Inc. The profilers
have two primary units: 1) an indoor; and 2) outdoor unit. The outdoor
unit is comprised of 9 micro-path antenna panels, a radome, mechanical
relay switches, and cables for power, control and data communications.
The indoor unit consists of a Profiler Monitor, Receiver/ Modulator,
Radar Processor, Interface Processor and peripherals. The details of the
Wind Profiler design, installation, and operations are given in the Low
Atmospheric Rapid Update Profiler Specification, Section 3 and the
Vaisala LAP-3000 technical description manual. JAWS uses three wind
profilers located at: North Douglas Island, South Douglas Island, and
the Lemon Creek Police Station. The spare components for the wind
profiler will be stored at JNU.

The anemometer component of the Wind Sensor Sub-system consists of the
anemometers and mechanical/electrical support elements. Because of the
Juneau area rugged, mountain environment, custom designed mechanical
anemometers manufactured by Taylor Scientific, and now marketed as
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sensors, will be used exclusively by the
end-state JAWS. These anemometers have a rotor component and direction
vane wrapped in heater tape with a heater control unit to maintain
operational use. The details of this configuration can be found in the
Taylor Scientific Operational Manual and minutes of the September 2004
JAWS Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM). For runway winds, the
anemometer specifications are less rigorous. Here, Ultra-Sonic Vaisala
425 anemometers are deployed in a manner similar to LLWAS NE++. The
details regarding ultra-sonic anemometers are found in Vaisala WS-425
User's Guide and Ultrasonic Wind Sensor Technical Descriptions.

The Wind Profiler and the Anemometer component systems use the same
communication scheme as described in the Communications Sub-system
below.

Table 1 below enumerates the location, type of anemometer and quantity
used by JAWS. The spare anemometers will be stored at JNU for ready
availability. Depot support will be provided by the vendor, from a
Seattle, WA facility, and depot support oversight will be provided by
ATO-W, Second Level Engineering, from the FAA Logistics Center, in
Oklahoma City, OK.

  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  LOCATION                ANEMOMETER              NUMBER

  Runway                  Ultra-sonic/Vaisala 425 3

  Pederson Hill           Taylor Scientific       1

  Mount Roberts           Taylor Scientific       2

  Eagle Crest             Taylor Scientific       2

  Sheep Mountain          Taylor Scientific       2

  Spare                   Taylor Scientific       1

  Spare                   Ultra-sonic/Vaisala 425 1
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------

**Table 1. JAWS Anemometers**

Table 2 below enumerates the location, type of wind profiler and
quantity used by JAWS. The spare profiler/components will also be stored
at JNU for ready availability. Depot support will be provided by the
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) vendor.

  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  LOCATION                WIND PROFILER           NUMBER

  North Douglas           Vaisala Lap-3000        1

  South Douglas           Vaisala Lap-3000        1

  Lemon Creek             Vaisala Lap-3000        1
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------

**Table 2. JAWS Wind Profilers**

**2) The Data Ingest and Analysis Sub-System (DIAS)**

Raw wind data from the Wind Sensor sub-system are transmitted to the
Data Ingest and Analysis Subsystem for analysis and distribution. By
performing a technical, regression-based analysis on the wind data, the
DIAS determines if a hazard condition exists. In the event a hazard
exists an alert is sent to the Display Subsystem. The end-state DIAS
sub-system will be comprised of two Intel Pentium processors, a printer,
an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for back-up power and
interconnectivity hardware and resides in a 19" sub-system rack. A final
decision as to the location of the sub-system rack will be determined
not later than the Provisioning Conference. The two Intel Pentium
processors are configured in a primary (active) and backup (dormant)
configuration in such a manner that if the primary fails, the backup
seamlessly takes over. These processes and hardware specifications are
provided by the JAWS Specification and the JAWS Technical Instruction
Manual. The maintenance philosophy for the Data Ingest and Analysis
Sub-System is two-level. Spare components will also be stored at JNU.

**3) The Display Sub-System (DSS)**

Data from the Data Ingest and Analysis Subsystem is sent to the Display
Sub-System (DSS) for system management and alerts. Because of the
requirements of each air traffic specialist, three classes of displays
were designed. The JAWS Alphanumeric Display (JAD) will be located in
one position at the Juneau Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). The JAWS
Graphical Display will be located in three positions at the Automated
Flight Service Station (AFSS). Maintenance (AF) also has a display,
known as the Maintenance Display Terminal (MDT). The master station MDT
supports only maintenance activities and provides detailed wind data and
system performance information for each of the remote stations. The MDT
is installed in the 19" rack located with the JAWS equipment rack.

As with other sub-systems and components, the Displays maintenance
philosophy is two level and all spares will be located at JNU. Details
pertaining to the installation, operations, and maintenance of the
displays are provided in the JAWS System Specification and the JAWS
Display Design Document.

**4) Communication Sub-System (CSS)**

Each of the JAWS sub-systems described above is tied together through
the Communications Sub-System (CSS). The Wind Sensors Sub-system
(anemometers and profilers) communicates with the Data Ingest and
Analysis Subsystem using a modular Remote Station. The Remote Station is
comprised of a radio data system, remote controller, and power and
hardware assembly. The radio data system has a dedicated FAA-licensed
UHF link that uses a UHF Directional Antenna.

All communications between processors within an FAA facility communicate
across an RS-232 standard connector. A high level architectural
depiction of the communication sub-system is provided in the JAWS System
Specification. The lower-level details of the Communication Sub-System
can be found in both the JAWS System Specification and the
aforementioned September 2004 JAWS TIM minutes. An Internet Server and
its Firewall processor are deployed as part of the Communications
Subsystem. The maintenance philosophy for the Communication Sub-system
is likewise two-level with spares located at JNU.

**Functional Description of the System:**

The three primary functional JAWS sub-systems (data gathering,
processing, and distribution) described above, in Figure 1, are
interconnected by the Communication Sub-system. Each of the wind sensors
(anemometers and profilers) communicates with the Data Ingest and
Analysis Subsystem (DIAS) using a Remote Station, dedicated FAA-licensed
UHF link and a YAG designed and built UHF Directional Antenna. The wind
profilers communicate to the DIAS across a dedicated Data Service Line
using TCP/IP. All communications between processors within an FAA
facility communicate across 100Base-T Ethernet using an Ethernet switch
for the hub. An Internet Server and Firewall processor are deployed as
part of the Communications Subsystem. Each of these components, their
installation, operation, and maintenance are described in the JAWS
Communication Subsystem description section of the System Specification.

JAWS is comprised of hardware and software necessary to provide
continuous real-time collection, processing, display and distribution of
alerts and wind data from wind sensors (both anemometers and wind
profilers) and wind sensor remote stations. It provides the alerts, wind
speed and direction information to the displays in the JNU ATCT, and
provides the information to the Juneau AFSS for distribution to approved
users. The designated Airport Wind (AW) remote station (one of three
airport remote stations) provides AW wind speed and direction data for
inclusion on the displays.

The **capabilities and functions** of the JAWS are dependent on and
specific to the status of each of its four operational states:
**Initializing** state is when the system is being brought on line;
**Normal** state is when the system is functioning in accordance with
specifications and all operational requirements are being met;
**Degraded** state is when JAWS is operating within minimum thresholds,
but one sensor or component is not functioning or providing inaccurate
data; **and Support** state is when preventive or corrective maintenance
actions are needed or are being performed and/or when 2 or more sensors
or components are not functioning or providing inaccurate data . The
JAWS system software manages the system operations and maintenance
functions during these operational states, and presents the System State
and current conditions on the MDT maintenance screen.

The JAWS system software is resident in the Master Station Computer
(MSC). Within the system's wireless serial transmission data transfer
application, execution is based on a fixed system cycle time of 10
seconds and the Master Station (MS) and each Remote Sensor (RS) (wind
sensors) and Repeater Remote Station (RRS) in the network have a unique
programmable Radio Data System (RDS) address. This permits the MS and an
addressed RS to communicate exclusively with each other during the
addressed RDS' polling interval.

Within a system cycle, the first 9.3 seconds are used for the network
data acquisition (polling) process, and display of the network's RS's
data on the MDT maintenance screen. The MSC sequentially polls each of
the RSs, receives its response (or non-response), and displays its data
within an allocated time interval. A given RS's interval may be less
than the allocated interval, depending on its response time. After the
network polling process is complete, the remaining time of each system
cycle is used for MSC processing to accomplish the JAWS functions.

The wind profiler specified herein is a remote sensing Doppler radar
that produces vertical data in clear air up to 6000 feet above ground
level. The data measured at a sequence of altitudes, called a profile,
includes wind speed and direction. The profiler produces wind data by
transmitting in four or five directions sequentially. After transmitting
a signal, the profiler receives the return signals that are reflected by
reflectors such as ice particles, precipitation, dust, and insects in
the atmosphere. The moments of the distribution of Doppler velocities of
these returned signals are quality controlled to discriminate the
returns from the atmosphere as opposed to ground clutter and other
contaminants. Using the moments from several beams, the wind profiler
computes the wind speed and direction for the chosen number of heights
above the ground, in addition to the turbulence estimates. Quality
control is also applied at the winds and turbulence level. In this
manner, the wind profiler provides continuous real-time atmospheric wind
and turbulence data with high temporal resolution. The wind profiler
operates unattended and/or networked to another location.