The USDA Forest Service requires a contractor to furnish equipment necessary to upgrade and expand environmental monitoring and research infrastructure at the Marcell Experimental Forest, consistent with the existing measurement network and systems operation. The site in northern Minnesota is part of a federally funded research and development center with decades of baseline environmental monitoring and research. The existing monitoring network includes data logging control systems, and their fully compatible peripheral sensors and telecommunications via radio/Ethernet/wireless/cellular connectivity as well as the use of proprietary software to interface with dataloggers to program sensor measurements and data recording. It is essential that all equipment be directly and readily integrated into the existing environmental monitoring system to assure uninterrupted data collection, continuity with the long-term monitoring program, and integrity/compatibility of environmental measurements with long-term records and record-keeping protocols. Turnkey connectivity with the existing sensor/logging/telecommunications systems is critical for data reporting, science integrity, and compatibility with protocols of data collection and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures of a long-term environmental research program. This sole source effort ensures the continuity of sensors, data logging/control systems, and telecommunications that are necessary to maintain current and ongoing scientific research.

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