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This announcement serves as a pre-solicitation notice and is issued solely for information and planning purposes. The Proposers' Day does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or proposal abstracts. Attendance is voluntary and is not required to propose to future solicitations (if any) associated with this program.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The overall HFGeo Program seeks to dramatically improve the ability to geolocate and characterize High Frequency (HF) emitters. The initial technology development in this program is expected to: 1) accurately resolve multiple angles-of-arrival and polarization states through novel antenna concepts; 2) enhance signal-to-noise ratio and signal detection through the use of multi-dimensional adaptive signal processing, and; 3) accurately determine the state of the dynamic ionosphere. A prior solicitation, IARPA-BAA-11-07, covered the first two components of the HFGeo program (novel antenna concepts and signal processing algorithms). This Proposers' Day will address the third topic area of ionospheric modeling.
The earth's ionosphere is driven by dynamic atmospheric and space weather conditions that can dramatically change how ionospherically-dependent communications or radar systems operate. Variations in solar flux including x-ray flares, energetic particle events, coronal mass ejections, and variations in solar wind properties influence the ionospheric conditions in a profound manner. Significant large-scale enhancements or diminutions in the free electron concentration can arise over a period of minutes to hours. Tidal forces and normal diurnal effects combine with these variations in solar flux to induce a hierarchy of ionospheric fluctuations from small-scale ionospheric turbulence to traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). The fluctuations can be associated with source regions that are either local or remote and induce significant changes to the propagation of radio waves, in particular, HF radio waves that are refracted from the lower portions of the ionosphere. Ionospheric variability is one of the key sources of uncertainty regarding the propagation of radio waves from one location to another.
Many of the recent efforts in ionospheric measurement and modeling have been focused on global models that assimilate many measurement sources to accurately model the path between the ground and space. While this assists in more precise GPS navigation and other applications, the resulting models do not always capture the regional dynamics and the varying electron density distribution below the F-layer peak to sufficiently determine HF skywave signal propagation paths.
The goal of this effort is to consolidate multiple sources to produce a model that will accurately characterize the multiple propagation paths found in HF skywave radio wave propagation. This necessitates a focus on the bottom side of the ionosphere, and the model must incorporate the propagation physics associated with the D, E, F1, F2 layers, the earth's geomagnetic field and one or more hop propagation.
Coupled with the novel antenna and signal processing approaches already underway, this ionospheric measurement and modeling technology will provide greatly improved HF geolocation capabilities. If successful, later phases of HFGeo will integrate and rigorously test these technologies with the goal of accurately geolocating and characterizing HF emitters.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Attendees must register no later than 5:00pm Eastern July 6, 2012 at http://events.signup4.com/HFGeoPD_Registration. Directions to the facility and other materials will be available on that website. No walk-in registrations will be allowed.
Due to space limitations, attendance will be limited to the first 140 registrants and to no more than two representatives per organization. All attendees will be required to present a government-issued photo identification to enter the facility. Foreign nationals will need to present a passport.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This Proposers' Day is intended for participants who are eligible to compete on the anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Other Government Agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) will not be eligible to submit proposals to the anticipated BAA nor participate as team members under proposals submitted by eligible entities. While such entities are not prohibited from attending the Proposers' Day, due to space limitations, preference will be given first to those organizations that are eligible to compete.
IARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in this event.
Questions concerning event & registration can be sent to [email protected].
Questions regarding the program can be sent to [email protected].
Contracting Office Address:
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
Washington, District of Columbia 20511
United States
Primary Point of Contact:
Dr. Frank Robey,
Deputy Office Director
[email protected]