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Home My WebLink AboutMemo 4BRWVARD •.- COUNTY FLORI D A FROWARD EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY N ti ri Jrri4., • I•',a3ti:.: i co FlorlC3l 93,i?/:1 • !)5 -831 3900 • FAN TSA•'62-519D':i MEMORANDUM DATE: April 14, 21105 TO: Purchasing Division 5.0171 John Raile, Purchasing Agent 11 Specialist FROM: Shernuan "Tony" Carper. Jr I)free Broward Emergency Manage SUBJECT: AWS Convergence 'Technologies, Inc., \'1'eather•hul; Requisition In reference to RQS 022 5E1'0I040500000000022, we are requesting a sole source for the installation of live weather stations and cameras throughout 13roward County to create a county wide 'Vc iiho— Hug real-tiine weather monitoring and severe weather alerting system in 13roward ('ounly in conjunction with existing weather stations already in use by the Broward Sheril'I's Office (I.3SO). the Broward County School board, privately owned locations and the broadcasting industiy. Broward Emergency Management Agency (BEMA) requires enhanced weather data and camera imagery. 'This data needs to be provided via an internee based network of Iveather stations and cameras. that is a complete tuni-key solution. This solution includes installation, maintenance, network operations and support from one service provider. A\VS Convergence 'Technologies, Inc. owns and operates the largest network of weather stations in the world. 'This live network gathers comprehensive, up -to -the -second weather inloniiation from more than 6.200 communities and powers the company's various products and services, i., C�;11-�1l -r,? Page 2 (cont'd) AWS Convergence Technologies Inc., Weatherbug Requisitions April 14, 2005 AWS operates 271 stations in Florida and 34 existing stations in Broward County. These stations and cameras are connected to AWS's proprietary network architecture that will allow users to receive data from all operating stations via the internet on a real-time basis. Only AWS has this technology. The AWS product MesoStreamer, is the only product that provides access to thousands of public domain weather sites that can be incorporated into our purchased weather stations. We currently own a license for MesoStreamer. In addition, they provide software that has the ability to interface with our existing GIS applications. AWS WeatherNet stations are professional grade weather stations that record meteorologically valid weather observations. AWS provides comprehensive installation, maintenance and network operations and support services. Although not the only weather network provider, AWS is the only system that seamlessly integrates live weather data with live camera images, still and time -lapsed that are accessible from the internet. This color camera comes with an all-weather, thermostat - controlled camera housing unit, specifically engineered for outdoor weather camera use. Most recently, Broward Sheriff's Office purchased 10 of the 34 stations in 13roward County. We are coordinating with BSO in selecting the locations for the five stations we intend to purchase, in order to ensure a broad geographic coverage within Broward County. Other clients continue to purchase additional AWS weather stations, and all of this data is available to us for weather monitoring. In addition to the weather stations for meteorological data, the integrated camera system provides a six -mile range of view, and would be utilized to monitor `all hazards', weather as well as any events where security would be an issue. BEMA proposes to purchase five AWS weather stations with cameras, to be located in pre -determined areas throughout Broward County. Locations were selected based upon criteria such as proximity to major transportation routes (hurricane evacuation route monitoring, hazardous materials accidents) and ocean front locations (hurricane weather monitoring): and a centralized county location (EOC) for an all-around camera pan perspective. The Broward Emergency Management Agency Director identified many of the selected sites. Page 3 (coned) AWS Convergence Technologies Inc., Weatherbug Requisitions April 14, 2005 The WeatherBug weather network program will have six County established requirements: • Ability to network multiple weather stations together with secure internet access • Ability to provide high performance, color, fully pan/tilt/zoom camera as part of the integrated system • Provision of installation services • Provision of network operations and support to ensure proper operation of network • Provision of professional grade weather stations that include rain gauges, wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, light and barometric pressure. • Provision of maintenance services We have encountered no permitting issues as this time with any of the selected sites for installation and do not anticipate any. Maintenance will be addressed in a separate Purchase Order. STC/ccr/kjm AWS Overview AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc., (AWS), based in Gaithersburg, MD, operates the largest weather station and camera network in the world, with over 7,000 weather stations and 1000 cameras in the United States. Most of these weather stations and cameras are connected to the AWS WeatherNet via direct internet connections (the remainder are connected via modem), and stream live data every two seconds. AWS streams this data through a proprietary network architecture that is fully redundant and fault tolerant. No other company has a comparable network of weather stations, cameras or network architecture assets. In comparison, the National Weather Service operates about 1000 stations in the United States, that update once per hour. Leveraging the unique network architecture and extensive engineering resources, AWS has the capability to expand the network by deploying additional weather sensors and cameras at desired locations and connecting them through the network. AWS was founded in 1992 and began providing weather stations and educational content to schools. As the company grew, AWS began providing data from the WeatherNet to TV broadcaster, general consumers and commercial businesses through a variety of applications including the WeatherBug, the most widely used source of weather information on the Internet, and WeatherBug Streamer, a highly advanced application for business and government. For further information see — http:f/www.aws.comfaws 2003/history.html Responding to the President's call for public/private partnerships to aid homeland security after September 11, 2001, AWS formed the Homeland Security Partnership with the National Weather Service and began utilizing the WeatherNet to support emergency management. In this capacity, schools are directly involved in aiding public safety. Broward Emergency Management Agency WeatherNet Overview 1.) Broward Emergency Management Agency (BEMA) requires enhanced weather data and camera imagery. This data needs to be provided via an Internet based network of weather stations and cameras that is a complete turnkey solution. This solution includes, installation, maintenance, network operations and support from one service provider. AWS operates the world's largest network of weather stations and cameras with 271 stations in Florida, and 34 stations in Broward County. These stations and cameras are connected to AWS' proprietary network architecture that will allow users to receive data from all operating stations via the internet on a real-time basis. Only AWS has this technology. AWS WeatherNet stations are also professional grade weather stations that record meteorologically valid weather observations. Most recently, Broward Sheriff's office purchased 10 of the 34 stations in Broward County. AWS also provides MesoStreamer, a web -based application, that enables easy access to current weather conditions and camera imagery from the network. Finally, AWS provides comprehensive installation, maintenance and network operations and support services. Broward Emergency Management Agency proposes to purchase five AWS weather stations with cameras, to be located in pre -determined areas throughout Broward County. Locations were selected based upon criteria such as proximity to major transportation routes (hurricane evacuation route monitoring, hazardous materials accidents) and ocean front locations (hurricane weather monitoring); and a centralized county location (EOC) for an all-around camera pan perspective. The Broward Emergency Management Agency Director identified many of the selected sites. 2.) Broward Emergency Management Agency had the following requirements from the vendor it chose: - Ability to network multiple weather stations together via the Internet - Ability to provide fully pan/tilt/zoom camera - Provision of installation services - Provision of network operations and support to ensure proper operation of network - Provision of professional grade weather stations that include rain gauges - Provision of maintenance services WeatherBug Information WeatherBug operates the largest network of weather sensors in the world, with over 7,000 in the U.S. WeatherBug is the only company that operates a nationwide network of weather sensors. Working with states, counties, and federal agencies our Government Services group leverages the established network and the company's competency of deploying and operating networks of weather sensors to provide local emergency managers with superior weather intelligence that can save lives. We propose to work with Broward County, Florida in this capacity. This pre -proposal outlines the components of a county wide WeatherBug network implementation that will enable detailed, real-time weather monitoring and severe weather alerting in Broward County. The program includes six elements, intended to meet the requirements established by the County — • Enhancement of existing network of weather tracking stations and cameras (BSO) • Deployment of additional weather tracking stations and cameras (BSO and EOC) • WeatherBug Streamer • WeatherBug Alerter • Historical data access • Site maintenance, technical support and training WeatherBug Government Services program and operations staff will work closely during the implementation phase of this project. Program staff will guide Broward County emergency management team through the process of site selection for the WeatherBug Tracking Stations and MotionCams that will be deployed. Training and technical support will be provided throughout the implementation phase and during operation. WeatherBug will deploy 5 tracking stations and MotionCams at 5 locations designated by Broward Emergency Management Agency. WeatherBug program staff will guide B.E.M.A. through the entire process and manage the installation of all equipment. Trained Lucent technicians will complete the installation and regular on -site preventative maintenance. The entire program is a turn -key solution for B.E.M.A. Once these stations are in place, Broward County will have access to live data and imagery from 34 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and 12 MotionCams, providing detailed and comprehensive weather intelligence and surveillance capabilities. These stations will include an Ethernet enabled communications device designed for reliable data delivery. Each station collects 27 different meteorological variables and streams them every two seconds through WeatherBug's proprietary network to end -users. Weather sensors are typically sited on building roofs with power and Internet connectivity. Costs 5 Weather Station packages at $5000 each. • Weather sensors that provide 27 meteorological measurements • Data logger/master control unit with battery backup • Ethernet communication device "GBB" • 200 ft. outdoor cable • Digital display • Power supplies 5 Motion Camera packages at $7500 each • Remote control and zoomable camera • Weather proof camera housing • PC, monitor, keyboard and mouse • 200 ft. outdoor video and power cables • Power supply 5 standard weather and 4 standard camera installations - total $4000 • Mounting hardware and masts for weather stations • Weather station and camera installation • Hardware and software installation • Running and installing cabling • Testing and calibration 1 non-standard camera installation on tower at EOC - total $5000 • Camera installaion • Running and installing cabling Locations for installations Turnpike Service Center - Coconut Creek State Farm Hurricane House - Deerfield Beach Ft. Lauderdale Fire Station 49 - Ft. Lauderdale beach Hallandale Fire Rescue - Hallandale Beach Broward EOC - Plantation