***THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, EASTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-NORFOLK, NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS) OFFICE OF COAST SURVEY (OCS) CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR OPERATIONAL OCEAN AND GREAT LAKES MAPPING (COE), INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE AND AWARD A PURCHASE ORDER, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF RFO FAR 6.103-1, WITH EDGETECH OUT OF WAREHAM, MA FOR AN EDGETECH 4125I TELEMETRY SIDE SCAN SYSTEM AND AN EDGETECH 3400 POLE MOUNT SUB-BOTTOM PROFILER SYSTEM. NO SET ASIDE IS TO BE USED FOR THIS SOLE SOURCE REQUIREMENT. THE ASSOCIATED NAICS CODE IS 334511. ***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON NOAA'S REQUIREMENT THAT EDGETECH IS THE MANUFACTURER OF THE 4125 TELEMETRY SIDE SCAN SYSTEM AND THE 3400 SERIES SUB-BOTTOM PROFILER SYSTEM. EDGETECH IS A SMALL BUSINESS AND HAS PARTNERED WITH NOAA FOR EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSIRE TO TRAIN HYDROGRAPHERS. EDGETECH IS THE MANUFACTURER AND A SMALL BUSINESS; THEREFORE THERE IS NO BENEFIT PURCHASING FROM A RESELLER. THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE (COE) WILL USE THIS SPECIALIZED ACOUSTIC PROFILING EQUIPMENT TO DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE IMMEDIATE AND ONGOING EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF THE NOAA HYDROGRAPHIC WORKFORCE AND ITS EXTERNAL PARTNERS. CURRENTLY, NOAA'S OPERATIONAL INVENTORY SEVERELY LACKS A MAN-PORTABLE SUB-BOTTOM PROFILING CAPABILITY. AS NOAA ACTIVELY EXPANDS ITS MAPPING PORTFOLIO TO ENCOMPASS SUB-SURFACE APPLICATIONS FOR CRITICAL MINERAL EXPLORATION, ACQUIRING THIS SYSTEM IS VITAL TO DEVELOPING STUDENT OPERATIONAL PROFICIENCY IN SUB-SURFACE ACOUSTIC IMAGING, GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS, ENVIRONMENTAL SITE INVESTIGATIONS, SEDIMENT CLASSIFICATION, AND INFRASTRUCTURE MAPPING. THE EDGETECH 3400 TECHNOLOGY SERVES AS THE SINGLE BEST ENTRY POINT FOR STUDENTS AND HYDROGRAPHERS LEARNING TO OPERATE AND INTERPRET SUB-BOTTOM PROFILING DATA. IT GENERATES HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES OF SUB-BOTTOM STRATIGRAPHY IN OCEANS, LAKES, AND RIVERS, PROVIDING EXCELLENT PENETRATION ACROSS VARIOUS BOTTOM TYPES. THE SYSTEM USES A LINEAR SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE THAT NATIVELY OUTPUTS COMPLEX 'ANALYTIC SIGNAL' DATA FOR PRECISE SEDIMENT DETERMINATION, WHICH IS CRUCIAL FOR TEACHING SEDIMENT CLASSIFICATION. A "BRAND NAME OR EQUAL" DESCRIPTION CANNOT BE APPLIED HERE BECAUSE ALTERNATIVE PORTABLE SYSTEMS DO NOT UTILIZE THE STANDARD WIDEBAND CHIRP FRAMEWORK WITHIN AN EASILY MANAGED, PORTABLE FOOTPRINT THAT YIELDS STANDARD DATA FILES REQUIRED BY OUR CURRICULUM THE EDGETECH 3400 SERIES IS RECOGNIZED GLOBALLY AS THE BASELINE TECHNOLOGY STANDARD FOR ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRY MARINE RESEARCH. BECAUSE THE COE IS SIMULTANEOUSLY BUILDING ITS MULTI-SONAR WORKFLOWS AROUND EXISTING SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE FORMATS THAT MIRROR WHAT PERSONNEL ENCOUNTER ACROSS THE WIDER MAPPING COMMUNITY, THE PLATFORM-AGNOSTIC EDGETECH ECOSYSTEM INTEGRATES SEAMLESSLY. SHIFTING TO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURE WOULD DISRUPT STANDARD OPERATING PROTOCOLS AND BREAK BASELINE CURRICULUM FORMATTING THE ONLY OTHE…