NRA - TITLE: RESEARCH PLAN FOR HUMAN RESPONSE TO LOW-FREQUENCY ROTOR NOISE. BACKGROUND: NASA, INDUSTRY, AND…

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NRA - TITLE: RESEARCH PLAN FOR HUMAN RESPONSE TO LOW-FREQUENCY ROTOR NOISE. BACKGROUND: NASA, INDUSTRY, AND THE DOD ARE STUDYING CONCEPTS FOR LARGE, HEAVY-LIFT ROTORCRAFT THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER AND HEAVIER THAN EXISTING ROTORCRAFT. EXPECTED BLADE PASSAGE FREQUENCIES OF FUTURE LARGE ROTORCRAFT WILL LIKELY BE BELOW APPROXIMATELY 20 HZ AND LIKELY BE BETWEEN 5 AND 10 HZ. THUS, THERE WILL BE SIGNIFICANT ACOUSTIC ENERGY IN THE AUDIBLE RANGE AND AT INFRASONIC (BELOW APPROXIMATELY 20 HZ) FREQUENCIES. UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THESE REPETITIVE VERY LOW FREQUENCY STIMULI ON THE HUMAN BODY AND COMMUNITY IS CRITICAL FOR THESE CONCEPTS TO BE VIABLE. OBJECTIVE: THE GOAL OF THIS EFFORT IS A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PLAN FOR DEVELOPING MODELS OF HUMAN RESPONSE TO ROTOR NOISE, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON LOW FREQUENCY EFFECTS. SCOPE OF WORK: THE ASSESSMENT OF PERTINENT RESEARCH SHALL ENCOMPASS ALL SCENARIOS FOR WHICH LOW FREQUENCY ROTOR NOISE IS OF CONCERN, INCLUDING CREW AND PASSENGERS, COMMUNITY RESIDENTS (BOTH INDOORS AND OUTDOORS), AND RECREATIONAL SETTINGS. THE WORK IS DIVIDED INTO TWO TASKS. IN THE FIRST TASK THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDINGS OF LOW-FREQUENCY NOISE EFFECTS WILL BE SUMMARIZED AND ASSESSED. THIS ASSESSMENT SHALL NOT BE LIMITED SIMPLY TO A LITERATURE REVIEW, BUT SHALL INCLUDE A META-ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHED FINDINGS. IN THE SECOND TASK A SET OF RESEARCH GOALS WILL BE SELECTED AND DETAILED RESEARCH PLANS DEFINED. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS: (A) NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) NNH07ZEA001N-SSRW1. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS: THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM THE FOLLOWING TASKS: TASK 1.0 ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF LOW FREQUENCY NOISE EFFECTS. 1.1 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL REVIEW AND ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF INFRASONIC AND LOW-FREQUENCY COMPONENTS OF ROTOR NOISE ON PASSENGERS AND CREW, AND ON THE AUDIBILITY, ANNOYANCE, AND POTENTIAL FOR INDUCING RATTLE IN OVERFLOWN COMMUNITIES AND NEAR OPERATING AREAS. 1.1.1 THIS ASSESSMENT SHALL INCLUDE A PRELIMINARY META-ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHED FINDINGS TO DISCERN CONSISTENT THRESHOLD LEVELS AND EXPOSURE DURATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OCCURRENCE OF THE VARIED PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE EXTENSIVE LITERATURE AND SHALL NOT BE LIMITED SIMPLY TO A LITERATURE REVIEW. 1.1.2 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUBMIT RESULTS IN A WHITE PAPER, WHICH INCLUDES AT A MINIMUM: (A) AN ASSESSMENT OF LOW FREQUENCY EFFECTS, AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, IDENTIFICATION OF NOISE METRICS TO PREDICT THOSE EFFECTS. (B) META-ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHED FINDINGS. (C) BIBLIOGRAPHY. (D) PRIORITIZED LIST OF 5-10 RESEARCH ISSUES. (E) IDENTIFICATION OF THOSE WARRANTING FURTHER ANALYSIS. THIS REPORT SHALL BE SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ATTACHMENT 2 (ITEM 2) AND IS DUE 3 MONTHS FROM THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT. 1.1.3 DURING THE PRESENTATION AS DEFINED UNDER SOW TASK 3.1, THE CONTRACTOR AND NASA SHALL MUTUALLY AGREE UPON AND SELECT A PRIORITIZED LIST OF BETWEEN 5 TO 10 RESEARCH GOALS FOR FURTHER STUDY. THE SELECTED GOALS WILL BE APPROVED IN WRITING (VIA E-MAIL) BY THE NASA COTR. TASK 2.0 DEVELOPMENT OF DETAILED RESEARCH PLANS. 2.1 BASED ON THE APPROVED SELECTED GOALS (I.E., BETWEEN 5 TO 10), THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM ADDITIONAL ANALYSES TO YIELD DOSAGE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS AND RECOMMEND AND JUSTIFY APPROPRIATE METRICS. 2.2 FOR EACH OF THE APPROVED SELECTED RESEARCH GOALS, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP A RESEARCH STUDY PLAN. EACH PLAN (I.E., BETWEEN 5 TO 10) SHALL INCLUDE AT A MINIMUM THE FOLLOWING: (A) RATIONALE. (B) STATEMENT OF WORK. (C) APPROXIMATE SCHEDULE AND BUDGET. (D) DELIVERABLES. EACH PLAN SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL REPORT (SEE TASK 4.2). TASK 3.0 PLANNED PRESENTATIONS AND MEETINGS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE REQUIRED TO TRAVEL FOR THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS: SOW TASK REF PRESENTATION / MEETING FREQUENCY/DATE DURATION LOCATION 3.1 TASK 1 REVIEW PRESENTATION APPROX 3RD MONTH. (DATE TO BE MUTUALLY AGREED UPON BY THE CONTR