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Mathematical Gravity Modeling Advancement (MaGMA)
Contact and place of performance
Daniel R.Fadely
Saint Louis, MO
USA
The vendor shall develop more realistic planetary models based on previous work provided by NGA. These models will be composed of layers, mass elements, and triangulations that allow for spatial and radial density variations. Furthermore, the planetary models will incorporate these components in such a way that they allow for finer resolution in regions of interest (i.e. irregular triangulations and inhomogeneous mas...
View moreThe vendor shall develop and explore the theoretical basis for new computational approaches to estimating the spherical harmonic expansion (SHE) model coefficients. This will involve “out-of-core” inverse techniques, such as stochastic gradient descent (SGD) based on mini-batches, which will lower the memory use associated with typical large scale matrix inversion. Furthermore, the vendor will also explore other methods to obtain the SHE model coefficients from forward modelling procedures.
The vendor may conduct reviews of potential new avenues of research or development aligned with the previous topics and shall work with NGA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and the Principal Investigator (PI) to evaluate whether new techniques, methods, or algorithms will provide benefit to NGA. Approval from the PI is required for significant changes in resources or time applied to the development of the overall deliverables.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) issued this pre-solicitation notice for the Mathematical Gravity Modeling Advancement (MaGMA) project. The vendor will develop realistic planetary models based on NGA-provided work, utilizing layers, mass elements, and triangulations to account for spatial and radial density variations. These models, which will include Earth and potentially other bodies such as the Moon or Bennu, must allow for finer resolution in specific regions through irregular triangulations and inhomogeneous mass element distributions. Performance involves comparing gravimetric quantities derived from the Next Generation Spherical Code (NGSC) against established modeling techniques like RTM and EGM08 for validation.
The scope of work includes implementing and improving analytic continuation code by integrating existing NGA code into the main NGSC and testing new methods. All analytic continuation code will be evaluated for parallel computation applicability in preparation for operational environments. Furthermore, the vendor will explore new computational approaches for estimating spherical harmonic expansion (SHE) model coefficients. This research involves "out-of-core" inverse techniques, such as mini-batch-based stochastic gradient descent, to reduce memory requirements compared to traditional large-scale matrix inversion, alongside other forward modeling procedures.
The project is classified under NAICS 541715 for Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) and PSC AJ12 for General Science and Technology R&D Services; General Science and Technology; Applied Research. There is no set-aside designated for this requirement. Work is located in Saint Louis, Missouri, and responses for solicitation HM0476_MaGMA are due by April 30, 2026. Throughout the performance period, the vendor will collaborate with NGA Subject Matter Experts and the Principal Investigator to evaluate and approve new research avenues or algorithmic developments.
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