(IVAR) - Final Report - Strategic Environmental Research and ...

e incurred, depending on what information is streamed over the network and the architecture
employed.
Utilities – An estimate of a monthly electrical bill of $100 would easily meet typical power
needs.
System Lifetime
The radar system life time is estimated to be five to seven years, based on the expected lifetime
of the radar sensor front-end and the digital, computer-based backend. The radar front-end
transceiver will eventually fail, and antenna motors and related circuitry will wear out and
require replacement. The computer-like backend also reaches an end of support life in a similar
timeframe, where hardware replacement rather than repair reduces maintenance costs at the same
time as increasing performance.
Future Technology
There are a number of technology improvements underway by system developers that will be
ideal for consideration following end-of-life system replacement, and as upgrades if they are
backwards compatible. These include new high-performance multi-beam antennas with
electronic vertical scanning and Doppler capabilities in the radar sensor. The cost impact of
these future improvements is expected to be relatively small in comparison to full life cycle
costs.
7.2 COST DRIVERS
The cost drivers are largely a function of the capital equipment costs, deployment costs (e.g., site
preparation and connectivity), and operational costs.
Capital costs for radar technology can be highly variable depending on configuration for site
specific needs, which includes both the number of sensor units and the associated basic integration
and fusion capacity defined for multiple sensor deployment. Unit costs for radars can be expected
to range from $250,000 to $750,000 depending on configuration. Purchase, lease, and service
options may be available depending on vendor. For purchase of the equipment, it is expected that
capital costs would be based on standard procurement processes that would
provide least cost for advertised specifications. Most of the future engineering, modifications,
and upgrades to the equipment are expected to be capitalized by the manufacturer and recouped
in the purchase, lease, or service cost for the technology.
Operation and maintenance costs for the technologies are largely controlled by the labor rates
and the number of personnel required to field the equipment, analyze the data, and generate the
documentation associated with the project.
7.3 COST ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON
As discussed in Section 7.1, the cost of acquiring, installing, and operating an avian radar system
can vary greatly depending upon the facility’s requirements. In this section we chose a “middleground”
configuration for what we believe would be a typical installation.
Timeframe: We chose a five-year timeframe as a tradeoff between the probable system lifetime
(5-7 years) and the cumulative technological advances during this period that would favor
replacement rather than upgrades.
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