142083-25-0002_AWIPS_RFI_Questions.pdf

1. INTRODUCTION:

The Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Central Processing (CP) is issuing this Request for

Information (RFI) to obtain industry feedback on possible solutions to get capabilities currently provided by on-premises legacy Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) into a cloud-based system (Cloud AWIPS).

The primary objective of this RFI is to gather feedback from industry on approaches to develop, deploy, and operate Cloud AWIPS. This will include moving operations and applications from legacy on-premise infrastructure into an NWS cloud environment. Cloud

AWIPS should also have the ability to implement new capabilities efficiently once the system is deployed.

2. BACKGROUND:

The NWS mission covers many time and space scales, from issuing short-fused and accurate local tornado warnings and hurricane track and intensity predictions, to daily global, regional, and local weather forecasts to protect life and property.

NWS currently employs on-premises legacy AWIPS as the key operational system that NWS forecasters use to create and initiate the dissemination of forecasts and warnings to the public, emergency management decision makers, and the private weather enterprise. AWIPS addresses a diverse set of NWS operational requirements including watch/warning functions, forecast functions, and impact-based decision support services (IDSS) at NWS Weather Forecast

Offices (WFOs), River Forecast Centers (RFCs), National Centers (NCs), Central Weather

Service Units (CWSUs), and Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs). The NWS forecast mission encompasses a wide spectrum of geographic and temporal scales, from mesoscale to global, and from minutes to months, respectively. The on-premise legacy AWIPS is currently deployed at about 170 sites across the Nation and its Territories.

Current AWIPS functionality can be broadly divided into four categories, which also represent the general workflow of AWIPS operations:

1. The ingest and storage of hydrometeorological data and other geo-referenced information,

2. The application of algorithms and tools that operate on the hydrometeorological data,

3. The visualization of the hydrometeorological data and supporting information in an integrated fashion, and

4. The generation and dissemination of various products, data, and information to partners and the public. Products that are created must conform to standards established by NWS directives, World Meteorological Organization and International Civil Aviation

Organization formats.

In addition to the on-premise legacy AWIPS implementations, the AWIPS program operates a

“lift and shift” limited capability cloud implementation of the current AWIPS software, which supports Incident Meteorologists deployed to command centers for the support of wildfire fighting as well as select IDSS engagements. The AWIPS program is also working on expanding the lift and shift cloud capabilities via a demonstration mode for RFCs and CWSUs.

Simultaneously, work is in progress to migrate the functionality of the legacy AWIPS to a cloud-based platform by creating microservices that can be orchestrated into a complete operational system.

The NWS is undergoing a transformation in our operational techniques, processes, and procedures. The resultant Cloud AWIPS needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changing and/or emerging requirements as the operational model undergoes a major transformation over the next 0-5 years. This transformation is focused on a more generalized approach whereby workload can easily be distributed across many field offices, national centers, and/or deployed locations. This transformation emphasizes an approach that enables workload to be distributed seamlessly across field offices, national centers, and deployed teams. At the same time, the agency is shifting from a deterministic forecast and warning paradigm to one rooted in risk-based decision-making. This approach integrates probabilistic forecasts with non-weather and water datasets to better support risk analysis and guide decisions to mitigate hazardous impacts to communities at all levels, from regional and state to city and local.

3. REQUIREMENTS/SPECIFICATIONS:

The list of requirements/specifications provides a high-level overview of the Cloud AWIPS needs, which include, but are not limited to the following:

3.1.Security:

3.1.1. Federal Information Security Modernization Act - High Impact (Confidentiality -

Moderate, Integrity - High, and Availability - High).

3.1.2. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency - High Value Asset.

3.2.Operational Continuity: 24/7/365 Mission Spanning 11 Time zones.

3.3.Availability: 99.999%.

3.4.Geographic Distribution: Cloud AWIPS must support the geographic (CONUS and

OCONUS including US territories) and operational functions of the NWS and partner operational units, including: WFOs, RFCs, TWCs, NCs, CWSUs, Regions Operational

Centers, Department of Defense (DoD)/Navy, and National Aeronautics and Space

Administration.

3.5.User Base: Approximately ~3200 active AWIPS users with up to 800 users active concurrently.

3.6.Operational/Functional Capabilities:

3.6.1. Ability to analyze, create, and issue NWS products and services, especially Primary

Mission Essential Functions (PMEF), which include:

3.6.1.1.Issuance of Weather, Water, and Climate Warnings, Watches, and

Advisories – Continuous monitoring and dissemination of critical forecasts, https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/federal-information-security-modernization-act watches, warnings, and advisories for life-threatening weather events, including hurricanes, tornadoes, severe storms, floods, winter storms, and wildfires.

3.6.1.2.Tsunami Warning and Detection – Operation of the TWCs (Pacific and

National TWCs) to detect, evaluate, and issue warnings for tsunamis impacting the U.S. and its territories.

3.6.1.3.Aviation Weather Services for National Airspace System Safety – Providing critical aviation weather information to the Federal Aviation Administration and airline operators to ensure flight safety and efficiency.

3.6.1.4.Fire Weather Support for Wildland Firefighting – Supporting wildland fire suppression operations through specialized fire weather forecasts and coordination with the National Interagency Fire Center.

3.6.1.5.Hydrologic Forecasting and Flood Warnings – Operating the RFCs and providing real-time flood forecasts and warnings to protect lives and property.

3.6.1.6.Support to National Security and Emergency Management – Providing mission-critical weather intelligence to the (DoD), Department of Homeland

Security, and Federal Emergency Management Agency for national security, emergency response, and disaster recovery operations.

3.6.2. Ability for forecasters to interact with the hydrometeorological data in order to produce consistent, accurate, and timely hydrometeorological data from which all

NWS official products and services are generated, whether initiated by a forecaster or automatically generated.

3.6.3. Ability for forecasters at multiple geographical locations to exchange hydrometeorological data in order to produce consistent, accurate, and timely hydrometeorological data from which all NWS official products and services are generated, whether initiated by a forecaster or automatically.

3.7.Interoperability:

Ability to have Cloud AWIPS solutions interoperate with existing NWS infrastructure, which includes, but is not limited to:

3.7.1. NWS data flow capabilities, such as the super computer and the AWIPS

NOAAPort/SBN capabilities to support the Cloud AWIPS Ingest and storage of hydrometeorological data, enabling the PMEF functions described above.

3.7.2. NWS dissemination capabilities, such as NOAA Weather Radio and NOAA

Weather Wire Service, in order to transmit PMEF products and services to NWS partners.

3.8.Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Services:

3.8.1. 24/7/365 Help Desk

3.8.2. User Account Provisioning

3.8.3. System performance monitoring

3.8.4. Incident management

https://www.weather.gov/nwws/ https://www.weather.gov/nwws/

3.8.5. Change management and communication

3.8.6. Security support, including patching with little to no downtime

3.8.7. Self-service support

3.8.8. Performance optimization

3.8.9. Accessibility support

3.8.10. Testing and implementation of new AWIPS capabilities with little to no downtime

3.9.AWIPS Legacy Software:

https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/CU.AWIPS/BK.SCode/

4. RFI RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS:

The release of this RFI has several objectives:

• Understand the range of solutions available to support the Cloud AWIPS requirements.

• Understand the possibility of implementing and initiating NWS operations within Cloud

AWIPS by the end of 2026.

• Understand considerations from industry that would make this acquisition appealing to propose against once the RFP(s) are released.

Please provide a written description of a solution by June 17, 2025 which addresses these high-level requirements/specifications which could be implemented by the NWS to make Cloud

AWIPS operational. This written response shall be no more than 10 pages, inclusive of written answers to the questions listed below. Within the description of the solution, please provide the following:

4.1.Describe the technical basis of the solution, including any assumptions.

4.2.Identify opportunities and risks associated with this solution.

4.3.A high-level schedule that highlights what can be achieved by the end of 2026 and how the solution evolves over the subsequent 3 to 5 years.

4.4.A rough order of magnitude cost boundary to establish this approach.

4.5.A rough order of magnitude to operate this approach for 1 year.

5. QUESTIONS:

5.1.In order to support a proposal, what additional technical information would you need?

5.2.The Government is considering the use of interview-style or mission-based evaluation questions as part of the source selection process for any resulting solicitation. The

Government encourages vendors to submit evaluation questions that could be considered for inclusion in the final set of evaluation questions.

5.3.What evaluation factors or criteria would you recommend the Government consider when assessing vendor responses to a future solicitation for this requirement? Please identify the factors you believe would most effectively distinguish between competing offers and support a best value determination.

5.4.If you have any case studies for similar cloud migrations, what were the outcomes and major lessons learned? [Note: case study materials do not count within the 10-page written https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/CU.AWIPS/BK.SCode/ response limit. Please include those as separate attachments.]

5.5.Assuming a fixed budget, how would you propose the government structure its contractual arrangements to balance the accountability of cost, schedule, and performance risks in transitioning operations from its legacy AWIPS to a cloud AWIPS?

6. ONE-ON-ONE SESSIONS:

After a review of the responses to the RFI, the Government may schedule one-on-one sessions.

Please complete this form so that we have the necessary information to coordinate a one-on-one session if it is required.

https://forms.gle/hSXdfudv35Axvv8N8