Q and A.pdf

2012 NAIP Industry Day Questions and Answers

GENERAL

Q: Is the DOQQ boundary part of the seamline shapefile?

A: No, the polygons should only show the seams.

Q: Can the CCMs be delivered partially with the DOQQs?

A: No, all of the CCMs for a project item should be delivered on a single hard drive at one time.

Q: Regarding the radiometric sample, is it a “state wide” sample?

A: No. Depending on the contractor’s production process, the sample will be either a frame or small mosaic of several frames. If the terrain conditions of the state vary multiple samples can be submitted.

Q: Is a radiometric sample required for each sensor type if multiple types are used within a project item?

A: Currently we see more variation of color when imagery is collected weeks apart vs color shifts between sensor types. Therefore we would prefer to see additional samples if the land cover dictates the need instead of forcing samples for each sensor type.

Q: Are the acquisition seasons defined in the task order flexible?

A: No, the seasons are defined with input from the FSA state/country offices to maximize the collection during peak growth.

Q: The contract limits the resolution of the source data, can you clarify?

A: We do have a table in the contract that limits the up-sampling and down-sampling limits. The limit on down-sampling was originally placed in the contract because of Nyquist –Shannon sampling theorem concerns but is being reviewed for possible removal.

Q: On days we do not acquire any imagery, do you still what a progress report?

A: Yes. Something in the e-mail body like “no flights” will satisfy the requirement.

Q: Is there a reason why FGDC metadata is not required for the DOQQs?

A: We create the FGDC metadata in-house which allows us the flexibility to edit or change the metadata on the fly if errors or corrections are found. The contractor is required to deliver text based files that support the in-house metadata creation.

Q: Please clarify whether if collection at higher resolution and sensor allows to collect one full quad per flightline whether pre approval is required?

A: There was some confusion on the intent of the questions but we think the intention was “If higher resolution imagery is collected for possible secondary sales, does it need to be approved?“ With digital sensors, we no longer provide predetermined exposure stations (i.e. NAPP stations) like we once did with film cameras. The contractor is solely responsible for flight planning the required coverage (the Government does not plan on reviewing or approving the flight plan). However, if the contractor is proposing to add significant risk to the program, ie tripling the flight lines, then we would want to review and approve the additional risk.

Q: Is there a minimum storage size of hard drives?

A: No minimum but we will specify a maximum size of 2Tb in the final RFP.

Q: Are the scripts that APFO run during ingestion available to the contractors?

A: No, the scripts are not releasable.

RFP/PROPOSAL

Q: Is the length of the response 100 pages for a total of 200 sides or is it 100 sides for a total of 50 pages?

A: The technical proposal has a 100 page limit (200 sides if you double-side each page). Camera approval documents (such as camera calibration reports) and company financial report are excluded from the page limit.

Q: Can part of the proposal be company confidential?

A: The submitted proposal (both Cost and Technical volumes) are treated as proprietary whether marked as such.

Q: Clarification on CCM delivery – 45 or 60 days?

A: The draft RFP incorrectly states CCMs are due 60 day after acquisition period. The final RFP will corrected to reflect the actual requirement of 45 days.

Q: When are comments on the draft RFP due?

A: The final RFP is scheduled to be released on February 1 and therefore comments need to be submitted before then.

PAST PERFORMANCE

Q: I understand that USDA is behind in evaluating past performance. How is a firm evaluated without this information?

A: Final past performance for NAIP contracts are released after all of the imagery for the year has been inspected (for all contractors) and because the inspection process can take 12 months to complete, “final” past performance score for NAIP are always one year delayed. To provide some immediate feedback to the source selection process, we use an “interim” score that consist of the acquisition completion and delivery completion.

Q: If you have no past preference, how is the proposal evaluated without “dinging” the contractor?

A: If there is truly no past performance, we cannot evaluate the proposal favorably or unfavorably on the factor of past performance. We try to do this in the fairest and most equitable way possible.

SENSOR APPROVAL/SAMPLES

Q: Is the digital camera approval good for the make (i.e. UltraCam) or model (i.e. UltraCam Xp)?

A: The approval is for the model.

Q: Is there a list of approved camera models?

A: No. A camera model will not be globally approved and will be evaluated based on each contractor request.

Q: Does a contractor need to submit camera samples if they have already had the camera model approved for the prior NAIP IDIQ contract?

A: No – past prime contractors do not need to resubmit samples for the same model.

Q: Would satellite vendors be allowed to deliver products derived from data collection using more than one satellite? Would the satellites need to be calibrated to each other?

A: We do allow multiple airborne camera models to be used in a project item and most likely would allow the same for spaced-based sensors. The use of multiple satellites would need to be evaluated based on risk and, therefore, would need to documented in the proposal.

Q: Are the sensor samples digital?

A: Yes (no paper copies please)

DATA RIGHTS

Q: Please define “data rights” as in transferred at delivery.

A: The copyright of the imagery is transferred to public domain at the 90% payment (60% at acquisition completion and 30% at product delivery). Any potential DEM product will have the data rights/license restrictions listed in the optional proposal.

Q: Can you clarify the ownership rights to the original digital source imagery if it is collect at a much higher resolution that is delivered under contract (after down-sampling to contract specifications)?

A: All data delivered under the contract, and only that data, will the copyright be transferred to public domain (see Paragraph H-3 in the IDIQ contract). The original source data is not a deliverable and therefore the contractor can maintain data rights.