Aerial Snow Surveys Upper San Joaquin River Basin

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) AND NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE

The US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), Mid-Pacific Region, intends to negotiate a contract on a sole source basis to Airborne Snow Observatory, Incorporated under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

Airborne Snow Observatory Inc. holds the exclusive data processing license for the Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) imaging spectrometer and scanning lidar system, from California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA contractor.

Under this project, Reclamation requires the following services:

A) snow depth accuracy with 5 centimeter precision or better across extremely rugged mountains and underneath forest canopy at a raw (LIDAR) resolution of approximately 1 point per square meter resulting in measurement aggregated depth at a scale of 5 meters or better,

B) modeling of snow density to derive snow water equivalent volume, which requires substantial expertise in snow science and,

C) ability to acquire snow surveys from January 15 through October 15, 2020 within 72 hour- notice (weather permitting) and within a pre-defined window not to exceed 15 days, and

D) ability to fully process data at full resolution within 72 hours and produce a report on current snowpack state.

Aerial snow surveys were previously conducted through an Interagency Agreement with NASA. But NASA went through the technology transfer process, resulting the transfer of ASO exclusive licensing agreement to Airborne Snow Observatory, Incorporated in August 2019. Under the previous interagency agreement, NASA conducted snow surveys for the past three years in the Upper San Joaquin Basin. Therefore, it is important for the future surveys to match the historical data of snow measurement efforts performed by NASA to ensure continuity of operations for the reservoir and water management tasks in 2020.

Firms who can provide the services above must submit written notice to the Contracting Office and must provide evidence in sufficient detail to demonstrate the respondent¿s ability to meet the stated requirement. This is not a request for competitive proposals. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Responses shall include the firm¿s Dun and Bradstreet number and Tax Identification Number. Firms shall identify their business size (small, other than small, etc.) in accordance with the size standard $16.5M.for NAICS code 541370 (Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services. This notice is the only official pre-solicitation notice of this requirement.

Please note that any prospective offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov in accordance with FAR Subpart 4.11.

The following information is pertinent to this notice:

1. Responses shall be submitted by 1200 PST, November 21, 2019 to the point of contact below.

2. Point of Contact/Contracting Office Address:

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region

Acquisitions Division, Supply and Services Branch

2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento CA 95825

Dean Seggay, Contracting Officer

dseggay@usbr.gov

3. Period of Performance: January 15, 2020 through October 15, 2020.

4. Refer to the attached Performance Work Statement for information.