NOAA/NESDIS Commercial Weather Data Pilot

Added: Sep 15, 2016 1:34 pm Additional contract award information is available via FPDS.gov.

Added: Aug 08, 2016 2:21 pm Amendment 1 includes questions and answers and a revised Attachment 3 Technical Summary Matrix.

Quoters shall include a signed copy of the Amendment SF30 and use the revised Matrix.

The Amendment does not extend the due date for quotes. 

Added: Jun 21, 2016 1:43 pm Modified: Jul 28, 2016 1:19 pmTrack Changes This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, in conjunction with the Commercial Item Test Program in Subpart 13.5, and supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

The solicitation number for this procurement is AB-133E-16-RQ-0581 and is hereby issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

Questions shall be submitted to sarah.waugh@noaa.gov no later than 12:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, August 2, 2016.

Quotes  shall be submitted to sarah.waugh@noaa.gov no later than 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, August 12, 2016

Background:

The Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-113) included the following language:
Commercial Weather Data Pilot. - NOAA shall, through an open competitive process, seek to enter into at least one pilot contract to assess the potential viability of commercial weather data in its weather modeling and forecasting. This funding shall be used to purchase, evaluate, and calibrate available data, which meets the standards and specifications set by NOAA in its Commercial Data Policy.

In order to respond to an ever-growing demand for environmental information, NOAA continually strives for an observing enterprise that is flexible, responsive to evolving technologies and economically sustainable, while supporting and upholding the international data sharing commitments upon which NOAA depends for global data. NOAA is interested in commercially provided Earth observing data that satisfy NOAA observational requirements at a lower cost than government-provided alternatives.

The NOAA Commercial Space Policy calls for NOAA to explore and, where appropriate, pursue demonstration projects to validate the viability of assimilating commercially provided environmental data and data products into NOAA meteorological models and add value to the forecast. Data demonstration and validation will precede operational procurement of commercial data by NOAA.

The Commercial Weather Data Pilot will serve as one such demonstration project, and will seek to procure and evaluate commercial data for the purpose of assessing the quality of the data and its impact to weather forecast models. The data from this pilot program will be used for evaluation purposes only and will not be used operationally in NOAA's products and services. In addition, the pilot program evaluation is separate and independent from ongoing NESDIS activities. Participation in the initial phase will not influence eligibility in potential future pilot program activities.

Scope:

NOAA will seek to purchase three to six months of on-orbit radio occultation (RO) data and associated metadata for the purpose of technical assessment and assimilation into numerical weather prediction models to determine the operational viability of these data. This data will not be used operationally by NOAA.

Additional information and requirements are included in the attached RFQ.

Added: Jun 21, 2016 1:43 pm Modified: Jul 28, 2016 1:14 pmTrack Changes This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, in conjunction with the Commercial Item Test Program in Subpart 13.5, and supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

The solicitation number for this procurement is AB-133E-16-RQ-0581 and is hereby issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

Questions shall be submitted to sarah.waugh@noaa.gov no later than 12:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, August 2, 2016.

Proposals are due no later than 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, August 12, 2016.

Background:

The Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-113) included the following language:
Commercial Weather Data Pilot. - NOAA shall, through an open competitive process, seek to enter into at least one pilot contract to assess the potential viability of commercial weather data in its weather modeling and forecasting. This funding shall be used to purchase, evaluate, and calibrate available data, which meets the standards and specifications set by NOAA in its Commercial Data Policy.

In order to respond to an ever-growing demand for environmental information, NOAA continually strives for an observing enterprise that is flexible, responsive to evolving technologies and economically sustainable, while supporting and upholding the international data sharing commitments upon which NOAA depends for global data. NOAA is interested in commercially provided Earth observing data that satisfy NOAA observational requirements at a lower cost than government-provided alternatives.

The NOAA Commercial Space Policy calls for NOAA to explore and, where appropriate, pursue demonstration projects to validate the viability of assimilating commercially provided environmental data and data products into NOAA meteorological models and add value to the forecast. Data demonstration and validation will precede operational procurement of commercial data by NOAA.

The Commercial Weather Data Pilot will serve as one such demonstration project, and will seek to procure and evaluate commercial data for the purpose of assessing the quality of the data and its impact to weather forecast models. The data from this pilot program will be used for evaluation purposes only and will not be used operationally in NOAA's products and services. In addition, the pilot program evaluation is separate and independent from ongoing NESDIS activities. Participation in the initial phase will not influence eligibility in potential future pilot program activities.

Scope:

NOAA will seek to purchase three to six months of on-orbit radio occultation (RO) data and associated metadata for the purpose of technical assessment and assimilation into numerical weather prediction models to determine the operational viability of these data. This data will not be used operationally by NOAA.

Additional information and requirements are included in the attached RFQ.

Added: Jun 21, 2016 1:43 pm The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) is soliciting industry input on the draft solicitation to enhance our understanding of the optimal approach for a commercial data buy to obtain radio occultation soundings of the neutral atmosphere and the ionosphere for the purposes of assessing the potential viability of this data in NOAA's weather modeling and forecasting as part of the Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP).

Details and background about the CWDP can be found in the attached draft solicitation.

NOAA is inviting comments from industry through two avenues as described below:

1) Written comments, questions, or suggestions on the attached draft solicitation to be submitted via email to Sarah Waugh at sarah.waugh@noaa.gov with a copy to Galeeb Kachra at galeeb.kachra@noaa.gov per the deadlines listed below.

2) Participation in Industry Day. Please visit the Community Engagement website at http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/NESDIS_Community_Engagements_Commercial_3/ for information and registration. This industry day is being held in conjunction with the draft solicitation comment period in order to answer questions about the draft and discuss the status of NESDIS' commercial activities more broadly.

Schedule
• Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - Draft solicitation released.
• Friday, July 1, 2016, 3pm EST - Due date for email submissions of initial comments/suggestions/questions. These may be addressed at the industry day.
• Thursday, July 7, 2016 - Industry Day (2:00-3:30pm, Silver Spring, Maryland).
• Tuesday, July 12, 2016 - Amendment to draft solicitation with responses to questions asked via email and at the Industry Day.
• Friday, July 15, 2016, 5pm EST - Final deadline for comments/suggestions/questions. Submissions may be incorporated into the final solicitation.

Disclaimers
• Respondents should be advised that all questions submitted will be posted to www.FedBizOpps.gov as an amendment for all respondents to review, although the identity of the requesting organization will be withheld. Respondents may comment on any aspect of the solicitation.

• Comments are especially encouraged on Attachment 1 (Statement of Need), Attachment 2 (Draft Submission Instructions and Evaluation), and Attachments 3 & 4 (Summary Matrices).

• Vendors that elect not to comment on the draft solicitation, or to attend the industry day will not be precluded from submitting a proposal for any subsequent competitive NOAA solicitation. Any future solicitation documents will be posted electronically under this same record number on this website. Interested firms are encouraged to register via www.fbo.gov to receive a notice of availability of any updates to this record, including amendments or the final solicitation.

• This presolicitation notice does not obligate the Government to reimburse any costs associated with the preparation and/or submission of information in response to this presolicitation notice, and your response is not a guarantee of future work. This presolicitation is not a solicitation for a contract or grant award; future solicitations will be posted under this same record number on this website.