NOAA/NESDIS/OSPO McIDAS User Services

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Man Computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS)

 McIDAS User Services:

Software and Support

This is a Notice of Intent to issue a sole source Purchase Order to the University of Wisconsin- Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) located at 1225 W. Dayton Street, Madison Wisconsin 53706-1695.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) is responsible for the management and operations of the Satellite Operation Control Center (SOCC) and the Environmental Satellite Product Center (ESPC).  ESPC manages and directs the operation of the central ground facilities which ingest, process, and distribute environmental satellite data and derived products to domestic and foreign users. ESPC supports multiple Geostationary Environmental Satellite (GOES) and Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) production systems via virtualization.         

NESDIS/OSPO has a requirement for the Man Computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS), a software and support which is the cornerstone for ESPC’s GOES applications used to create weather products from satellite imagery. McIDAS software performs a wide variety of functions with satellite data, including acquiring, displaying (static and time-lapse), analyzing, interpreting and managing the data. McIDAS software is designed to handle large amounts of data in a convenient manner, and is a vast resource of image-processing and applications programs and subroutines. In order to receive patches and updates as well as software support, the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison requires a McIDAS User’s Group (MUG) annual fee. The MUG consists of the McIDAS website, support forums, and the user email list. Moreover, this group tests and distributes research results, new software and techniques developed by the SSEC to maintain and upgrade the system software and documentation, to provide help desk support to its members, and to conduct other functions of a users' group on a pooled subscription basis.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s SSEC is the only developer and the sole industry provider for McIDAS software and support.  Therefore, the MclDAS software and support is a proprietary product and no third party can provide access to the McIDAS software and support.  The SSEC has developed and maintained the McIDAS software and support since its inception and is the only vendor authorized to distribute and sell the McIDAS software and support.

A sole source justification was prepared in accordance with FAR Subpart 13.501. The statutory authority permitting this sole source acquisition is 41 U.S.C. 1901, as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a). This notice is not a request for competitive bids, quotes or proposals; however, any vendor that believes it can fully meet the Government’s Requirements may submit written documentation affirmatively demonstrating its ability to meet the Government’s Requirements to the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist, listed in this notice, within six (6) calendar days of this notice post-date. Vendor documentation that may be submitted in response to this notice will be considered only to determine whether to proceed with the intended sole source acquisition. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive acquisition based on potential submissions to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Any documentation submitted in response to this notice is strictly voluntary, therefore, the Government: 1) will not pay for any documentation submitted in response to this notice; and, 2) will not award a contract solely based on documentation submitted in response to this notice.