Sole Source: Terrasolid Software Maintenance award to Vertical Aspect LLC
Awarded Limited / Sole Source Justification Posted
- Solicitation number
- 1305M226P0082
- Agency
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Commerce
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- Contract number
- 1305M226P0082 Federal contract award
- NAICS code
- 513210 Software Publishers
- Place of performance
- Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, United States
- Points of contact
-
- Chelsea Vera chelsea.vera@noaa.gov (757) 828-6329
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through its Acquisition & Grants Office Eastern Acquisition Division in Norfolk on behalf of the National Ocean Service's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Office, issued a sole source justification notice on April 21, 2026, for Terrasolid software maintenance services to be awarded to Vertical Aspect LLC of Kansas City, Missouri. The justification for the sole source award is based on Terrasolid's unique technical capabilities to manage extremely large datasets generated from NOAA's remote sensing technologies, including analog film, digital imagery, and airborne topographic lidar used for shoreline mapping, and its exclusive ability to apply lidar strip and calibration error adjustments that no other commercial off-the-shelf GIS or remote sensing software packages can provide. Vertical Aspect LLC is the only U.S. distributor of Terrasolid software and serves as the sole vendor for the licenses currently integrated into the NOS/NGS lidar processing workflow for quality control and coastal mapping data processing. The notice does not specify award values, quantities of software licenses, or service timelines. Without this software maintenance, NOAA would be unable to review the quality and ensure the integrity and accuracy of its coastal mapping data.
Notice text
***NOAA'S ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, EASTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-NORFOLK, ON BEHALF OF NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS) NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY (NGS) OFFICE, NEGOTIATED, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF RFO FAR 12.102(A), WITH VERTICAL ASPECT LLC OUT OF KANSAS CITY MO TO PROVIDE TERRASOLID SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE.
***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) REQUIREMENT THAT THE TECHNOLOGIES USED BY NOAA’S NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS) FOR SHORELINE MAPPING ARE REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS ANALOG FILM, DIGITAL IMAGERY AND AIRBORNE TOPOGRAPHIC LIDAR. THESE TECHNOLOGIES PRODUCE EXTREMELY LARGE DATASETS AND EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED TO MANAGE, VISUALIZE, EDIT, AND ANALYZE THE OUTPUT. MOST COMMERCIAL OFF THE SHELF GIS AND REMOTE SENSING SOFTWARE PACKAGES REQUIRE DATA TO BE SUBSET INTO SMALL SECTIONS FOR PROCESSING OR VISUALIZATION. TERRASOLID IS UNIQUE IN ITS ABILITY TO MANAGE WORKFLOWS, ALLOW FOR IMPORT OF LARGE LIDAR DATA SETS FOR VISUALIZATION, EDITING, AND ANALYSIS. TERRASOLID ALSO IS UNIQUE IN ITS CAPABILITY TO APPLY LIDAR STRIP AND CALIBRATION ERROR ADJUSTMENTS. VERTICAL ASPECT, LLC IS THE ONLY U.S. DISTRIBUTOR OF TERRASOLID SOFTWARE. CURRENTLY, TERRASOLID SOFTWARE IS FULLY INTEGRATED INTO THE LIDAR PROCESSING WORKFLOW MENTIONED ABOVE.
VERTICAL ASPECT IS THE SOLE PROVIDER OF THE TERRASOLID SOFTWARE. TERRASOLID IS UNIQUE IN ITS ABILITY TO (1) MANAGE WORKFLOWS, ALLOW FOR IMPORT OF LARGE LIDAR DATA SETS FOR VISUALIZATION, EDITING, AND ANALYSIS, AND, (2) APPLY LIDAR STRIP AND CALIBRATION ERROR ADJUSTMENTS. VERTICAL ASPECT IS CURRENTLY THE ONLY SOFTWARE VENDOR OF THESE LICENSES THAT NGS IS CURRENTLY UTILIZING TO QUALITY CONTROL AND PROCESS COASTAL MAPPING DATA. CURRENTLY TERRASOLID SOFTWARE IS FULLY INTEGRATED INTO THE NOS/NGS LIDAR PROCESSING WORKFLOW. NOT PURCHASING THESE LICENSES WOULD CAUSE NOAA TO BE UNABLE TO REVIEW THE QUALITY OF THE DATA TO ENSURE ITS INTEGRITY AND ACCURACY. FURTHERMORE, NOT PURCHASING THESE LICENSES WOULD PREVENT NGS FROM CONTINUING ITS PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION TO OTHERS WHO RELY ON THE DATA. THIS CONTRACT IS NECESSARY TO AVOID A BREAK IN SERVICE FOR THIS CRITICAL MISSION REQUIREMENT. TERRASOLID POSSESSES THE UNIQUE CAPABILITY TO IMPORT LARGE LIDAR DATA SETS FOR VISUALIZATION, EDITING, AND ANALYSIS REQUIRED TO PERFORM THIS REQUIREMENT. NO OTHER SOURCES CAN FURNISH THE REQUIREMENTS AS TERRASOLID IS A PROPRIETY PRODUCT. NO ONE BUT VERTICAL ASPECT HAS THE SOURCE CODE TO PROVIDE THIS PRODUCT, LICENSE, OR MAINTENANCE SERVICES. SINCE THE SOURCE CODE IS PROPRIETARY, NO OTHER VENDOR CAN PROVIDE THIS.
VERTICAL ASPECT IS THE ONLY SOURCE AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. WHO CAN PROVIDE THIS REQUIREMENT.
Awarded contract 1305M226P0082 to unknown vendor for unknown amount on 2026-04-21.
On GovTribe
Work this opportunity on GovTribe
- Track it in your pipeline
- Find teaming partners
- Similar opportunities
- Ask GovTribe AI about this opportunity