Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Amendment 0002 is hereby issued to provide responses to vendor questions and update Attachment 3, Instructions and Evaluation (Technical Volume) of the RFP. *******************************************... Amendment 0002 is hereby issued to provide responses to vendor questions and update Attachment 3, Instructions and Evaluation (Technical Volume) of the RFP. ****************************************************************************************** Amendment 0001 is hereby issued to update Attachment 4, Price/Availablity Schedule, to accurately reflect the period of performance of each Phase. ******************************************************************************************** This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, in conjunction with the Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items in Subpart 13.5, and supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and an additional written solicitation will not be issued. Questions on this solicitation must be submitted to Cherron E. Bennett-Pettus at cherron.bennett-pettus@noaa.gov and Suzanna Espinoza at suzanna.espinoza@noaa.gov, no later than 2:00 PM Eastern Time on August 11, 2023. Answers to any questions will be provided to all potential offerors via an amendment to the solicitation. Proposals must be received in the contracting office no later than 2:00 P.M., Eastern Time on August 22, 2023. NOAA's scientific mission is to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, the ocean and coasts through the systematic study of the structure and behavior of related ecosystems. A key NOAA mission need is for accurate and comprehensive measurements of global sea-surface wind speed and direction. Wind speed measurements are important to meteorologists and oceanographers in the preparation of marine weather forecasts for hurricanes, winter storms, and high seas. Wind information is also used in forecasts of ocean currents, and in observing and understanding the global manifestation of phenomena like the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Winds are also related to key processes in the hydrological cycle of evaporation and precipitation, the energy cycle, and the CO2 budget. Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is a remote sensing technique that utilizes signals from positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service satellites, such as GPS and Galileo, to measure and study various properties of the Earth's surface. NOAA has performed significant scientific work on investigating the utility of GNSS-R for addressing mission needs including measuring ocean wind speeds, land surface freeze/thaw, sea ice, soil moisture, and flooding inundation. Retrieving ocean surface wind (OSW) speeds is a promising application of GNSS-R. In GNSS-R reflectometry, GNSS signals emitted by satellites are reflected off the ocean surface, and the reflected signals are received by GNSS receivers on satellites, aircraft, or ground-based stations. By analyzing the characteristics of reflected signals, valuable information about the ocean surface can be derived, including wind speeds. The interaction between GNSS signals and the ocean surface causes changes in the signal's properties, such as amplitude, phase, and polarization. These changes are influenced by the roughness of the ocean surface, which is directly related to wind speed. By measuring and analyzing these changes, GNSS-R can provide estimates of OSW speed. See attached request for proposal (RFP) for more details.