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Commercial Data Program (CDP)

NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) successfully engages with the commercial sector through pilots and acquisition of operational satellite data-as-a-service for commercial data to help improve weather forecasts and provide risk reduction to the overall observing system.

The program includes two lines of effort: Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) demonstrations of the quality and impact of commercial data on weather forecast models; and Commercial Data Purchase in support of operational weather forecasting.

Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy II (RODB-2, 2023-2028)

On-Ramping Opportunity

On May 1, 2024, NOAA posted a Request for Information (RFI) for the on-ramping of additional vendors to the RODB-2 multiple award vendor Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) pool.

View the RFI on SAM.Gov

Responses are due no later than June 5, 2024.

On March 23, 2023, NOAA announced the award of RODB-2 IDIQ contracts to PlanetiQ and to Spire Global Subsidiary. These contracts, with a total maximum value of $60M, have a five-year ordering period. Because the IDIQ contract duration is five years, while developing the RODB-2 RFP, NOAA’s CDP decided to annually pulse the commercial sector to see if new vendors have emerged that are capable of meeting RODB-2 requirements.

CDP’s RODB-2 requires the continuation of commercially sourced operational Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) data to meet NOAA’s operational weather needs for neutral atmosphere and ionosphere data.

As new qualified vendors emerge over the next five years, CDP will add these vendors to the RODB-2 IDIQ to compete with Spire and PlanetiQ for delivery order (DO) contracts; the contract ceiling will remain in place.

Previous Activity

CWDP Round 4: Ocean Surface Winds (2023-2024)

Contract Award

On Monday, September 18, 2023, NOAA awarded a Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) Ocean Surface Winds (OSW) Pilot contract to Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc.

View award information on SAM.gov

NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) supports CWDP studies to demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on NOAA’s weather forecast models. This contract award constitutes the next round of NOAA’s CWDP studies with a particular focus on ocean surface wind data.

For this Pilot Study, NOAA will assess the quality and impact of available commercial global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) observations for the measurement of OSW and other characteristics. NOAA will use Pilot Study data to improve upon NOAA’s derived wind speed products and investigate the utility of derived wind speed products developed by commercial vendors.

The period of performance of the OSW CWDP study is 12 months; the Pilot study will be conducted in three phases: Phase 1: Preparation (3 months); Phase 2: Data Delivery (6 months); and Phase 3: Evaluation (3 months).

Upon completion and evaluation, successful CWDP studies may lead to sustained commercial data purchases by CDP to support NOAA’s research and operational forecasting endeavors. The CWDP awards are pursuant to the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-25). NOAA is pleased to take this next step in working with the commercial sector to obtain and analyze ocean surface winds and related ancillary data to meet NOAA’s critical weather forecasting mission for the Nation.

The OSW Pilot contract follows up on an RFP issued in August 2023.

Previous Activity

General/Other Requests for Information

On September 15, 2022, NOAA issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting information on existing or planned commercial satellite environmental data and related capabilities that will be available in the FY2023 through FY2030 timeframe, and that may help NOAA meet its diverse mission objectives.

View RFI at SAM.gov

Responses will be used to inform a potential Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) project for terrestrial weather applications, as well as future pilots for space weather and other applications.

Previous Activity

CWDP Round 3: Space Weather Data (2022-2027)

Contract Awards to GeoOptics, PlanetiQ, & Spire

On July 14, 2022, NOAA awarded three Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) space weather contracts to GeoOptics Inc. (Pasadena, CA), Space Sciences and Engineering LLC, dba PlanetiQ (Golden, CO), and Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc (San Francisco, CA). These contract awards constitute the next round of NOAA’s CWDP studies with a particular focus on space weather data. Read more

Previous Activity

Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy (RODB-1, 2020-2022)

CWDP Round 2: Radio Occultation Data (2018-2019)

New Legislation

CWDP Round 1: Radio Occultation Data (2016-2018)