Commercial Data Pilot (CDP) Program – Wildfire Imagery Pilot Study

Amendment / Modification

• Amendment 0001 to Solicitation 1332KP26R0016 has been issued with an effective date of April 7, 2026.

• The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to questions submitted by vendors.

• The proposal due date remains April 30, 2026, at 2 PM Eastern Time.

• This amendment provides clarifications and answers to vendor questions.

• The proposal due date has NOT been extended and remains April 30, 2026, at 2 PM Eastern Time.

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document provides responses to vendor questions regarding the "WF Imagery RFP - Questions Answered" (RFP 1332KP26R0016) for the Wildfire Imagery Pilot Study.

• Evaluation Criteria: Objective requirements will be evaluated by a Technical Evaluation Team (TET) to identify strengths and weaknesses, influencing confidence ratings. Risks associated with technical capabilities will also be identified and rated.
• Appendices: Appendices are included in scoring and are intended as reference material for the main proposal.
• Security Requirements: Refer to Section VI of the Solicitation for specific security compliance requirements.
• Data Latency: Latency will be evaluated using average, maximum, and percentile thresholds. The government is interested in collecting latency data and working with vendors to improve system latency.
• Revisit Rate vs. Resolution: The government acknowledges potential tradeoffs between revisit rates and spectral/spatial resolution. Bidders are invited to explain how their proposed solution tradeoffs provide high utility for the needs expressed in the SOW.
• Regions of Interest (ROI): The government will work with the contractor after award to define ROIs and develop an effective tasking schedule. A one-month preparation phase before data delivery will allow for optimizing tasking schedules.
• Geographic Exclusion Areas (GEAs): Contractors must adhere to GEAs. If a GEA overlaps with a scientific ROI, the contractor shall notify the COR and recommend an alternative location, or implement automated filtering to ensure no prohibited data is processed.
• Data Delivery Authorization: NOAA will consider modifications to data licensing to help the Pilot exceed Threshold Requirements, enhance value, or increase the likelihood of successful contract performance.

These clarifications provide further detail on evaluation methods, proposal content, security expectations, and operational aspects, which may influence how bidders prepare their proposals and understand the government's needs.

Statement of Work (SOW) / Performance Work Statement (PWS)

This Statement of Work (SOW) outlines a pilot study for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to augment its wildfire detection and monitoring capabilities using commercial space-based multispectral imagery. The goal is to assess the quality and utility of commercial multispectral imagery, including infrared capabilities, for wildfire detection, monitoring, and mapping, and to compare its performance against NOAA's existing instruments.

• The Contractor shall supply multi-spectral observation data, preferably including visible, near infrared, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and long-wave infrared channels.

• Data will be used to evaluate commercial multispectral imagery for wildfire detection, characterization, monitoring, and mapping.

• Requirements are categorized as threshold (minimum acceptable) and objective (desired) values.

• The Contractor shall deliver at least 80% of constellation-level data during the peak wildfire season (June-November) over a 3-9 month period, focusing on the western United States.

• Two pricing options are available based on the region of interest size (1900 km N/S x 1000 km E/W, or 950 km N/S x 500 km E/W).

• Data Availability: Minimum 80% operational availability for the constellation.

• Spatial Resolution: Threshold 200 m, Objective 50 m (at nadir).

• Geolocation Accuracy: Threshold 100% of horizontal spatial resolution, Objective 50% of horizontal spatial resolution.

• L1B Product Latency: Threshold 3 hours, Objective 60 minutes.

• Timestamp Consistency: Within ±1 second across satellites.

• Data Products: Level 1B (calibrated, geolocated radiances) and Level 1C (resampled onto a fixed Earth grid) formatted as NetCDF, HDF5, or geotiff.

• Optional: Level 2 data products (active fire detection information, fire radiative power, fire masks) if available.

• The pilot study will be conducted over a schedule including Post-Award, Phase 1 (Preparation - 1 month), Phase 2 (Data Delivery - 6 months), and Phase 3 (Evaluation - 3 months).

• Data delivery will focus on the western United States during the peak wildfire season.

• Spectral Bands: Must include Visible/Near Infrared (0.6-0.9 µm), Shortwave/Midwave Infrared (3.5-4.2 µm), and Longwave Infrared (8.0-12.5 µm).

• Data Traceability: Data products must be traceable to recognized reference standards, with VIIRS as the primary external reference instrument.

• Technical Documentation: Required, including Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBDs), calibration/validation data, user guides, and data specification documents.

• Data Delivery: Via HTTPS or SFTP to the NESDIS Common Cloud Framework (NCCF).

• Security: Compliance with CAR Clause 1352.239-72 and relevant NIST standards.

• Data Rights: Contractor grants NOAA a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to use, reproduce, and create NOAA-derived products. Level-2 data can be shared with unlimited distribution after 24 hours. Other data can be distributed to U.S. Government agencies and specified international entities immediately after receipt for non-commercial use.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This solicitation (Solicitation Number 1332KP26R0016) is a Request for Proposal (RFP) for commercial products and services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seeks to acquire commercial multi-spectral imagery observations and investigate the utility of radiometric data from commercial vendors to aid in wildfire detection, characterization, monitoring, and mapping. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation prepared in accordance with FAR Part 12.

• Acquisition of commercial multi-spectral imagery, including visible, near infrared, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and long-wave infrared channels.

• Investigation of the utility of radiometric data for wildfire detection, characterization, monitoring, and mapping.

• Data products are expected to be at Level 1B (calibrated and geolocated radiances) and potentially Level 1C (resampled) and Level 2 (derived geophysical products).

• Requirements include specific spatial resolution, geolocation accuracy, and latency for Level 1B products.

• Continuous and contiguous data coverage is required.

• Technical documentation, including Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBDs), characterization, quality control, and calibration/validation data, is required.

• The Government intends to award one or more Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contracts.

• The associated NAICS code is 518210 (Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services) with a small business size standard of $40.0 million.

• The period of performance is from June 1, 2026, to April 1, 2027.

• Proposals must be submitted electronically via email by 2:00 PM Eastern Time on April 30, 2026.

• Questions related to the RFP are due by 2:00 PM Eastern Time on April 20, 2026.

• Proposals will be evaluated based on Technical Capability (significantly more important than Price) and Price.

• Offerors must demonstrate current operational capabilities.

• The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if necessary.

• This acquisition is a Total Small Business Set-Aside.

• This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses by reference, accessible at www.acquisition.gov.

• Attachments include: Attachment 1: Statement of Work, and Attachment 2: Price / Availability Schedule.

• Offerors are responsible for ensuring timely submission of proposals. Multiple emails may be sent to accommodate large file sizes.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a pricing schedule related to WF Imagery for the period of April 7, 2026. It is intended for bidders to provide their pricing structure.

• The pricing schedule is organized by phase: Preparation (1 Month), Data Delivery (6 Months), and Evaluation (3 Months).
• It includes columns for 'Total Price by Phase for Level 0 and 1 Data Products' and 'Total Price by Phase for Level 2 Data Products'.
• All listed prices for all phases and data levels are currently $0.0.

Bidders are expected to use this template to submit their pricing proposals. The current zero values indicate that specific pricing details need to be filled in by the bidder as part of their response to the solicitation.

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document contains questions and answers related to the Commercial Data Program (CDP) Wildfire Imagery Pilot Study, RFP 1332KP26R0016. It serves as a form for bidders to submit inquiries and for the government to provide responses.

This document is a template for submitting questions and does not contain specific Q&A entries at this time. It outlines the columns for 'RFP Reference', 'Page No.', 'Question/Comment', and 'NOAA Response'.

This document is a form to be used by potential bidders to ask clarifying questions about the solicitation. The actual content of the Q&A will be populated as questions are submitted and answered by NOAA.