National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Follow on

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a follow-on requirement for the Snow and Ice (SI) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) to develop and maintain the capabilities to acquire, ingest, process, archive and distribute snow and ice data and data products generated from assigned space-borne and airborne Earth science missions/instruments (historical, new and future) needed for Earth science research. The SI DAAC receives, archives, transforms, validates, and distributes digital and analog snow and ice data products generated from numerous Earth Observation satellite instruments, airborne instruments, as well as in situ data sets. The SI DAAC also maintains information about snow cover, avalanches, glaciers, ice sheets, freshwater ice, sea ice, ground ice, permafrost, atmospheric ice, paleoglaciology, and ice cores. This follow-on contract would continue to develop and operate the SI DAAC, performing user services, product generation, data and information management, data archival and distribution, and related science support activities. NASA/GSFC intends to issue a sole source contract to acquire these services from the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the UCB has unique qualifications in scientific expertise and specific cryosphere product development and maintenance needed to support remote sensing data in support of NASA's cryosphere community. UCB brings several specific unique data processing, archive management, and distribution techniques to meet the future challenges of large-scale data systems. The UCB has a requirement to continue engineering work in the development, utilization, and calibration of essential algorithms to make the cryospheric research data sets usable by researchers. The application of these algorithms requires an expertise in cryospheric data and is accomplished by doctoral-level scientists and engineers at the SI DAAC. Specifically, SI DAAC scientists and engineers have developed and continue to enhance the Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) data projection. Since 1993 when it was developed, EASE-Grid has gained significant popularity particularly among the polar data community. EASE-Grid's popularity is based on its usage as a projection by the Earth science communitys. In addition, they produce Near Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE) data sets and provide daily global maps of sea ice concentrations and snow extent information. This product is used by almost all EOSDIS processing systems for over 100 separate products and is considered part of the critical suite of ancillary products required for creation of general remote sensing data products. UCB has worked closely with the ESDIS infrastructure and data system components since their inception. They have been the key leaders of early adoption, installation and maintenance of snow and ice data within the ESDIS infrastructure components known as the EOSDIS Core System (ECS). Because of their skills in data systems and remote sensing snow and ice products, UCB has unique capabilities to provide for NASA's scientific and research needs. Building on the ESDIS infrastructure of ECS, UCB has developed and maintained sophisticated data distribution tools to meet user needs, such as the IceBridge Portal, the Satellite Observations of Arctic Change, and Atlas of the Cryosphere. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12 Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort electronically via email to Carlos Naterra at contact@example.gov not later than March 18, 2022. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html