Wildfire Simulations in NOAA's CarbonTracker Model

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Acquisition & Grants Office, Western Acquisition Division-Boulder, intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with The Governing Council of the University of Toronto of Toronto, Ontario, Canada for non-personal services for further development of satellite and in situ data assimilation capabilities in NOAA's CarbonTracker model.

The sole source determination is based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML). This project builds on previous collaborative NOAA/CPO/AC4 with the University of Toronto to develop a new data assimilation capability for NOAA’s CarbonTracker.

The University of Toronto team invented the method and therefore has unique and detailed knowledge of the existing computer codes that will be adapted for implementation into CarbonTracker. No other provider exists that can carry out this work in a timely manner due to the complexity of the modeling framework and the specialized expertise. These services are highly technical and customized for our application and are not available on the open market.

No Federal or Cooperative Institute staff are available to perform the work, which is required to accomplish NOAA GML’s mission of delivering high quality greenhouse gas data to the public and help improve wildfire simulations. The Period of Performance is from 9/18/2024-9/17/2025.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can fully meet the government's requirements may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact within 15 days after publication of this synopsis. Such documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.