Notice of Intent to Sole Source: Argos Satellite Data Transmission Service

Notice of Intent to Sole Source The US Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and Office of Protected Resources (OPR), using the procedures set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.501(a), intends to award on a sole source basis with The Woods Hole Group, Inc, for a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) for Argos satellite Data Transmission Services.

Background/Overview: NOAA Fisheries requires a satellite data transmission service that is compatible with wildlife platform transmitter terminals (PTT) and is capable of providing data transmitted by PTT in near-real time, in a standardized format. The Woods Hole Group is the United States-based subsidiary of CLS Group and is the sole provider of the Argos satellite communication services for receiving transmissions from PTT and providing those data in a standardized format.

NOAA Fisheries will utilize this service for multiple critical missions including to conserve and recover marine mammal and sea turtle populations and to obtain data on other species and environments. Researchers will deploy satellite transmitting devices to provide real-time monitoring and obtain data necessary to implement effective conservation and recovery efforts and manage other marine species.

The PTT used by NOAA Fisheries are designed for transmitting data through the Argos system and are used to track marine life movements and monitor water temperatures. In general, marine life are secretive, wide-ranging and are difficult to track directly. To understand the habitat needs, movements, home ranges and other ecological parameters of protected species, we rely on remote tracking techniques.

The service will specifically provide critical satellite data transmission and high-quality location accuracy to improve monitoring how these species use their habitats and respond to environmental changes.

The vendor shall provide the following support: PLATFORMS - ArgosService - Argos locations - Data Access - Satellite Data Collection and Location for Transmitting Platforms VALUE ADDED SERVICES - ArgosDirect - ArgosArchive (CD-Rom or Email) - Regular Monthly Data Bank - ArgosWeb: Free Secured Web Access ARGOSMONITOR - ArgosMonitor - Moored Buoy Monitoring (MBM) - Silent PTT Monitoring - Sending Alerts ARGOS POST-PROCESSING SERVICES - Track & Loc - On-demand Multipass Location - Argos Doppler Location Reprocessing - Enrich your tracks with contextual data