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)

Delivery Order 3

On January 4, 2024, NOAA awarded an eight-month Radio Occultation Data Buy II (RODB-2) Delivery Order-3 (DO-3) firm-fixed price contract to Spire Global Subsidiary Inc.

NOAA will acquire 6,000 near-real-time global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) data profiles per day (Neutral Atmosphere Data only) with an implementation data sharing license #1 (unlimited distribution rights).

The data delivery period shall be for 244 days running from Thursday, January 18, 2024, through Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

The total amount of the RODB-2 DO-3 contract is $9,402,540.00.

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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.

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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.

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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

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