# SAM #128PTA27Q0003

USDA Market Research for a Nationwide Weather Information Service

**Buyer:** USDA OCP POD Acquisition Management Branch
**Posted:** October 29, 2026
**Respond By:** November 09, 2026
**Identifier:** 128PTA27Q0003
**NAICS:** 518210, 541715, 541512, 541519

USDA is seeking market input on an integrated nationwide weather information service for federal agricultural programs.
- **Government buyer:** U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Departmental Administration, OCP-POD Acquisition Management Branch.
- **Program users:** Federal Crop Insurance Program and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
- **Notice status:** Sources Sought market research; it is not a solicitation or contract award.
- **Requested service:** An operational, end-to-end weather information capability that combines ground observations and quality control, terrain-aware modeling, historical archives, weather and agricultural products, geospatial services and analytics, public dissemination, secure tools for authorized users, scientific support, and supporting infrastructure.
- **Key uses:** Crop-insurance validation, underwriting, claims and prevented-planting analysis, historical event reconstruction, program-integrity reviews, and NRCS data estimation and quality control.
- **Important requirements:** Nationwide precipitation and temperature products for the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii at nominal resolutions of 800 meters or finer; historical archives covering at least 30 years; documented data lineage, metadata, versioning, and reproducibility; secure, auditable operational portals; and no subscription fees for designated public products.
- **Named systems and data sources:** NRCS WCIS/AWDB, CoCoRaHS, state and regional Mesonets, SNOTEL, SNOLITE, and SCAN. These are cited as potential sources or supported systems, not identified as vendors.
- **OEMs and vendors:** No OEMs or vendors are named.
- **Requested respondent information:** Corporate and capability information, a requirement-by-requirement compliance matrix with evidence, operational-readiness details, a transition approach, and a non-binding rough-order-of-magnitude estimate. The notice seeks information about existing, currently available end-to-end capabilities.

### Description

<div>
  <p>This Sources Sought Notice is issued solely for informational and planning purposes and does not constitute a Solicitation, Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or Request for Quotation (RFQ). This notice is issued for market research purposes only pursuant to FAR Part 10.</p>

  <p>This notice does not obligate the Government to issue a future solicitation, award a contract, reimburse respondents for costs incurred, or otherwise pay for information submitted in response to this notice.</p>

  <p>Responses will be used to assess market capability and acquisition strategy development.</p>

  <p>USDA is conducting market research to identify commercial, academic, nonprofit, and other qualified organizations capable of providing a fully integrated weather information capability supporting the Federal Crop Insurance Program and NRCS operational requirements.</p>

  <p>The Government seeks information regarding industry capability to provide an operational, nationwide, scientifically defensible weather information service consisting of weather observations, quality control processes, terrain-aware weather modeling, historical archives, analytical tools, geospatial products, public dissemination services, restricted operational services, scientific support, and supporting infrastructure as a single integrated capability.</p>

  <p>The Government is specifically interested in determining whether capable sources exist that can provide an operational capability meeting or exceeding the functional outcomes currently relied upon by USDA programs.</p>

  <p>The Government seeks capability statements from organizations capable of delivering a complete end-to-end weather information service that supports:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Federal Crop Insurance Program operations</li>
    <li>Weather validation activities</li>
    <li>Weather-related underwriting and claims analysis</li>
    <li>Prevented planting determinations</li>
    <li>Historical weather reconstruction</li>
    <li>Program integrity reviews</li>
    <li>NRCS data estimation and quality-control operations</li>
    <li>Public dissemination of weather information</li>
    <li>Scientific analysis and support</li>
  </ul>

  <p>The Government is not seeking individual datasets, individual models, isolated software applications, consulting-only services, or limited analytical support.</p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding complete integrated capabilities.</p>
</div>

<div>
  <p><strong>Required Capability Areas</strong></p>
  <p>Respondents shall address their current operational capabilities within the following major areas.</p>

  <p><strong>1. Integrated Operational Capability</strong></p>
  <p>The respondent shall demonstrate an existing operational capability providing:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Ground-based observation acquisition</li>
    <li>Observation quality assurance/quality control</li>
    <li>Terrain-aware weather modeling</li>
    <li>Historical weather archives</li>
    <li>Weather product generation</li>
    <li>Geospatial services</li>
    <li>Public dissemination</li>
    <li>Restricted operational user services</li>
    <li>Analytical tools</li>
    <li>Scientific support</li>
    <li>Infrastructure and operations</li>
  </ul>
  <p>The complete capability shall be currently available.</p>

  <p><strong>2. Observation Acquisition and Quality Control</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Use of federal, state, tribal, academic, cooperative, public, and commercial weather networks.</li>
    <li>Integration of NRCS station data from the Water and Climate Information System (WCIS) Air and Water Database (AWDB).</li>
    <li>Use of CoCoRaHS observations.</li>
    <li>Use of state and regional Mesonet data.</li>
    <li>Station metadata validation.</li>
    <li>Observation lineage and traceability.</li>
    <li>Automated and manual QA/QC processes.</li>
    <li>Observation anomaly detection and resolution procedures.</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Respondents should describe operational processes, governance, documentation, and evidence supporting these capabilities.</p>

  <p><strong>3. Weather Modeling</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding operational terrain-aware weather modeling capable of:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Incorporating elevation effects.</li>
    <li>Incorporating slope and exposure influences.</li>
    <li>Accounting for rain-shadow impacts.</li>
    <li>Addressing coastal influences.</li>
    <li>Producing scientifically supportable estimates in sparse observation environments.</li>
    <li>Integrating observations and model output into operational products.</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Respondents should describe model architecture, operational status, validation methods, and production workflows.</p>

  <p><strong>4. National Weather Products</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks operational capabilities providing:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Gridded precipitation.</li>
    <li>Maximum temperature.</li>
    <li>Minimum temperature.</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Products shall be available for:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>CONUS</li>
    <li>Alaska</li>
    <li>Hawaii</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Products should support operational delivery at nominal spatial resolutions of 800 meters or finer.</p>

  <p><strong>5. Historical Archive and Data Stewardship</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Historical archives extending at least thirty years.</li>
    <li>Product version management.</li>
    <li>Historical reproducibility.</li>
    <li>Metadata preservation.</li>
    <li>Revision tracking.</li>
    <li>Product lineage documentation.</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>6. Derived Agricultural Weather Products</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding operational generation of:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Weather normals</li>
    <li>Ten-year averages</li>
    <li>Weather departures from normal</li>
    <li>Growing degree days</li>
    <li>Chilling hours</li>
    <li>Aggregated weather statistics</li>
    <li>Agricultural weather indicators</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Respondents should describe methodologies and reproducibility controls.</p>

  <p><strong>7. Crop Insurance Operational Support</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding support for:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Claims validation</li>
    <li>Underwriting analysis</li>
    <li>Prevented planting reviews</li>
    <li>Historical event reconstruction</li>
    <li>Authorized litigation support</li>
    <li>Program integrity reviews</li>
    <li>Convergence-of-evidence weather analysis</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>8. Restricted Operational Services</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding secure operational portals that provide authorized users with:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Weather reports</li>
    <li>Maps</li>
    <li>Historical analyses</li>
    <li>Downloadable geospatial data</li>
    <li>Raster-based analytical processing</li>
    <li>Repeatable analytical workflows</li>
    <li>Downloadable outputs</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Respondents should describe scalability, availability, auditability, lineage tracking, and security controls.</p>

  <p><strong>9. Public Dissemination</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding operational public-access services that:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Provide designated weather products without subscription fees.</li>
    <li>Publish historical and current weather data.</li>
    <li>Maintain public metadata and methodology documentation.</li>
    <li>Support public download of designated weather products.</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>10. Scientific Support</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding scientific staffing and support including:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>PhD-level scientists with expertise in meteorology, climatology, hydrology, atmospheric science, agricultural weather, geospatial science, or related disciplines.</li>
    <li>Direct engagement with RMA subject matter experts.</li>
    <li>Direct engagement with NRCS subject matter experts.</li>
    <li>Expertise in weather observation systems, modeling, quality control, validation, statistics, geospatial analysis, and operational support.</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>11. NRCS-Specific Requirements</strong></p>
  <p>The Government seeks information regarding capabilities supporting:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>SNOTEL</li>
    <li>SNOLITE</li>
    <li>SCAN</li>
  </ul>
  <p>including:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Daily estimates</li>
    <li>Historical estimates</li>
    <li>API services</li>
    <li>Performance metrics</li>
    <li>Data lineage</li>
    <li>Estimation methodologies</li>
    <li>Quality-control portals</li>
    <li>Non-stationarity analyses</li>
  </ul>
</div>

<div>
  <p><strong>Information Requested</strong></p>
  <p>Interested organizations shall provide:</p>

  <p><strong>1. Corporate Information</strong></p>
  <ul>
    <li>Company name</li>
    <li>UEI</li>
    <li>CAGE Code</li>
    <li>Business size</li>
    <li>Socioeconomic status</li>
    <li>Primary points of contact</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>2. Capability Statement</strong></p>
  <p>A narrative describing the firm's capability to provide the complete integrated service.</p>

  <p><strong>3. Compliance Matrix</strong></p>
  <p>Provide a requirement-by-requirement response for all mandatory requirements identified in Attachment 1.</p>
  <p>For each requirement, identify:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Compliant</li>
    <li>Partially Compliant</li>
    <li>Not Compliant</li>
  </ul>
  <p>For each response include:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Operational status</li>
    <li>Objective evidence</li>
    <li>Description of capability</li>
    <li>Dependencies</li>
    <li>Data restrictions</li>
    <li>Licensing restrictions</li>
    <li>Government-furnished requirements</li>
    <li>Transition requirements</li>
    <li>Staffing requirements</li>
    <li>Assumptions</li>
  </ul>

  <p><strong>4. Operational Readiness</strong></p>
  <p>Identify which capabilities are:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Fully operational today</li>
    <li>Operational with minor enhancements</li>
    <li>In development</li>
    <li>Planned / conceptual</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Respondents shall not represent conceptual or planned functionality as current operational capability.</p>

  <p><strong>5. Transition Approach</strong></p>
  <p>Describe how continuity of operations would be maintained during transition while avoiding disruption to RMA and NRCS operations.</p>

  <p><strong>6. Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)</strong></p>
  <p>Provide a non-binding ROM estimate and cost drivers for planning purposes.</p>
</div>

<div>
  <p><strong>Response Format</strong></p>
  <p>Maximum Length: There is a 20 MB limit.</p>
</div>

<div>
  <p><strong>Evaluation of Responses</strong></p>
  <p>Responses will be reviewed solely for market research purposes to:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Assess industry capability.</li>
    <li>Refine acquisition strategy.</li>
    <li>Determine availability of commercial solutions.</li>
    <li>Determine competition potential.</li>
    <li>Refine performance requirements.</li>
    <li>Assess transition feasibility.</li>
  </ul>
  <p>No contract awards will result directly from this notice.</p>
</div>

[View original listing](https://sam.gov/opp/b3c240838d9e48ea8c2e85e20bb63905/view)