Project Information

Bid Title

SOLE SOURCE: Integration of MPAS atmospheric dynamical core within the existing PyTorch framework for the NWS Office of Modeling and Development in Silver Spring, MD.

Issuing Agency

COMMERCE, DEPARTMENT OF

Location

Maryland

Published Date

Aug 12, 2026

Closing Date

Aug 27, 2026

Government Level

Federal

Status

Closed

Ref. #

142085-26-0014

Original Source

Join to Access Full Details

Bid Inquiries

Join to Access Full Details

Bid Documents

Join to Access Full Details

Set Aside

No Set aside used

Project Description

Follow

SOLE SOURCE: Integration of MPAS atmospheric dynamical core within the existing PyTorch framework for the NWS Office of Modeling and Development in Silver Spring, MD.

Active

Contract Opportunity

Notice ID

142085-26-0014

Related Notice

Department/Ind. Agency

COMMERCE, DEPARTMENT OF

Sub-tier

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Office

DEPT OF COMMERCE NOAA

Looking for contract opportunity help?

(opens in new window)

APEX Accelerators are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local APEX Accelerator (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

APEX Accelerators are funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense.

The APEX Accelerators program was formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Program (opens in new window) (PTAP).

General Information

• Contract Opportunity Type: Presolicitation (Original)
• Original Published Date: Aug 12, 2026 01:14 pm EDT
• Original Response Date: Aug 27, 2026 08:00 am EDT
• Inactive Policy: 15 days after response date
• Original Inactive Date: Sep 11, 2026
• Initiative:
  • None

Classification

• Original Set Aside: No Set aside used
• Product Service Code: 7A20 - IT AND TELECOM - APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE (PERPETUAL LICENSE SOFTWARE)
• NAICS Code:
  • 518210 - Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services
• Place of Performance:
  Silver Spring , MD 20910
  USA

Description

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office, Eastern Acquisition Division-Kansas City intends to negotiate and award a purchase order, on a sole source basis, under authority of RFO FAR 6.103-1, with small business entity IC Weather LLC for integration and development of MPAS atmospheric dynamical core within the existing PyTorch framework for the NWS Office of Modeling and Development in Silver Spring, MD.

Sole Source Justification:

The sole source determination is based on NOAA’s Sole Source Justification. Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized. The specific requirement is to adapt the MPAS dynamical core to leverage GPU acceleration for improved compute efficiency, integration into an infrastructure that enables future work on model parameterizations based on machine learning (ML) algorithms, and provides direct access to parameter gradients which may be used to extend NOAA’s data assimilation (DA) capabilities to

4-Dimensional Varational algorithms (4DVAR) as well as enable advanced observation impact studies including Forecast Sensitivity to Observation Impact (FSOI) techniques. The first of these requirements is capable of being met through a proprietary software package that has integrated MPAS into the PyTorch framework. The vendor has demonstrated via the “MPAS-PyTorch” a substantial decrease in the computational time to run a forecast compared with the current FORTRAN version of MPAS. The nature of integration will allow for further testing at higher spatial resolutions that would meet NWS operational requirements, in conjunction with PyTorch / ML versions of physics schemes used in MPAS to further improve computational efficiency, and use of the native gradients computed by PyTorch for 4DVAR and FSOI capabilities.

Since this initial capability exists, it is not in the interest of the Government to open a competitive contract acquisition process to duplicate the effort or risk exposure to intellectual property infringement. However, any derivatives of the current software will become open source per NOAA policy.

This pre-solicitation notice 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 or a request for additional information in writing to the (Contract Specialist) within 15 days after publication of this pre-solicitation notice. Such requests and 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 pre-solicitation notice.

Attachments/Links

Contact Information

Contracting Office Address

• EASTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION FED BLDG 200 GRANBY ST SUITE 815
• NORFOLK , VA 23510
• USA

Primary Point of Contact

• NIKKI SMITH
• nikki.smith@noaa.gov
• Phone Number 7576051267

Secondary Point of Contact

History

• Aug 12, 2026 01:14 pm EDTPresolicitation (Original)

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 518210Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services

* Disclaimer: Government BidHub provides information on bids, RFPs (Requests for Proposals), and RFQs (Requests for Qualifications) solely for convenience and informational purposes. This site is not an official public notice board. For official details, responses, or inquiries, please contact the relevant government agency directly.