NOAA RFP: Meteorological Data and Reporting System (MDCRS) – D

Notice ID: 1305M225R0004

This opportunity is available on FedConnect.

The objective is to acquire observations of wind and temperature from commercial aircraft operated by major commercial airlines, leading to the improved skill of NWP and other operational applications, for the prediction of thunderstorms, flash floods, hail, tornadoes, clouds, and other sensible weather phenomena.  The prediction of these phenomena is essential to protecting lives and property.  The contract requires data meeting the requirements of the government for wind and temperature observations from commercial aircraft.

Temperature and wind observations from commercial aircraft are an important source of real-time information for global and regional weather prediction as well as operational forecasts and warnings from the NWS.  They also complement satellite data with high quality and vertically high resolution in situ information, such as rawinsondes (“weather balloons”) and various types of ground-based remote sensing platforms.  Indeed, when a commercial aircraft ascends and descends, taking an observation of wind, temperature, and humidity at points in the vertical along the way, it provides data analogous to that of a rawinsonde, providing bedrock observational information of paramount importance to the operational forecasting mission of the NWS.

Observations of temperature and wind from large aircraft are routinely derived from FAA-required, on-board sensors and software.  These sensors and software transmit the wind and temperature observations in real time to ground over VHF communications pathway.  In the United States this system is called the Meteorological Communications and Addressing System (MDCRS), whereas it is known generally around the rest of the world as the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR).  Many, but not all, domestic airlines, and some international airlines, provide MDCRS observations to the NWS via commercial contracts.  When on transoceanic and intracontinental routes, aircraft also transmit weather observations via a separate communications paradigm and source known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance by Contract (ADS-C).

Observations of water vapor from some aircraft operated by US airlines are taken with an onboard sensor, the Water Vapor Sensing System II (WVSS-II) developed and installed by industry in partnership with the NWS in the early 2000s.  These sensors were installed on 107 Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft and 25 UPS aircraft.  These water vapor observations are communicated in real time from these 132 aircraft along with wind and temperature observations.

The base period of performance of this contract is from 03/01/2025 through 02/29/2028.

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