Description
Intent to Award
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a requirement for a sole source Purchase Order with Earthscope Consortium, Inc. Continuous GNSS Data Archiving.
The period of performance of the resulting award will be, August 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031, and will include four 12-month option years.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Virginia-West Virginia Water Science Center (VA-WV WSC), requires specialized services for the long-term archiving, curation, and dissemination of continuous Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data generated by USGS-supported stations. The requirement includes routine annual archiving services for active stations and a one-time ingestion of historical data for a legacy station. Therefore, it intends to make a direct award to Earthscope Consortium, Inc. under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) ¿ only one source reasonably available pursuant to the procedures under FAR 13.5 used in accordance with 41 U.S.C.1901 or the authority of 41 U.S.C.1903.
This is not a request for competitive quotations or proposals but rather an intent to sole source notification. Questions or concerns may be addressed to the Contract Specialist, Jonathan Wyatt jenglehart@usgs.gov no later than 10:00 AM ET, Monday, June 29, 2026.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.
SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR ACQUISITION PURSUANT TO THE
PROCEDURES OF FAR SUB-PART 13.5 -- SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS
1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Virginia-West Virginia Water Science Center (VA-WV WSC)
2. Nature of Action Being Approved. Sole¿source procurement to EarthScope Consortium, Inc. for recurring global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data archiving and access services. The action will be a services purchase under FAR Part 13 with a base period of 12 months and option years for a total period of performance of up to five years.
3. Description of Supplies or Services. Continuous GNSS data ingestion, long term archiving, management, and web based dissemination for data generated by USGS supported monitoring stations.
4. Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) ¿ only one source reasonably available.
5. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 4. The EarthScope Consortium is uniquely qualified to provide the required GNSS data archiving and access services for the following reasons:
1) EarthScope operates the national GAGE geophysical data facilities, which are the primary U.S. community repositories for continuous GNSS data used by the USGS, other federal agencies, universities, and international partners.
2) EarthScope¿s GNSS archive has been evaluated and approved as a USGS compliant data repository for this type of geophysical data, thereby directly satisfying USGS Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) requirements for use of trusted, discipline appropriate repositories.
3) EarthScope maintains the technical infrastructure and scientific expertise to immediately ingest, curate, and serve continuous GNSS data at the scale required.
4) EarthScope maintains existing, production level cyberinfrastructure and standardized formats, metadata, and quality control workflows tailored specifically to GNSS data, which USGS and other agencies already rely on for long term preservation and access.
5) EarthScope¿s services and pricing are scalable with the number of GNSS stations and data volume, allowing USGS to add stations over time, while remaining within a single, FSP-compliant repository.
6) The USGS is a federal funding partner of EarthScope Consortium, providing support for GNSS and related data services; using EarthScope keeps data generated from this project aligned with proven infrastructure and methods rather than creating a separate, inconsistent repository.
6. The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted.
Market research included:
1) Review of USGS approved and trusted repositories for geophysical and GNSS data to identify repositories that meet FSP requirements for this data type;
2) Review of national GNSS data facilities and archives operated for federal and academic users; and
3) Informal consultation with USGS program staff and other federal partners involved in GNSS operations and data archiving.
This research identified EarthScope Consortium as the only repository that is both (1) a USGS approved/recognized repository for GNSS data and (2) a national GNSS facility with existing infrastructure and standards aligned with USGS requirements. No other source was identified that could provide equivalent, FSP compliant GNSS data archiving and access services without significant additional cost and delay.
7. Future Plans to Permit Competition. This requirement is expected to be an ongoing need for as long as USGS continues to operate GNSS stations. Because the core justification is based on EarthScope¿s role as the national GNSS facility and USGS approved repository, similar non competitive actions may be required in the future unless:
1) Additional repositories are evaluated, approved, and demonstrated to provide GNSS archiving services that meet USGS FSP requirements; or
2) USGS develops its own internal GNSS archive that attains equivalent repository status and community integration.
If in future years other FSP compliant GNSS repositories become available, USGS will reassess the potential to compete similar requirements.