In the request for proposal, which was released Tuesday and is now in the “pre-solicitation” stage, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) indicates the state “seeks to procure services and methane data and other environmental indicators derived from earth-orbiting, small satellite constellations designed and operated by non-government entities.” CARB’s mission, generally, is safeguarding residents from air pollution’s bad effects, and developing programs and taking action to fight climate change. Considered an “important greenhouse gas” according to the RFP, methane is “responsible for more than 25 percent of current global warming.” However, its “relatively short” lifetime once in the atmosphere means that reducing emissions can have a significant “near term” effect. Recent state-supported research studies have shown “novel new technologies” in detecting “large, localized” methane sources can support mitigation. “Satellites are a potential tool to identify these sources, support regulatory compliance, and direct quick action to mitigate leaks,” per the RFP.
Among the takeaways:
- Any contractor ultimately chosen must provide CARB and the state with “services” and satellite data that includes “methane plume images.” This satellite-based data will “support programs that reduce methane emissions in California, inform communities about emissions, raise awareness about methane emissions globally and support other environmental monitoring.” The contractor must build, launch, operate and maintain “satellite(s), sensor(s), and any other relevant hardware as necessary and independent of the scope of this Contract, in order to provide the data products and services required by this RFP”; and develop and maintain the software needed to intake raw satellite data to generate the images and environmental indicators — and make them available to the state. With this contract, the state will seek to procure “derived products” including the data and “other environmental indicator data, produced from earth-orbiting, small satellite constellations.” A derived product is defined as “a product that is created by exploiting satellite radiance measurements in a way that irreversibly modifies and uncouples the product from its source.” Data must be available for purchase starting by Jan. 1, 2025; state requirements for “observational capacity (i.e., spatial and temporal coverage)” by Jan. 1, 2026, which “allows the contractor time to build up a constellation of satellites, if needed.” Potential observational requests include “low-latency (i.e., ‘quick view’) observations” for at least one year and daily coverage of “5,000 square kilometers in California”; and about 1 percent of “Earth’s remaining non-polar landmass”; and observations for seven years that deliver daily coverage of that 5,000 square kilometers and whichever is greater — “methane data collected for customers outside of California made public but with some delay” such as 90 days; or “methane data covering 0.5 percent of the non-polar landmass,” also made public with a delay.
- The project will encompass seven tasks starting with project management, developing a project schedule, performance information, and chronicling decision-making activities and a summary of any proposed changes and next steps, as well as change management and risk management plans. A requirements analysis will necessitate reviewing the scope of work to “review, validate, clarify and update” functional and non-functional requirements, as well as creating a requirement traceability matrix. Operationalizing an initial baseline observation deck will be needed once the state creates the deck. Contractor must set work flows and ensure its system will let the state “submit observation deck edits over a secure web portal.” For training and knowledge transfer, the respondent must offer “interactive training sessions and technical documentation on key components of the data products and data request processes” including the observation deck submittal web portal. A “continuous data feed” is required of respondent, to ensure the ongoing flow of data, plus ongoing updates, bug fixes and maintenance. “Recurring feedback meetings” between CARB and respondent will also be required to “address issues and propose improvements to the data request and delivery process”: more frequently during initial feed activation and less frequently once stabilization is reached, but at least every two weeks during the first six months. An annual report will also be required of the respondent, to summarize progress and updates, as well as “results of calibration/validation studies” and “changes to data processing and methane estimation algorithms, methodologies, models, the data request and delivery mechanisms, new satellites launched” and any other related developments.
- Requirements include having a “proven record of success” and being responsible for “all aspects of the services including those provided by its subcontractors and the project team/staff proposed”; having had applicable experience within the last five years; and providing information for three to six projects. Requirements by job include, for the project manager, experience managing initiatives that involve satellites and sensors, “ideally used for identifying and mapping plumes”; for the data delivery lead, ensuring “satellite data products” are made available during defined time periods and being familiar with the technologies used to provide the data including application programing interfaces (APIs) and web-based user interfaces; and for the observational deck support lead, being aware of the technological infrastructure used to “provide resources for observational deck management by a client” including through APIs and portals hosted on Amazon Web Services.
- This contract, per the RFP, “provides for project services and the purchase of satellite data through the duration of the contract, in an amount not to exceed” $95 million. The state will continue purchasing data until the end of the four-year contract or “when the $95 million dollars are exhausted, whichever is sooner.” Bidders’ written feedback and requests to meet with the state are due by 10 a.m. May 12; confidential meetings via video conference are estimated to happen May 16-19. The release date for an actual solicitation is to be determined.
