An Overview of the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Science Data Segment

Over the years, numerous large and complex information systems have been created to store, process, and disseminate vast volumes of remotely-sensed Earth Science data. These existing systems can potentially be leveraged off of to process data from similar instruments, thus reducing science data processing systems development time and costs. The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) provides remotely-sensed land, ocean, atmospheric, ozone, and sounder data that will serve the meteorological and global climate change scientific communities while also providing risk reduction for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), the U. S. Government's future low-Earth orbiting satellite system monitoring global weather and environmental conditions. One of the NPP mission segments is the Science Data Segment. The primary role of the Science Data Segment is to independently assess the quality of the NPP Environmental Data Records for accomplishing climate research. The NPP Science Data Segment achieves its goals by leveraging off of existing processing centers. In particular, ocean data product evaluation and analysis is accomplished by leveraging existing resources from the SeaWiFS project, which develops and operates an investigator-led data system that processes, calibrates, validates, archives, and distributes data received from the SeaWiFS instrument aboard the OrbView-2 observatory. Land imagery data analysis leverages MODAPS. MODAPS currently generates Level 2 through Level 4 MODIS science products for distribution to the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) for archival and to the MODIS science team for quality control. Ozone products will be assessed by OMIDAPS, an existing system that processes data from the OMI instrument aboard the Aura satellite to higher level science data products. Additional pieces of the project also rely on existing Earth Science data systems. This poster will provide a brief overview of the design and functionality of the NPP Science Data Segment and its unique approach to quality assessment.