Tools and Data Services From the NASA Earth Satellite Observations for Remote Sensing Commercial Applications

Several commercial applications of remote sensing data, such as water resources management, environmental monitoring, climate prediction, agriculture, forestry, and preparation for and mitigation of extreme weather events, require access to vast amounts of archived high quality data, and software tools and services for data manipulation and information extraction. Using these data requires detailed understanding of the their internal structure and physical implementation for data reduction, combination, and production. This time-consuming task must be undertaken before the core investigation can begin and is an especially difficult challenge when science objectives require users to deal with large multi-sensor data sets of different formats, structures, and resolutions. In addressing these issues, the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Earth Sciences (GES), Data and Information Service Center (DISC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) has made great progress in facilitating science and applications research, by developing innovative tools and data services applied to the Earth sciences atmospheric and climate data. The GES/DISC/DAAC has successfully implemented and maintained a long-term climate satellite data archive and developed tools and services for a variety of atmospheric science missions, including instruments from AIRS, AVHRR, MODIS, SeaWiFS, SORCE, TOMS, TOVS, TRMM, and UARS and Aura, providing researchers with excellent opportunities to acquire accurate and continuous atmospheric measurements. Because these various missions generate an ever increasing amount of data and products as a result of more sophisticated sensors and new science algorithms, the main challenge for data centers like the GES/DISC/DAAC is to guide users through the variety of data sets and products, provide tools to visualize and reduce the volume of the data, and secure uninterrupted and reliable access to the data and related products. This presentation will describe the effort at the GES/DISC/DAAC to build a bridge between multi-sensor data and the effective scientific use of the data, with an emphasis on the heritage satellite observations and science products for climate applications. The intent is to inform users of the existence of this large collection of data and products, suggest starting points for cross-platform science projects and data mining activities, and provide data services and tools information. More information is available through the GES/DISC/DAAC site http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov.