Case Study for EOSDIS Support to MEaSUREs: the Vegetation Index and Vegetation Phenology ESDRs

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Observation System (EOS) Project (USGS-EOS) managed at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is a Co-Investigator on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Cooperative Agreement (CA) #NNX08AT05A. The MEaSUREs CA entitled “Vegetation Phenology and Vegetation Index Products from Multiple Long Term Satellite Data Records” is led by Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Kamel Didan at the University of Arizona. The goal of the MEaSUREs solicitation is to develop Earth System Data Records (ESDR) which, following evaluation by a NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG), may be approved as standard NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) holdings. USGS-EOS is providing services in the five-year interim to prepare the Vegetation Index and Vegetation Phenology (VIP) ESDRs for transition into the Land Processes DAAC if approved at the end of the term. Pursuing pre-approval support of ESDRs encourages their proper support, usage, and promotes community consensus for these products. USGS-EOS service to the VIP ESDRs includes distribution, user services, outreach support, and metrics reporting. During initial VIP development, USGS-EOS has prototyped a distribution system, the MEaSUREs VIP Client, based on web service functions executing on-demand reformatting, reprojection, and subsetting of native data for delivery as applications-ready products. The client is available as a beta operational access tool for the remainder of the five-year project term. A User Support Model is in place to define the levels of service available through the USGS-EOS to the MEaSUREs VIP community, for the purpose of building product knowledge, client expertise, and familiarity with the user base. USGS-EOS participates in PI-led user workshops by contributing presentation materials that facilitate the promotion, understanding, and access to the VIP ESDRs. Interactions with the user community, whether through the discovery client, distribution of products, or user services contacts, are recorded and reportable as project metrics that track the progress and success of the VIP project. These USGS-EOS activities prime the VIP ESDRs for community acceptance and favorable evaluation by the ESDSWG and provide an example of successful ESDR support.