EOSDIS: Building a Data System to Stand the Test of Time

On December 18, 1999, the Terra Spacecraft launch not only signified the launch of a new era in earth observations, it also launched many new related technologies in ground systems and science data systems. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) was developed in the early 90s and was considered operational in 1994 when the Version O of the basic Information Management System was made available to all. Many of the system architectural decisions made in the 90s have continued to this day, one of the reasons for the systems longevity. Policies that were developed, such as the Earth Science Open Data Policy, have helped inform all subsequent changes. In fact, the Open Data Policy has now leapt from the pages of EOSDIS and become policy at other agencies, both national and international. The attention to data services has become a hallmark of EOSDIS, such services conceived for supporting the data dissemination from the 5 Terra instruments. Today the same EOSDIS is used to archive and disseminate many other NASA Earth Science mission beyond the designated on-orbit EOS missions. Beyond Terra, these missions include instruments on the International Space Station, airborne missions, many field campaigns, and even international missions. Each time a new mission is added to the EOSDIS collection, our users benefit from the ability to use many different sensors to study what Terra instruments have been looking at for the past 20 years. Many years later, the EOSDIS continues to thrive having evolved and adapted new technologies along the way. And we are still ingesting, archiving and distributing Terra data 20 years after launch. In this presentation, we will discuss several key challenges and best practices encountered over the last 20 years.