Visualizing NASA Earth Science Imagery at Scale Using Recent Cloud Technologies

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is in the process of moving data systems to the cloud. The Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), the visualization component of EOSDIS that provides rapid access to hundreds of NASA's Earth science image products, is one of the systems migrating to a commercial cloud provider. To accomplish this objective, the GIBS team has been developing a new ingest, archive, and distribution architecture by leveraging NASA-led open source software, such as OnEarth and Cumulus. Technologies such as the Meta Raster Format, Docker containers, and other geospatial software are configured for optimal performance in the cloud. This presentation will discuss the rationale for migrating into the cloud, details about the updated GIBS system architecture, lessons learned during the development process, and future plans for GIBS in the cloud.