Design and Implementation of a Prototype Data System for Earth Radiation Budget, Cloud, Aerosol, and Chemistry Data

Abstract

The Earth Observing System (EOS) will collect data from a large number of satellite-borne instruments, beginning later in this decade. To make data accessible to the scientific community, NASA will build an EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS). As an initial effort to accelerate the development of EOSDIS and to gain experience with such an information system, NASA and other agencies are working on a prototype system called Version 0 (V0). This effort will provide improved access to pre-EOS earth science data throughout the early EOSDIS period. Based on recommendations from the EOSDIS Science Advisory Panel, EOSDIS will have several distributed active archive centers (DAACs). Each DAAC will specialize in particular datasets. This paper describes work at the NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC) DAAC. The Version 0 Langley DAAC began archiving and distributing existing datasets pertaining to the earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry in late 1992. The primary goals of the LaRC V0 effort are the following: 1. Enhance scientific use of existing data; 2. Develop institutional expertise in maintaining and distributing data; 3. Use institutional capability for processing data from previous missions such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment to prepare for processing future EOS satellite data; 4. Encourage cooperative interagency and international involvement with datasets and research; 5. Incorporate technological hardware and software advances quickly.