Review of NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers (1999) / Chapter Skim
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3 Goddard Space Flight Center DAAC
3 Goddard Space Flight Center DAAC
Pages 53-70
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From page 53... ...
SMITH, University of California, Santa Barbara JOHN R.G. TOWNSHEND, University of Maryland, College Park ABSTRACT The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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From page 54... ...
. Today the DAAC manages data sets from a variety of missions and experiments, supports the Goddard Data Assimilation Office, and also manages some of the hydrology holdings of the Marshall Space Flight Center DAAC, which was closed in 1997.
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From page 55... ...
These holdings consist primarily of imagery and remotely sensed data, and constitute one of the best resources available to date to support research on the atmosphere and global climate change. Figure 3.1, for example, illustrates changes in the size of the ozone hole, as detected by several remote sensing instruments, whose data are managed by the GSFC DAAC.
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From page 58... ...
because of concerns that the ECS will not be available in time for launch. Similarly, the MODIS instrument team may process MODIS Level 2 and higher land products and snow and ice products, which are currently scheduled to be processed at the EDC and NSIDC DAACs, respectively.
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From page 59... ...
Treatment of Model-Derived Data When dealing with EOS data, it is crucial to distinguish between data products, which consist simply of the results of measurements, and derived data, which depend on specific model calculations. The latter include not only the meteorological variables derived by the Goddard Data Assimilation Office (DAO)
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From page 60... ...
The first group EOS instrument team members, EOS interdisciplinary science team members, and non-EOS investigators includes both users and providers of data. The DAAC does not seem to have a clear idea of which customers are its highest priority to serve, and no user community feels as if it "owns" the DAAC.
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From page 61... ...
Interaction with the Scientific Community Although the DAAC is customer oriented, its relationship with its primary user community, the scientific community, is substantially weaker than it should be. The DAAC is situated within a large research facility, but there is little interaction with ESE scientists at Goddard Space Flight Center or elsewhere.
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From page 62... ...
The DAAC manager is always thinking ahead, but no real plans are made more than six months in advance; this allows the DAAC to retain its flexibility. However, the panel feels that this tactic limits the DAAC's ability to deal with certain medium- to long-term issues: the rule of thumb for doubling performance in computer technology (so-called Moore's law)
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From page 63... ...
Originally, the TRMM mission was the responsibility of the Marshall Space Flight Center, and the data were to be processed using the EOSDIS Core System. However, the Marshall Space Flight Center DAAC was closed in 1997, and ECS support of TRMM was first delayed, and then finally canceled.
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From page 64... ...
Consequently, the DAAC manager, Paul Chan, has instituted a customer-oriented "business model" for running the center. The business model approach focuses on increasing the demand for use of DAAC data, while decreasing the effort of the customer (shown qualitatively in Figure 3.2~.
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From page 65... ...
Although the DAAC does not have a formal strategic plan document, it has a strong short-term focus on dealing with the AM-1 platform, particularly the large MODIS data sets. Insofar as MODIS is justifiably viewed as the flagship instrument within the AM-1 mission, the panel feels that this focus not only is the correct one, but is in fact critical to the success of the EOS program.
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From page 66... ...
The DAAC manager takes prides in doing everything as cheaply as possible. For example, the GSFC DAAC acquired the hydrology data from the Marshall DAAC without requiring additional resources, and the DAAC spent only onefifth of the projected developments costs on TRMM.
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From page 67... ...
If the contingency plans of the MODIS instrument team are in fact implemented, the DAAC will face a much lighter processing load, may find itself to be oversized, and would have to revise its plans accordingly. GSFC DAAC AND THE EARTH SCIENCE ENTERPRISE Relation to Goddard Space Flight Center The DAAC is hosted by the Goddard Space Flight Center, which provides office and computer space and pays the salaries of the DAAC' s civil servants.
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From page 68... ...
The success of EOSDIS also depends on the ability of the DAACs and/or other data or service providers to work together to enable users to integrate disparate data sets from a variety of sources. Although the GSFC DAAC has shared processing responsibilities with the EDC, NSIDC, and LaRC DAACs, it views itself as isolated from, rather than an integral partner in, EOSDIS.
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From page 69... ...
However, the DAAC's relationship with its primary user community (i.e., scientists) is weak, and the DAAC needs to focus on building relationships with its science teams and the scientific user community, both at Goddard Space Flight Center and elsewhere.
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