An Interim Report on the Earth Observing System and Data and Information System (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Interim Report
Interim Report
Pages 1-13
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From page 1... ...
And the Panel looks forward to a discussion with NASA officials involved in EOSDIS planning on this report and any further issues to be considered in preparing the final report. We are arranging for your colleagues at NASA with responsibility for the EOSDIS Project to be briefed by the Panel next week, and intend to release it publicly on April 17th.
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From page 2... ...
The panel hopes, nevertheless, that NASA will find its interim conclusions and recommendations useful in the negotiations that will take place with the selected contractor to define the ongoing work plans for the EOSDIS Project. The appendices of this report include NASA's letter of request for this study, the terms of reference for the task, a list of the members of the panel and brief biographies, the work done and the meetings held to enable the panel to write this interim report, a brief description of EOSDIS for readers not familiar with the Project, and a brief description of the U.S.
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From page 3... ...
• EOSDIS needs substantive user participation in the design and development of the system, including involvement in the decisions on data acquisition and archiving, standard or ad hoc product generation, and interfaces that directly affect science users. • The structure of the EOSDIS management organization and the attention it gives to the project should reflect the importance of the program in terms of its role as one
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From page 4... ...
To do so effectively, however, NASA should first ensure proper internal management attention and also should use its own personnel in earth science and computer science, who can contribute significantly to the successful design of the system. Secondly, NASA needs to bring the scientific user community into the project as a partner, rather than regarding users simply as customers.
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From page 5... ...
Version 0 science data requirements are being compiled into a Science Data Plan by the EOSDIS Project through regular interactions with the user community. The intent is to solicit regular review of these requirements from the science community to make certain that evolving needs are adequately reflected in the EOSDIS Project planning.
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From page 6... ...
Although the EOSDIS Request for Proposal addresses data management of NASA's EOS platform instruments as well as NASA's commitment to maintaining data sets acquired by preEOS sensors, the panel wishes to emphasize the need for the accessibility of non-EOS instrument data streams to EOSDIS users. The panel believes that the full benefit of EOSDIS to the U.S.
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From page 7... ...
b. To test the interoperability of EOSDIS and to integrate the critical long-term operational data that now exist at Affiliated Data Centers into a global change data and information system, NASA should perform a full-function test of the EOSDIS architecture and software on some of the Affiliated Data Centers, in particular, centers with holdings (such as long-term satellite or in situ data records)
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From page 8... ...
An approach to encourage active user participation is to provide customized data integration and synthesis of various products. The availability of software tools that conform to standards in an open architecture environment would facilitate participation by active users.
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From page 9... ...
At present, it appears as though the EOSDIS development plan is too heavily oriented toward a centralized approach. The panel recommends that the EOSDIS Project adapt its development plan to ensure a more logically distributed system, including: a.
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From page 10... ...
Although the EOSDIS Project team has initiated the early prototyping effort for Version 0, more can and should be done to benefit current global change research and to enhance user feedback for final system design. The panel recommends that EOSDIS Project management extend its incremental development plan so that all user interfaces, all toolkits, and the end to-end network system are: a.
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From page 11... ...
The panel commends NASA for including users in its performance board for contract evaluation and urges the active participation of users in setting award fees. The panel recommends that the EOSDIS Project Manager have higher management visibility within Goddard Space Flight Center.
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From page 12... ...
Possible ways to stimulate technology include establishing an intramural computer science research capability comparable to those in other sciences, supporting and using the external computer science community, and using DAACs to establish formal and informal links with the computer science research community in their neighboring universities. The panel recommends that NASA involve Goddard Space Flight Center earth scientists to a greater degree in the management and operations of EOSDIS and also involve computer scientists both inside and outside of NASA to explore research and technology in those areas where EOSDIS will stress the state of the art in science and technology and where EOSDIS will evolve most rapidly.
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From page 13... ...
the DAACs with modest funding to respond to specific user needs so that the DAACs will be able to parallel the evolution of the user community's ability to manipulate, integrate, and model data.
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