One of the world's largest scientific data systems, NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has stored over three petabytes of earth science data in a geographically distributed mass storage system. Design for this system began in the early 1990s and included a presentation of the design of the mass storage system at this conference in 1995. Many changes have occurred in the ten years since that presentation, much of it performed while the system was operational. In its first operational year (2000), the EOSDIS system had increased NASA's collection of earth science data holdings eight-fold. Today, EOSDIS collects over 7,000 gigabytes of data per week, almost 60 times more than the Hubble Space Telescope. This load represents major challenges for ingest into the mass storage system , as well as for timely and balanced data distribution out of the mass storage system. This paper discusses the evolution of the EOSDIS archives focusing primarily on the mass storage system component of the archive. We present the lessons that were learned over the years and some directions that we are taking for the future.
ing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been serving a global community of users, currently over 4 million each year, with Earth science data in a variety of disciplines. NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS) is responsible for EOSDIS with its 12 Distributed Archive Centers (DAACs). During the life of EOSDIS, various mechanisms for user feedback have been extremely important and valuable to its evolution. Some inputs from user groups have resulted in fundamental changes in EOSDIS, while others have provided ideas for incremental changes. The purpose of this paper is to share this experience and the benefits that have resulted from the user feedback. Notable among user community groups that have had significant influence on EOSDIS are: the EOSDIS Advisory Panel, the National Research Council's Committee on Global Change Research and the DAAC User Working Groups (UWGs). In addition, an annual survey of EOSDIS users resulting in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) provides a score as well as very helpful user suggestions for system improvements. Also, each DAAC has a user services group that receives ongoing requests for help and other comments from users. The ESDIS Project has established a mechanism through the "earthdata" web site (http://earthdata.nasa.gov) for users to provide feedback which is routed to appropriate individuals. In addition, focused efforts have been made for user needs assessment, and usability studies are used in making changes to the systems for improving user experience.
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. EOSDIS manages data covering a wide range of Earth science disciplines including cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, digital elevation, atmospheric dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, and many others. One of the key components of EOSDIS is a set of twelve discipline-based Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) distributed across the United States. Managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center, these DAACs serve over 4 million users globally. The ESDIS Project provides the infrastructure support for EOSDIS, which includes other components such as common metadata and metrics management systems, specialized network systems, standards management, and centralized support for use of commercial cloud capabilities. Given the long-term requirements, and the rapid pace of information technology and changing expectations of the user community, EOSDIS has evolved continually over the past three decades. However, many challenges remain. Challenges in three key areas are addressed in this paper: managing volume and variety, enabling data discovery and access, and incorporating user feedback and concerns.
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