A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Term | Definition, Context, or Usage (within Earth Science Data Systems) | Example or Source (of definition, context, or usage) |
|---|---|---|
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| Acquisition Strategy Meeting (ASM) | An ASM is a forum where senior Agency management reviews major acquisitions in programs and projects before authorizing significant budget expenditures. The ASM is held at the Mission Directorate/Mission Support Office level, implementing the decisions that flow out of the earlier Agency acquisition strategy planning. The ASM is typically held early in Formulation, but the timing is determined by the Mission Directorate. The ASM focuses on considerations such as impacting the Agency workforce, maintaining core capabilities and make-or-buy planning, and supporting Center assignments and potential partners. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Algorithm | A formula or set of steps used, sometimes repetitively, to solve a problem. Algorithms implemented as software are delivered to NASA's Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) or to NASA's Science Data Processing Segment (SDPS) by a science investigator (principal investigator, team leader, or Interdisciplinary Investigator) to use as primary tools in the generation of science products. The term includes executable code, source code, job control scripts, and documentation. | |
| Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) | An ATBD describes the physical and mathematical description of the algorithms to be used in the generation of data products. It includes a description of variance and uncertainty estimates and considerations of calibration and validation, exception control, and diagnostics. In some cases, internal and external data product flows are required. | |
| Ancillary Data | Data which are not obtained from the sensor itself (usually provided in the science telemetry) and have the primary purpose to serve the processing of instrument data. This can be divided into data referred to as spacecraft ‘engineering’, ‘core housekeeping’ or ‘subsystem’ data obtained from other parts of the platform and includes parameters such as orbit position and velocity, attitude and its range of change, time, temperatures, pressures, jet firings, water dumps, internally produced magnet fields, and other environmental measurements. Ancillary refers to data that exist purely to serve the data processing; auxiliary data, while helping the process, are also data sets in their own right. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Application Programming Interface (API) | A system access point or library function that has a well-defined syntax and is accessible from application programs or user code to provide well-defined functionality. Check out the Earthdata Developer Portal for a list of APIs managed by the ESDS Program. | Definition from NIST |
| Archive | The archive stores data products, guaranteeing their preservation for future use. This function includes all operations to identify, store and retrieve the data and ensure their integrity. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Archiving, Distribution and User Services Requirements Document (ADURD) | This document provides generic requirements for data archiving, data distribution and user services for EOSDIS-supported data. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Attitude Data | Data that represent spacecraft orientation and onboard pointing information. Attitude data includes: Attitude sensor data used to determine the pointing of the spacecraft axes, calibration and alignment data, Euler angles or quaternions, rates and biases, and associated parameters. Attitude generated onboard in quaternion or Euler angle form. Refined and routine production data related to the accuracy or knowledge of the attitude. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Attribute | An element constituting metadata. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
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| Big Data | Big data is a broad term for data sets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Challenges include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, querying and information privacy. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Browse Image | Visual representation of a product (as an image) to help and support product selection in the frame of the user service facility. Synonyms are: Browse, Quick-look, and Preview. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Browse Data | 1. Subsets of data set other than the directory and metadata that facilitates user selection of specific data having the required characteristics. For example, for image data, browse data could be a single channel of multi-channel data, and with degraded resolution. The form of browse data is generally unique for each type of data set and depends on the nature of the data and the criteria used for data selection within the related science discipline. 2. Data produced primarily to provide other investigators with an understanding of the type and quality of data available. Typically, browse data sets are limited in size or resolution. The specific form of browse data depends on the type of instrument or discipline with which the browse data is related. Browse data is sometimes considered to be a sample of available data. 3. Browse data facilitates access to real-time or priority playback data which receive minimal processing and are forwarded to the user for his review/use. The user may provide additional processing to suit his requirements. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Calibration | The process of quantitatively defining the system responses to known, controlled signal inputs. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Calibration Data | The collection of data required to perform calibration of the instrument science data, instrument engineering data, and the spacecraft or platform engineering data. It includes pre-flight and in-flight calibration measurements, calibration equation coefficients derived from calibration software routines, and ground truth data that is to be used in the data calibration processing routine. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Campaign | An observational study used to acquire targeted observations or samples to support a clearly defined science or research objectives. Also called (or at least related to) what some stakeholders call a Mission, Project, Field Campaign, or Field Investigation. A campaign may be a multi-year program with multiple projects, such as the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), an Earth Ventures Suborbital (EVS) mission, such as Delta-X, or a single project targeting a specific set of measurements, such as the CARbon Atmospheric Flux Experiment (CARAFE). | Definition from Airborne Data and Management Group (ADMG) Catalog of Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) |
| Climate and Forecast Metadata Conventions | A set of metadata conventions that were invented for climate and weather forecast data but have since been applied to describe other kinds of Earth Science data, with the intention of promoting the processing and sharing of data. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Collection | See Data Set Series | |
| Collection or aggregate metadata | These are metadata elements that describe an entire set of data products or files. Values of collection metadata apply to all of the products in a specific collection. Collections may represent the same release of any given data product, sets of data generated during an experiment, a campaign or an algorithmic test | See ESDS Standards |
| Content Organization Scheme | A means for enhancing the addressing and access of elements contained in a digital object in the cloud. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Critical Design Reviews (CDRs) | CDRs evaluate the integrity of the program integrated design, including its projects and ground systems. CDRs also help meet mission requirements with appropriate margins and acceptable risk within cost and schedule constraints. CDRs also determine if the integrated design is appropriately mature to continue with the final design and fabrication phase. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Critical Events Readiness Reviews (CERRs) | CERRs evaluate the readiness of the program and its projects to execute a critical event during the flight operations phase of the life cycle. | See Data System Interfaces |
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| Data | Scientific or technical measurements, values calculated therefrom, observations, or facts that can be represented by numbers, tables, graphs, models, text, or symbols which are used as a basis for reasoning and further calculation. For NASA's Earth Science Program and according to NASA's Earth Science Data & Information Policy, the term 'data' includes observation data, metadata, products, information, algorithms, including scientific source code, documentation, models, images, and research results. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary See Data and Information Guidance |
| Data Assimilation | Data assimilation is defined as the process of combining observations with model simulations to enhance the accuracy of predictions. | Definition from ScienceDirect |
| Data Collection | A major release of a data product, or of a set of closely related data products, which can be followed by minor releases within the same collection. See Data Set Series | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Distributor | An entity responsible for archiving and distributing data products. See DAAC. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Format | A standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file (see more about data formats). An example is HDF5. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Format Control Documents (DFCDs) | Data Format Control Documents (DFCDs), and other data format documents (e.g., Data Format Requirements Documents (DFRDs)), define the formats of data units that are transferred across an interface and the control codes used in the data formats. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Data Management | As defined for an OAIS entity that contains the services and functions for populating, maintaining, and accessing a wide variety of information. Some examples of this information are catalogs and inventories on what may be retrieved from Archival Storage, processing algorithms that may be run on retrieved data, Consumer access statistics, Consumer billing, Event Based Orders, security controls, and OAIS schedules, policies, and procedures. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Data Maturity Levels | Beta
| See Data Maturity Levels |
| Data Model | An Earth science metadata model, which supports the data standardization necessary for total system interoperability within a heterogeneous, open systems environment. The Data Model includes diagrams, which graphically illustrate the relationships of classes, the attributes contained within the classes, the characteristics of the relationships between classes, and the attribute specifications. | |
| Data Processing Level | The level of processing that results in data products ranging from raw instrument data to refined analyses that use inputs from various sources. See Data Maturity Levels. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Producer | A person or group that directly collects/creates data to be submitted to a NASA DAAC for archiving and public distribution. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Product | A set of data files that can contain multiple parameters and that compose a logically meaningful group of related data. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Quality | See: Quality Indicator | |
| Data Services | NASA ESDIS processes, archives, documents, and distributes data from NASA's past and current Earth-observing satellites and field measurement programs. Each DAAC serves a specific Earth system science discipline and provides users with data products, services, and data-handling tools unique to the center's specialty. User services include:
| See ESDIS Project |
| Data Set or Dataset |
| Definition 1 from EO Data Stewardship Glossary Definition 2 from Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Set Documentation | Information describing the characteristics of a data set and its component granules, including format, source instrumentation, calibration, processing, algorithms, etc. | EOS Glossary and list of Acronyms/Abbreviations |
| Data Set Series or Dataset Series | A major release of a data product, or of a set of closely related data products, which can be followed by minor releases within the same collection. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data Structure | In Earth Science data products, a multi-dimensional container for geolocation and science data tailored for a specific type of instrument acquisition mode or spatial arrangement of the data (e.g., swath, grid, zonal mean, trajectory). | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Data User Guide | A document, either on-line or hardcopy, containing the necessary information for the correct usage of the data. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Data Visualization | See Visualization | |
| Decommissioning Review (DR) | DRs evaluate the readiness of the program and its projects to conduct closeout activities, including final delivery of all remaining program/project deliverables and safe decommissioning/disposal of space flight systems and other program/project assets. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Discovery | Successful identification and location of data products of interest. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Disposal Readiness Review (DRR) | DRRs evaluate the readiness of the project and the flight system for execution of the spacecraft disposal event. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Derived Products | Derived products are higher level products (level 1b through 4) where calibration and geo-location transformations have been applied to generate sensor units, and/or algorithms have been applied to generate gridded geophysical parameters. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Detailed Mission Requirements (DMR) | DMRs include Mission-Specific Requirements Documents (MSRDs) and mission requirement documents (e.g., Ground System Requirements Documents (GSRDs), and Mission Operations Requirements Documents (MORDs)). DMRs contain the results of the requirements identification and derivation activities and provide the basis for system design for individual missions. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Discipline | A field of study such as oceanography, meteorology, geology, or marine biology. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Discovery | Any service that helps the user to identify and locate EO resource starting from his needs. See also Search and Discovery. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Distributed Architecture | The allocation of ESDIS elements to various locations to take best advantage of each location's different institutional capabilities and science expertise. | See EOSDIS |
| Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) | EOSDIS is designed as a distributed system, with major facilities at Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) located throughout the United States. These institutions are custodians of EOS mission data and ensure that data will be easily accessible to users. EOSDIS DAACs process, archive, document, and distribute data from NASA's past and current Earth-observing satellites and field measurement programs. Acting in concert, DAACs provide reliable, robust services to users whose needs may cross the traditional boundaries of a science discipline, while continuing to support the particular needs of users within the discipline communities. User services include:
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| Earth Observing System | A series of small- to intermediate-sized spacecraft that is the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). Planned for launch beginning in 1999, each of the EOS spacecraft will carry a suite of instruments designed to study global climate change. ESE will use space-, aircraft-, and ground-based measurements to study our environment as an integrated system. Designing and implementing the ESE is, of necessity, an international effort. The ESE program involves the cooperation of the U.S., the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japanese National Space Development Agency (NASDA). The ESE program is part of the U.S. interagency effort, the Global Change Research Program. | Definition from Earth Observatory |
| Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) | NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a key core capability in the Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program. It provides end-to-end capabilities for managing NASA Earth science data from various sources—satellites, aircraft, field measurements, and various other programs. For the EOS satellite missions, EOSDIS provides capabilities for command and control, scheduling, data capture and initial (level 0) processing. These capabilities, constituting the EOSDIS Mission Operations, are managed by NASA's Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO) Project. NASA network capabilities transport the data to the science operations facilities. The remaining capabilities of EOSDIS constitute the EOSDIS Science Operations, which are managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project. These capabilities include: generation of higher level (levels 1-4) science data products for EOS missions; archiving and distribution of data products from EOS and other satellite missions, as well as aircraft and field measurement campaigns. The EOSDIS science operations are performed within a distributed system of many interconnected nodes and centers, including Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS) and distributed, discipline-specific, Earth science Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) with specific responsibilities for production, archiving, and distribution of Earth science data products. The DAACs serve a large and diverse user community (as indicated by EOSDIS performance metrics) by providing capabilities to search and access science data products and specialized services. | |
| EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Core System (ECS) | The infrastructure which provides NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) and other U.S. and international scientists a broad range of desktop services from NASA's discipline-specific Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). The ECS infrastructure also supports exchange of data and research results within the science community, across multiple agencies and internationally. ECS is the evolutionary base for accelerating the pace of Earth science research. | See EOSDIS |
| Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project | NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project is a part of NASA's Earth Science Projects Division under the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. ESDIS manages the science systems of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). See Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) | See ESDIS |
| Earth Science Data Type (ESDT) | Each type of science data collected by an instrument aboard a satellite supported by the ECS is given a data type name to be stored or archived in the ECS inventory (e.g., MISR001.) ESDTs also define the Services which can be applied to the data and the metadata associated with the data. In addition, ESDTs are defined for all data referenced in the ECS inventory and this includes some non-satellite data, and some non-instrument data (e.g., science software archive packages, algorithm packages, pge tar files, and delivered algorithm packages). | |
| Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO) | NASA's Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO) Project is responsible for spacecraft maintenance and operations for Earth Science missions conducted by NASA's Earth Science Projects Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. ESMO plays a significant role during the mission life cycle; from the formulation and approval phases through the implementation and evaluation phases, and eventual deactivation. The Project's role is to ensure the health and safety of the missions it manages by fulfilling the primary operational requirements for each mission, and providing the scientific community with high-quality data products in a timely manner. It also serves as a focal point for the mission on-orbit operations and the definition of support services required. | See ESMO |
| Engineering Data | Data which describe the physical condition and operation of the platform and instruments on the platform. Parameters might include temperatures at specific points, filter(s) in use, switch settings, memory data, etc. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| File Format | A term that is used for both "Data Format" and "Product Format" whose meaning should be understood by its context. See Data Format | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Flight Readiness Review (FRR) | FRRs evaluate the readiness of the program and its projects, ground systems, personnel, and procedures for a safe and successful launch and flight/mission. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Footprint | Geographic area covered by the instrument observation and its derived products. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Formulation Agreement (FA) | The FA is prepared by the project to establish the technical and acquisition work that needs to be conducted during Formulation and defines the schedule and funding requirements during Phase A and Phase B for that work. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Formulation Authorization Document (FAD) | The FAD is issued by the MDAA to authorize the formulation of a program whose goals will fulfill part of the Agency's Strategic Plan and Mission Directorate strategies and establish the expectations and constraints for activity in the Formulation Phase. In addition, a FAD or equivalent is used to authorize the formulation of a project. (See Appendix E.) | See Data System Interfaces |
| Forward Processing | A term used in data processing when the data is moving from one version to another version. | |
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| Global Attribute | An attribute that applies to either the entire file or the entire collection of files. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) | GIBS provides full resolution visual representations of NASA Earth science data in a free, open, and interoperable manner. | See GIBS APIs |
| Granule |
| Definition 1 from EO Data Stewardship Glossary Definition 2 from Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Granule Metadata | These are metadata elements that describe a single granule of a data product. Values of granule metadata apply to all of the data in that one granule. Typical metadata in this category describe spatial and temporal extent of the data as well as the quality and lineage of the data. See also Granule. | |
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| Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) | The Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) is designed to facilitate managing and sharing scientific data. HDF includes two formats (HDF4 and HDF5), software for accessing data in HDF formats, and applications for working with HDF data. HDF is designed for efficient storage and access of high volume, complex data, and for mixing varieties of data types in a single container. | See Data Formats |
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| Ingestion | The ingestion function accepts data from different sources: ground segment reception, processing or data migration elements. The received data is quality checked and metadata including browse images are obtained from the data. The data and meta-data form a data product. The product is consistently submitted to archiving and cataloguing. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Instrument Calibration | The instrument calibration function is the determination of parameters describing instrument characteristics. They are to be used by the instruments and ground processing to generate calibrated and comparable physical values. These parameters vary for different instruments and modes. And they may vary over time in the long run (degradation). | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Inter-Project Agreement (IPA) | IPAs are agreements between ESDIS and projects not managed by ESDIS. Generally, the projects involved agree on an exchange of support services and data. From the interface control viewpoint, these agreements identify the need for an interface and the scope of the interface. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Interface Control Documents (ICDs) | ICDs are used to record design agreements for the interfaces between participating organizations. ICDs provide a means to evaluate and control all mutually interdependent and/or interacting design parameters of the interface. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Interface Requirement Documents (IRDs) | IRDs define the requirements for data exchanges across an interface between separately managed systems or subsystems. The requirements statements in IRDs are derived directly from project requirements documents. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Interoperability | The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, exchange data, and use the information that has been exchanged. In Earth observation it includes e.g. interoperable discovery and access, i.e. the capability of the user interface and administrative software of one instance of a catalogue service to interact with other instances of catalogue services. E.g. the capability of accessing granules in one data format with APIs or services of another API. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Inventory | The inventory function provides organization capabilities for archiving management. Data products can be grouped, searched and identified for retrieval, statistics and reorganization. Inventory is also referred to the list of available items stored and/or controlled in a storage warehouse system. In this latter case it is necessary to specify the kind of inventory, e.g. ICT Inventory for infrastructure inventory list. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Key Decision Point (KDP) | A KDP is the event at which the Decision Authority determines the readiness of a program/project to progress to the next phase of the life cycle (or to the next KDP). | See Data System Interfaces |
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| Launch Readiness Review (LRR) | LRRs evaluate a program/project and its ground, hardware, and software systems for readiness for launch. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Launch Vehicle (LV) | LVs are rockets that send people or things into space. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Long Term Preservation | The act of maintaining information in a correct and independently understandable form over the long term, i.e. a period of time long enough to be concerned with the impact which changing technologies, including support for media and data formats, and changing user communities will have on the information being held in a repository. See Preservation. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Metadata | Data about data, contained in data sets, and which provides an understanding of the content and utility of the data set. Metadata may be used to select on data for a particular scientific investigation. Metadata is intended as information describing significant aspects of a resource (Earth Observation space data in this context). They are created for the purposes of data search, discovery and access management and may exist at various levels, typically from data collection through to the individual variables of each data file in a collection. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Mission Concept Review (MCR) | MCRs evaluate the feasibility of the proposed mission concept(s) and its fulfillment of the program's needs and objectives. MCRs also determine whether the maturity of the concept and associated planning are sufficient to begin Phase A. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Mission Definition Review (MDR) | MDRs evaluate the credibility and responsiveness of the proposed mission/system architecture to the program requirements and constraints, including available resources. MDRs also determine whether the maturity of the project's mission/system definition and associated plans are sufficient to begin Phase B. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Mission Readiness Review (MRR) | MRRs evaluate the readiness of the program and its projects, ground systems, personnel, and procedures for a safe and successful launch and flight/mission. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Mission Readiness Test Plan (MRTP) | The MRTP documents the strategy that will be used to verify and ensure that all system components working together meet design specifications and requirements for the mission. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Modeling | An investigative technique that uses a mathematical or physical representation of a system or theory that accounts for all or some of its known properties. Models are often used to test the effects of changes of system components on the overall performance of the system. | |
| Mosaic | A composite of images put together to create one image. | |
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| NASA-compliant General Application Platform (NGAP) | NGAP provides a NASA-compliant, secure, cloud-based Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for hosting Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) applications. | Definition from the EOSDIS Engineering and Design (EED) contract team |
| Near Real-Time (NRT) Data | NRT Data are those that are available for use with a specified (small and application dependent) latency, which is typically 3 hours for meteorological applications. See LANCE. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| NetCDF-4/HDF5 | NetCDF format that uses the HDF5 data storage model. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
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| On-Demand Data Set | Collection of products that are generated in response to a user’s request. Such products could either be pre-defined or not. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Operations Agreement (OA) | Operations Agreements are even lower level, more detailed interface documents that are created to help define the operations use of the interfaces, including such things as addresses, phone numbers, and names of responsible personnel. These documents are not intended for project-level development and control. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Operational Readiness Review (ORR) | ORRs evaluate the readiness of the program, including its projects, ground systems, personnel, procedures, and user documentation. ORRs also operate the flight system and associated ground systems in compliance with program requirements and constraints during the operations phase. | See Data System Interfaces |
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| Parameter (or Variable) | A measurable or derived variable occurring in the physical or digital world. Variable and Parameter are used interchangeably. GCMD uses the term variable and NSIDC DAAC uses the term parameter. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Preliminary Design Review (PDR) | PDRs evaluate the completeness/consistency of the program's preliminary design, including its projects, in meeting all requirements with appropriate margins, acceptable risk, and within cost and schedule constraints, and to determine the program's readiness to proceed with the detailed design phase of the program. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Post-Flight Assessment Review (PFAR) | PFARs evaluate how well mission objectives were met during a human space flight mission. PFARs also evaluate the status of the flight and ground systems, including the identification of any anomalies and their resolution. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Post-Launch Assessment Review (PLAR) | PLARs evaluate the in-flight performance of the program and its projects. PLARs also determine the program's readiness to begin the operations phase of the life cycle and transfer responsibility to the operations organization. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Preservation | Preservation covers all processes and operations on individual or multi-mission data sets for ensuring the technical and intellectual survival of Space Data set and their metadata through time. It grants dataset integrity, its discoverability and accessibility, and facilitates its (re)-use in the long term. Preservation is one of the tasks of data curation. Examples are data record improvement and consolidation. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Processing | The processing function generates higher-level products from lower level products and auxiliary products. The processing is performed by core algorithms supplemented by administrative functions (e.g. formatting). The algorithms are version controlled. Processing is capable to produce the desired products systematically or on request. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Processing Levels | Raw Data The physical telemetry payload data as received from the satellite, i.e. a serial data stream without de-multiplexing. Level 0 Reconstructed unprocessed data at full space-time resolution with all available supplemental information to be used in subsequent processing (e.g. ephemeris, health and safety) appended. Level 1A Reconstructed unprocessed data at full resolution, time-referenced, and annotated with ancillary information, including radiometric and geometric calibration coefficients and geo-referencing parameters (e.g. ephemeris) computed and appended but not applied to the Level 0 data. Level 1B Radiometrically corrected and calibrated data in physical units at full instrument resolution as acquired. Level 1C L1B data orthorectified, re-sampled to a specified grid Level 2 Derived geophysical parameters (e.g. sea surface temperature, leaf area index) at the same resolution and location as Level 1 source data. Level 3 Data or retrieved geophysical parameters which have been spatially and/or temporally re-sampled (i.e. derived from Level 1 or 2 products), usually with some completeness and consistency. Such re-sampling may include averaging and compositing. Level 4 Model output or results from analyses of lower level data (i.e., variables that are not directly measured by the instruments, but are derived from these measurements; could be derived from multiple instrument measurements). | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Product | The term is used in various Earth observation contexts – and with different meanings. Electronic data package distributable to users; content is derived from instrument data via processing involving ancillary and auxiliary data. Products may comprise metadata and browse images. A product may be part of a collection – a distinction useful for archiving and cataloging purposes. The term product may be used to denote a product type, such as e.g. ENVISAT_ASAR_L1B_PRI data. End users may distinguish between (input, "raw") data and products, i.e. the derived geophysical parameters. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Product Application | Useful references to published articles about the use of the data and user feedback received by the science and instrument teams about the products. Includes reports of any peculiarities or notable features observed in the products. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Product Format | The specific implementation of global attributes, dimensions, groups, variables, and variable-level attributes in a data product, which is specified via the Product Format Specification (PFS) file. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Product Generation Algorithm | Detailed discussion of processing algorithms, outputs, error budgets and limitations. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Product Quality | Description of the impact to product quality due to issues with computationally intensive operations (e.g., large matrix inversions, truncation and rounding). | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Product Specification Document (PSD) | A document that provides the technical specifications relating to the formatting and content of a particular data product. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Product Team | Names of key science team leads and product team members (development, help desk and operations), roles, performing organization, contact information, sponsoring agencies or organizations and comments about the products. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Production Readiness Review (PRR) | PRRs evaluate the readiness of system developer(s) to produce the required number of systems within defined project constraints for projects developing multiple similar flight or ground support systems. PRRs also evaluate the degree to which the production plans meet the system's operational support requirements. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Project Plan | The Project Plan contains the technical approaches and management plans to implement the project requirements. It defines, at a high level, the scope of the project, the implementation approach, the environment within which the project operates, and the baseline commitments of the program and project. (from NPR 7120.5D) | See Data System Interfaces |
| Provenance Information | The information that documents the history of the content information. This information tells the origin or source of the content information, any changes that may have taken place since it was originated, the inputs responsible for a product, what versions of algorithms used, who has had custody of it since it was originated etc. Examples of provenance information could be the principal investigator who recorded the data, and the information concerning its storage, handling, and migration. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Quality Flag |
| See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Quality Indicator |
| Definition 1 from EO Data Stewardship Glossary Definition 2 from Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Quality Information | Secondary data required to assess the primary data set’s fitness for purpose, e.g. calibration and validation data and quality control results. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Quick-Look Data | A data product, usually related to a Level 1 or higher Standard Data Product, which is generated and distributed in near-real time. | |
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| Raw Data | See: Processing Levels. | |
| Reprocessing | Reprocessing is a specialization of processing where a complete product collection is systematically generated to obtain a new revision using archived lower level products. Re-processing is normally initiated after an improved processing algorithm is released. Reformatting could be considered or conducted as part of a re-processing exercise. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Requirements Documents (RQMT) | RDs are detailed requirements allocated from the project to the next lower level of the project. | See Data System Interfaces |
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| Safety and Mission Success Reviews (SMSR) | SMSRs prepare Agency safety and engineering management to participate in program final readiness reviews preceding flights or launches, including experimental/test launch vehicles or other reviews as determined by the Chief, Safety and Mission Assurance. SMSRs also provide the knowledge, visibility, and understanding necessary for senior safety and engineering management to either concur or nonconcur in program decisions to proceed with a launch or significant flight activity. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Scene | Subset of an instrument acquisition data segment, cut by time i.e. across-swath. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Science Data Management Plan (SDMP) | The SDMP describes how the program will manage the scientific data generated and captured by the operational mission(s). The SDMP also includes descriptions of how data will be generated, processed, distributed, analyzed, and archived. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Science Data Product Software (SDPS) | Science data product generation software and software documentation. Source code used to generate products at all levels in the science data processing system. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Science Data Product Validation | Datasets and documentation. Accuracy of products, as measured by validation testing, and compared to accuracy requirements. Description of validation process, including identification of validation data sets, measurement protocols, data collection, analysis and accuracy reporting. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Science Data Products Algorithm Inputs | Identify all ancillary data or other data sets used in generation or calibration of the data or derived product at all levels | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Science Data Software Tools | Product access (reader) tools. Software source code that would facilitate use of the calibration data, ancillary data and the data products at all levels. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) | Most of the EOS standard products are produced at facilities under the direct control of the instrument Principal Investigators/Team Leaders (PIs/TLs) or their designees. These facilities are referred to as Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS). SIPS are geographically distributed across the United States and are generally, but not necessarily, collocated with the PIs/TLs’ Scientific Computing Facilities. Products produced at the SIPS using investigator-provided systems and software are sent to appropriate DAACs for archival and distribution. Level 0 Data Products and Ancillary Data that begin the processing sequence are stored at the DAACs and retrieved by the SIPS. | |
| Search and Discovery | The procedure to search an archive based on specific search criteria (search) and to obtain information on available products (discovery). Data search and discovery are enabled by generating and maintaining searchable metadata and browse image catalogues, as well as providing a catalogue service for making the catalogue accessible (e.g. OGC CSW) and mechanisms to retrieve and present the information contained in the catalogue, e.g. via the graphic user interface of a data portal. During the discovery following a data search the user finds data based on his search criteria and evaluates if the data found are suitable for his application ('fit for purpose') by e.g. viewing the browse image, evaluating metadata such as coverage, quality information, or cost and licensing conditions. He may then decide to retrieve the data. Search and discovery as well as retrieval are components of data access. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Self-Describing File | A file that contains metadata thoroughly describing the characteristics and content of the file. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Sensor | Device which transmits an output signal in response to a physical input stimulus as voltage. In Earth observation a distinction between passives sensors, such as radiometers, and active sensors, such as radars, is common. Earth observation sensors – or instruments – are operated from different ground-/water-based, airborne, or spaceborne platforms. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Series/Collection | A grouping of science data that all come from the same source, such as a modeling group or institution. Series/collections have information that is common across all the datasets/granules they contain. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Series/Collection metadata | Metadata elements that describe an entire set of data files. Values of series/collection metadata apply to all of the files in a specific aggregate. Series/collection metadata may represent the same release of any given file, sets of data generated during an experiment, a campaign or an algorithm test. | Definition from 423-SPEC-001 NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification |
| Spatial Reference | Method by which location or coverage is designated (e.g., latitude and longitude). | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Standard Product | Standard products are agency-certified key products resulting from missions or projects. They are typically acquired systematically and generated by spatially and temporally extensive systematic processing. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Standing Review Board (SRB) | The SRB is responsible for conducting independent reviews (life cycle and special) of a program/project and providing objective, expert judgments to the convening authorities. The reviews are conducted in accordance with approved Terms of Reference (ToR) and life-cycle requirements per this document and NPR 7123.1. | See Data System Interfaces |
| Stewardship | The responsibility for planning, management and certification of digital EO data sets throughout the mission phases and to ensure adequate funding. It includes curation and preservation activities. Data Stewardship covers governance, planning, implementation and management of the sourcing, use and maintenance of Space Data assets. Data Stewardship enables the governance of all the types and forms of Space Data Package and the related repositories or archives. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Structured Vocabulary | An organized set of terms, headings or codes representing concepts and their inter-relationships, which can be used to support information retrieval. | Definition from ISO 25964-1:2011 |
| Subsetting | The extraction of a multi-dimensional rectangular array of pixels from a single data granule, where consecutive pixels are extracted from each array dimension. For each dimension, the size of the pixel array is characterized by the starting pixel location and the number of pixels to extract. | |
| Swath | A swath is defined as the area covered by the spatial samples collected during a scan of a spaceborne instrument defined by an incidence angle. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| System Acceptance Review (SAR) | SARs evaluate whether a specific end item is sufficiently mature to be shipped from the supplier to its designated operational facility or launch site. | See Data System Interfaces |
| System Definition Review (SDR) | SDRs evaluate the credibility and responsiveness of the proposed program requirements/architecture to the Mission Directorate requirements and constraints, including available resources, and allocation of requirements to projects. SDRs also determine whether the maturity of the program's mission/system definition and associated plans are sufficient to begin preliminary design. | See Data System Interfaces |
| System Integration Review (SIR) | SIRs evaluate the readiness of the program, including its projects and supporting infrastructure, to begin system AI&T with acceptable risk and within cost and schedule constraints. | See Data System Interfaces |
| System Requirements Review (SRR) | SRRs evaluate whether the functional and performance requirements defined for the system are responsive to the Mission Directorate requirements on the program and its projects and represent achievable capabilities. | See Data System Interfaces |
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| Temporal Extent or Temporal Coverage | The period during which data was collected, observations were made, or for which the model was run. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Unified Metadata Model (UMM) Profile | One of seven UMM metadata profiles: Collection (UMM-C), Granule (UMM-G), Service (UMM-S), Variable (UMM-Var), Visualization (UMM-Vis), Tools (UMM-T), and Common (UMM-Common). | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Uncertainty | Non-negative parameter characterizing the dispersion of the quantity values that are being attributed to a measure based on the information used. Where possible, this should be derived from an experimental evaluation but can also be an estimate based on other information, e.g. experience. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| User | External person, institution or system that consumes user services (Data Access or Science and Service Exploitation Platform) provided by the payload data ground segment. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| User Support | User support is a function inside the payload data ground segment to support external users to interact with the segment, to handle user registration, inquiries, complaints. This function is usually provided by a help desk. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
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| Validation | The process of assessing, by independent means, the quality of the data products derived from the system outputs. | Definition from EO Data Stewardship Glossary |
| Validation Stage | See Data Maturity Levels | |
| Variable | See Parameter | |
| Version/Release Number (also Collection) | Collection means the same thing as version; however, the MODIS science team uses the term Collection such as in MODIS Collection 5, but NSIDC uses Version as in MODIS Version 5. Also, GLAS refers to a Release such as Release 33, which is also the same as version or collection. Thus, all three terms mean the same thing depending on which product you are using. | Example:NSIDC MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-min L2 Swath 500m, Version 5 Example:NSIDC ICESat/GLAS Data Release Schedules |
| Visualization | Visualization—sometimes called scientific visualization—provides a window into reams of observational and simulation data by creating graphical representations that communicate to researchers and public alike. Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, visualizations are worth billions of bytes, both elucidating and simplifying big data. | Definition from NCCS |
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| Web Object Storage | Object storage accessible through https. | See Data Product Developers Guide for Data Producers |
| Working Agreement | A W/A outlines the working commitments made between the ESDIS Project and another organization for developing, implementing and/or operating portions of the data system. | See Data System Interfaces |
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