The LANCE UWG, established in 2009, provides overall guidance for the evolution of LANCE on behalf of the applications user communities.  The UWG members are responsible for providing guidance and making recommendations concerning a broad range of topics related to the LANCE, capabilities, and services. In these regards, the UWG shall be responsible for representing the broad needs of the LANCE applications user communities. Any recommendation by the UWG, including the addition of new products into LANCE, shall not constitute an implementation instruction but will be taken under consideration by the ESDIS Project.  The addition of new products into LANCE follows an Enhancement Request process. If additional funding is required to implement a new capability, such as a new product, the ESDIS Project may need to engage NASA Headquarters (HQ) concerning the feasibility and cost of implementation. Final authority shall rest with the latter.

Membership 

To the extent possible, the UWG shall include representatives from all sectors of the applications user communities which are supported by LANCE products and services, and representatives shall be cognizant of the science aspects of the data products. LANCE UWG members benefit from the opportunity to provide input on existing products as well as initiating/promoting potential new products. Additionally, UWG members have the opportunity to suggest modifications to platforms (such as FIRMS and Worldview) that would further support their user community. The UWG shall have approximately 20 members and shall include representatives from U.S. government agencies, universities, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and others. The recommended term for the members shall be 4 years, and members are encouraged to actively engage and to attend all UWG meetings (typically two per year). If members are deemed inactive by the UWG Chair and the LANCE management team, or otherwise unable to participate, they may be excused. The terms shall be renewable for active members. The responsibility for identifying the UWG Chairperson and the UWG members shall rest with the ESDIS Project. In addition to the UWG members representing the applications user communities, LANCE UWG meetings may also include representation from NASA HQ, ESDIS Management, LANCE element leads, and DAACs. 

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the UWG shall include but are not limited to:

  • Providing an assessment of the quality of the products and services provided by LANCE, and a determination of the extent to which the products and services reflect the needs of the applications user communities.
  • Recommending modifications to existing products and services that will improve the degree to which LANCE meets the end user requirements.
  • Reviewing suggested enhancement requests and developing recommendations for NASA HQ concerning which of these should potentially be implemented. The UWG shall also recommend the priorities for implementation.
  • Identifying ways in which LANCE should evolve to meet the future needs of users, and providing suggestions for ensuring continuity of products as missions reach end of life.
  • Participating in one or two meetings per year.
  • Recommending new user communities for LANCE to target and provide suggestions on methods to engage new user communities
  • Reviewing relevant solutions from the SNWG effort to assess relevance to LANCE, and considering other US Government Federal agency satellite needs related to latency that may result from the SNWG process. 
  • Engaging with the LANCE management team on ad hoc requests

Meeting Schedules and Procedures

A minimum of one meeting per year shall be scheduled by the LANCE management team in coordination with UWG Chairperson and members. If possible, the meeting should be held in-person at a LANCE element facility or other meeting host such as a UWG member’s facility/institution.  If two meetings are held in a year, typically one meeting is face-to-face and one meeting is virtual via telecon.  If necessary, additional ad hoc teleconferences may be required to discuss, for example, enhancement requests that are time-critical in nature as determined by the user community. For these ad hoc meetings, a quorum shall be the UWG member(s) representing the instrument involved and the potential user community, the Chairperson, the LANCE management team, and the implementation lead(s) involved with the enhancement request. 

The format for the in-person meetings consists of presentations with periods of discussion. At a minimum, the meeting shall include the status of LANCE, covering updates since the last meeting, a report on LANCE metrics, and a discussion/recommendation session organized around the suggested enhancements. The meeting usually also includes a perspective from NASA HQ, updates from Worldview, and presentations on topics of interest to the LANCE community.  The LANCE management team shall be responsible for distributing the meeting agenda and meeting minutes.

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