Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Check-in & Questions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UrwkEmY49MkHtKcLGsWHx6I6jXkWwq5P6gn3GyFDeKU/edit?tab=t.0

Session 1: Updates

ESDS

J. O'Sullivan

  • Science Mission Directorate Budget Community Meeting, 12p - 1p Eastern, Thursday, June 12, all are strongly encouraged to attend 
  • Scope may be changing but ESDS foundational goals are not
  • Interest in how many commercial users are appearing in data usage metrics
  • NASA FY26 is public information about the winding down of missions
  • 12 DAACs will be realigned with one of 4 'spheres' (Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, Biosphere, Atmosphere)
    • mission of DAACs don't change, but will become Science Enabling Teams, plan will be formulated this summer
    • Citizen science, Measures would close out. New data accession would not be accepted (~ pg 120 in document)
  • Data being visible for AI searches is an opportunity for innovation
  • Questions:
    • (J. Werdell) As the PACE Project Scientist, can I continue to send you new and innovative products? A: Existing, active missions can continue to send new data for that mission. No new missions will be accepted.
    • (E. Hestir) Can you elaborate on the commitment to Open Science? A: In terms of what NASA has, ESDS continues to be committed to Open Science and open access.
    • (J. Werdell) The satisfaction rating seems pretty high, why make these changes? A: The budget is driving the reason for the changes. We have to start working toward trying to make our goals work within the constraints of the budget.
    • (C. Del Castillo) We had a model that worked well and I wonder what problem are we trying to fix in making changes that involve unification and the cloud? A: The problem we are trying to fix is crossing disciplines. Our data currently isn't very easily usable across different domains. There is a heavy push toward consolidation across similar functions at DAACs. If we consolidate, DAACs can work in a more streamlined way that will allow DAACs to pay more attention to their user needs. If the budget is cut as proposed, convergence may be a more rapid and therefore more painful before it becomes streamlined. 
    • (C. Del Castillo) Will Level 1 data be respected? A: Yes
    • (C. Del Castiillo) I have a fear that HQ has forgotten that DAACs know how to make data available to user
    • (J. Werdell) Teaching students (and courses) where we show users Earthdata Search is clunky and non-intuitive. 
      • (E. Hestir) +1 

        "I would like to echo the challenge of using the NASA Earth Data portal in the classroom. I teach a large undergraduate remote sensing course that includes independent research projects. This year, students struggled more than ever before to interact with NASA websites, and most of them wound up accessing data through USGS or Copernicus, and they walked away from NASA. "

    • (S. Bailey) Of the instruments listed on your missions slide, VIIRS is not there. Why is that? I also didn't see it in the budget. Am I still able to continue archiving and processing VIIRS (and OLCI) data? A: It's in the budget, just listed under a different line item. 

L. Lorenzoni

  • OBB remains committed to its goal and that will not change. 

S. Blevins

  • Some efforts were derailed due to executive orders, however the work you do is important and appreciated.
    • (E. Hestir) 

      "I think the Indigenous Data issue is not a DEIA issue. These are sovereign nations and communities and this is about treating such data ethically and responsibily in accordance with national treaties. It may be time for NASA to consider reframing accordingly. "

  • (C. Durachka) Our goals haven't changed. Ingest and Archive are the most important as well as making sure it can get into the hands of our users. After that, tools improvement can be planned. 

A. Scott

  • (R. Reynolds) Will there be a redesign of the OceanColor website or will it stay the same? A: The organization will be different but we will work closely with the Web migration team to make sure data is migrated over to the best places as well as communicate changes as they occur to the users.

A. Abdurazik

  • SeaDAS 9.2.0 release, 4/30/2025
  • SeaWiFS, OCTS and CZCS were reformatted from HDF4 to netCDF4 so the SeaDAS processors were updated to support that
  • Release Notes: https://seadas.gsfc.nasa.gov/release-notes/
  • Last version for Intel MacOS support!
  • L2SS.py support
  • In progress (for next release): 
    • Find and Make matchup harmony service
    • merging SeaDAS sw with SNAP 12
  • Future:
    • full cloud-compatibility 
    • features similar to Panoply, per user request
  • Please send any feedback on features, desired functionality!
  • (G. Bourdin) Is there a goal for atmospheric data support in SeaDAS? A: OCSmart and Accolyte are two services that allow this support. PODAAC has a tool available (level 2 subsetter) which now works on our datasets.

C. Proctor

  • PACE Validation Science Team has recently submitted a large amount of data to SeaBASS 
  • The QA/QC process is critical. Data goes through iterations between the subject matter experts to make sure data are great. 31% of data resulted in improvements through this cycle.
  • In progress:
    • working to support validation of more advanced science products
    • redesign datasets with versions and how they are hosted
    • reprocessing for VIIRS J1 and support for SST validation 
  • Future:
    • Involved in Earthdata Pub and Cloud Upload Environment efforts as future data submission mechanisms.
  • Q: (E. Hestir) What is the future of SeaBASS with limited accession requests? A: Since PACE isn't 'new' it will continue but any new requests for data pending approval are paused. 
    • If there is a way to keep the community going, please consider those avenues.
  • (B. Barnes) Moving datasets into the cloud should be done methodically for in-situ datasets. Larger datasets are harder to find in EDSC. A: Conversations between DAAC and ESDIS are happening to land on the best approach.  

Notes from OB.DAAC:

  • Guidance was received about what the make-up of UWGs should be, so we will update on those changes which should include members from the private sector and commercial partners. 

The UWG agrees that we are okay to skip tomorrow's session and reconvene for the UWG Thursday session, following listening to the Thursday SMD session (Sean will forward the link to the UWG for those who can attend) Again, all are strongly encouraged to attend.  (POSTPONED)



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