Thursday, June 12, 2025
Session 2: Earthdata Search and other topics
(All) The UWG expressed gratitude and kudos for the steps the Earthdata team is taking to improve the user interface. (Yay!)
(All) Desired improvements for Earthdata Search:
- Ability to search for a variable (chl, pic, poc)
- 'bulk' search capability which would allow user to supply time AND space parameters, together and get back datasets
- (X. Zhang) Batch search (need to be able to search temporal and spatial together) - matchups and validations, currently this is part of the efforts the SeaDAS team is working on
- New users still have too many clicks before finding data, which is overwhelming and driving them to use tools other than Earthdata Search .
- (E. Hestir) students found it difficult to use Earthdata search - they were asked to come up their own ideas and find data by themselves, they ended up using GIOVANI instead.- beginner users find it hard to find the proper data to use, the variables/parameters, eg. Chla, hard to locate the files - keywords setting is weird in Earthdata search (GCMD keywords are possibly arbitrarily used. If a user wants to)
- (E. Hestir) Feedback was generally about reducing the number of clicks for new users to get at the intended data from various points entry points such as Earthdata Search, its' filters, portals, the Earthdata website, its' data catalog and from dataset landing pages.
- (R. Reynolds) how to teach someone new to this to get start with earthdata search - to teach them find data - “The idea of tutorial videos - even if it is just for a single product like Chl - would demystify and clarify the process for new users. ”
- (B. Barnes) suggestion - provide some help information both on earthdata search and ocean color web
- OB: encourages users (especially new users) directly share their experiences with us or Earthdata search team
- 'Harmony' is not clear to users. Why isn't 'cloud-based services' used instead? Is there a list of 'harmony services' for users to see and learn about?
(J. Graff) Concerns about availability of data given termination of work and loss of contracts has prompted conversations where other agencies and other companies have taken measures to ask other agencies or partners to store a copy of their data. Is NASA concerned about similar results? Is NASA planning conversations to ensure data availability in the event of any stop work orders?
A: Data will remain open and available based on requirements for our archives.
(B. Barnes) SeaBASS/In situ data availability on Earthdata Search.
A: Yes, in situ data can be searched from Earthdata Search from the SeaBASS portal. They are not yet cloud-available.
(E. Hestir) Cloud Computing: Concern was raised about cloud computing capabilities for Universities and disadvantaged communities as cloud computing becomes more popular. Conversations about costs need to happen with NASA and the larger community about where costs should be covered to keep data truly accessible to all communities, internationally. What is allowable in contracts should be defined such that some access is retained after contracts end. A collaboration with NASA and other agencies is suggested so a solution can be formulated at the national level so that we can become globally competitive in the cloud computing space.
A: It's true that not much has been done yet to find solutions for this problem, but we all agree that this is an issue. While NASA asserts that data will remain free and open, we do not have a requirement to provide compute for communities. As long as you're able to reach our data, you have free and open access.
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