Karen Moe

Earth Observation Sensor Web: An Overview

In recent years, one of the major advances in Earth observation has been the development and realization of the concept of the Earth Observation Sensor Web. This concept has emerged from advances in sensor, communication, and information technologies to meet the demands for timely and pertinent data and information for supporting applications in the societal benefit areas of Earth observation. One consensus view of the sensor web is a coordinated observation infrastructure composed of a distributed collection of resources - e.g., sensors, platforms, models, computing facilities, communications infrastructure - that can collectively behave as a single, autonomous, taskable, dynamically adaptive and reconfigurable observing system that provides raw and processed data, along with associated metadata, via a set of standards-based serviceoriented interfaces.

Earth Science Markup Language (ESML): a solution for scientific data-application interoperability problem

Interchange technologies facilitate seamless interactions between applications, tools and services with datasets in heterogeneous formats. The Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville is developing an interchange technology focused on scientific data in general, and particularly on the vast amounts of remotely sensed Earth Science data. This interchange technology consists of the Earth Science Markup Language (ESML) and a related library of programming utilities. ESML, based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), allows data format structure descriptions to be written in a standard manner. ESML is unique in that it is not another new data format, instead it is a external structural metadata based solution for decoding existing formats. The effort involved to describe legacy data formats in ESML is small. ESML and the associated software library will allow wider interoperability of Earth Science services and tools, enabling Earth Scientists to work more easily with data in a variety of formats. This interchange technology will facilitate the development of data format independent search, visualization, and analysis tools. This paper will describe this interchange technology and compare it with similar XML based efforts.

Interoperable Infrastructure for Flood Monitoring: SensorWeb, Grid and Cloud

The paper presents an international multi-disciplinary initiative, a Namibia SensorWeb Pilot Project, that was created as a testbed for evaluating and prototyping key technologies for rapid acquisition and distribution of data products for decision support systems to monitor floods. Those key technologies include SensorWebs, Grids and Computation Clouds. This pilot project aims at developing an operational trans-boundary flood management decision support system for the Southern African region to provide useful flood and water-borne disease forecasting tools for local decision makers. This effort integrates space-based and ground sensor data along with higher level geospatial data products to enable risk assessment and ultimately risk maps related to flood disaster management and water-related disease management. We present an overall architecture of the Pilot along with components and services being developed. Additionally, case-studies and results achieved so far are discussed. The presented work is being carried out within GEO 2009-2011 Work Plan as CEOS WGISS contribution.

Metadata requirements analysis for the emerging Sensor Web This was orally presented at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2008, Vienna, Austria, 13–18 April 2008.

Abstract The Sensor Web has emerged from Earth Science research with the development of Web technology, to achieve process automation, sensor interoperation, and service synergy. These promises require the discovery of the right sensor at the right time and the right location with the right quality. Metadata, for sensor, platform, and data, are crucial for achieving such goals. However, analysis and practical use of these metadata reveals that the metadata and their associations are not applicable or suitable for the Sensor Web. The shortfalls are (1) the non-standard metadata expression language; (2) the missing link between sensor and domain knowledge; (3) the insufficiency in the information for geographic locating and sensor tasking; and (4) the enhanced requirements on the quality, security, and ownership of both sensors and their sensed data. This paper reviews the current standards that have metadata components for the sensor and its platform, especially those from ISO TC211, Open Geospatial Consortium Inc., and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Global Change Master Directory . A recommendation on metadata that meets the requirement of cross-mission sensor discovery in a pervasive Web environment is derived from them. The recommendation addresses issues on language formalization, sensor geolocation, semantics, quality, and accessibility. Roles of the emerging semantic Web technology for enabling robust discovery of sensor are discussed.

Improving Disaster Management Using Earth Observations—GEOSS and CEOS Activities

This paper describes how the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) are individually and collaboratively strengthening worldwide ability for agencies to manage the disasters lifecycle. The Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP) of GEO has, through an agile development process, deployed and tested advanced information systems for Earth Observations based on interoperability arrangements. In particular, AIP has focused on several disaster management scenarios resulting in an architecture that has improved the ready viability and usability of data for disasters. CEOS is constructing a reference architecture, intended to streamline access to satellite data and services for disaster management and risk assessment. The CEOS approach aims to support disaster management activities with satellite information in a holistic fashion, taking account of their overlaps and interdependencies. Jointly GEO and CEOS are now working to align the approaches for disaster management to describe enterprise components and improve understanding of contributed systems and their roles. The coordination has lead to refinements of the Disaster Management Scenario via further implementation in AIP-5. By collaborating via the CEOS working groups and the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) communities of practice, these efforts are intended to engage the international community focused on disaster management and risk assessment to fully utilize remote sensing resources for societal benefit.

NASA Technology for the Earth Observation Sensor Web

The Earth Observation Sensor Web vision is to enable on-demand sensing of a broad array of environmental and ecological phenomena across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from a heterogeneous suite of sensors both in-situ and in orbit. The NASA Advanced Information Systems Technology program aims to advance the use of emerging technologies for space based Earth science research and applications and infuse the sensor web concepts into space missions and data systems. The current technology investments in sensor webs are intended to advance the state of the practice in Internet-enabled distributed systems, extended to on-orbit remote sensing sensors. This paper describes the foundation for the Earth Observation Sensor Web based on a system-of-systems concept dynamically reconfigured to respond to events. Sensor web characteristics and sample use cases illustrate how these systems contribute to our knowledge of the Earth. Summaries of sensor web use cases and research highlights will be presented from some of the research projects recently funded by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office and currently underway in universities, industries and NASA research centers throughout the country.

Towards a sensor web architecture for Disaster management: Insights from the Namibia flood pilot

The Group on Earth Observations, GEO, has identified the need to improve disaster risk management by providing timely information relevant to the full disaster management cycle of mitigation, preparedness/warning, response and recovery. The Committee on Earth Observing Satellites, CEOS, as the satellite arm of GEO, has recognized the important role that remote sensing contributes to all phases of the disaster management cycle. Activities to address the satellite information needs and gap analysis for disaster management systems are ongoing. This paper reports on results from two such activities, the southern Africa Flood and Health Pilot addressing annual floods in Namibia, and the GEOSS Architecture for Disasters analysis to enhance the use of satellite data. Direct interaction with Namibian hydrologists to experiment with satellite and in situ data products has helped inform the disasters architecture, providing lessons learned and best practices for the GEO societal benefit areas.

Strengthening disaster management using Earth Observations - GEOSS and CEOS activities

This paper describes how GEOSS and CEOS are individually and collaboratively strengthening the worlds ability to manage the disasters lifecycle. The Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP) of GEOSS has, through an agile development process, deployed and tested advanced information systems for Earth Observations based on interoperability arrangements. In particular AIP has focused on several Disaster Management Scenarios resulting in an architecture that has improved the ready viability and usability of data for disasters. CEOS is constructing a reference architecture, intended to streamline access to satellite data and services for disaster management. The CEOS approach aims to support disaster management activities with satellite information in a holistic fashion, taking account of their overlaps and interdependencies. Jointly GEOSS and CEOS are now working to align the approaches for Disaster Management to describe enterprise components and improve understanding of contributed systems and their roles. The coordination will lead to refinements of the Disaster Management Scenario via further implementation in AIP-5. By collaborating via the CEOS working groups and GEOSS communities of practice, these efforts are intended to engage the international community focused on disaster management to fully utilize remote sensing resources for societal benefit.

Improving information standards and remote sensing support for disaster management

Effective remote sensing support to disaster management may require rethinking the processes, standards, and life-cycles for data management. These have traditionally emphasized the viewpoints and concerns of data providers and their immediate operational clients. But particularly in disaster management, there is a need to make end users more central to the design and evolution of the services infrastructure, so as to account for local variability and rapid evolution of user needs. State of the art online data services now provide opportunities to let users request and receive custom products on demand; manipulate them with ubiquitous software tools; and share them across social networks. The resulting “product lifecycle” offers both challenges and unprecedented opportunities for the design and development of geospatial and remote sensing systems in support of disaster management.

Implementing a technology transfer testbed: leveraging emerging technology for the Earth Observing System Data and Information System

Meeting the goals for EOSDIS to acquire, manage, and distribute large volumes of remote sensing data can be accomplished by leveraging the capabilities of advanced technologies. In this paper we first introduce the EOSDIS architecture and the concepts of sponsored research prototypes and technology transfer. We discuss the motivations and roles that collaboration, emergence, and changing technology play in the process of adapting technology to the challenges of developing the EOSDIS core system (ECS). Further discussions include the implementation of a testbed which has been established for ECS technology transfer. The ECS technology transfer testbed (ET3) demonstrates NASAs strategy for risk mitigation where near- term and long-term objectives can be met by appropriately exploiting emerging technology research. The technology transfer process we describe defines the mechanisms necessary to evaluate, assess, and integrate research results into the full system engineering and development life cycle for EOSDIS.