Standards, Requirements and References
Requirements
Airborne and Satellite Mission Data Systems Requirements
The Airborne Mission Data System Requirements and Satellite Mission Data Requirements from the NASA HQ Earth Science Division include the ESDIS Mission Requirements as well as the approved list of standards shown below. ESDIS Mission Requirements are managed through the ESDIS configuration control process involving review and comments from all affected organizations. Additional standards and conventions approved for use in NASA Earth science data systems are managed by the ESDIS Standards Office (ESO). ESDIS Mission Requirements include:
- ISO 19115 Geographic Information Metadata Standard
- NASA Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification
For the full list of ESD-approved standards, as well as best practices and lessons learned, please see the Standards and Practices section.
Standards and Practices
The ESDIS Standards Office (ESO) coordinates standards policy and activities within ESDIS. ESO follows a two-phase Standards Process for identification of appropriate standards and practices and their subsequent adoption for use in NASA Earth science data systems.
ESD-Approved Standards for use in NASA Earth Science Data Systems
Data Format
- HDF 5
- HDF EOS 5
- NetCDF Classic
- NetCDF-4/HDF5 File Format
- OGC KML
- ASCII File Format Guidelines for Earth Science Data
- HDF 4
- HDF 4 is being deprecated in favor of HDF 5 and is therefore not recommended for new missions. Although support will still be offered for HDF 4, it will be primarily of a sustainment nature
- HDF EOS 2
- HDF EOS 2 is being deprecated in favor of HDF EOS 5 and is therefore not recommended for new missions. Although support will still be offered for HDF EOS 2, it will be primarily of a sustainment nature
Metadata
- Unified Metadata Model (UMM)
- GCMD Directory Interchange Format (DIF)
- ECHO Metadata Standard
- NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions
Discovery and Access
Interoperability
ASCII Data Formats
- ASCII File Format Guidelines for Earth Science Data
- International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) File Format Standards
- SeaBASS Data File Format
- NASA Aerogeophysics ASCII File Format Convention
Related Technical Information
- Guidelines for a Common File Format for Aura Instruments
- Creating File Format Guidelines: The Aura Experience
Under Development or Review
Retired Documents
- Documents that are superseded or obsolete are moved to the Retired Documents list.
List of Standards and Practices in Table Form providing more details on document categories and status
References
- NASA Earth System Science Remote Sensors: An overview and listing of Remote sensing instruments (active and passive).
- Processing Levels: EOSDIS data products are processed at various levels ranging from Level 0 to Level 4. Read through the definitions of each level.
- Earth Data Science Disciplines: A list of the various Earth science disciplines served by NASA's data centers with various data products, data information services, and tools unique to a particular user community.
- ESDIS Acronym List: A comprehensive listing of acronyms used within EOSDIS.
- Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Glossary: A glossary of phrases with their definition, context, and usage within ESDS.
Last Updated: Nov 8, 2016 at 3:51 PM EST
