Version 0 EOSDIS - An overview

Attention is given to NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), which is to be a single, distributed but internally consistent evolutionary system to support the planning and execution of EOS data acquisitions and to process, archive, and distribute EOS data products and selected non-EOS data to enable interdisciplinary studies of the earth. V0 EOSDIS, a logical step in this evolutionary process, is to address both technical and managerial challenges. Technical challenges include developing a multidiscipline, distributed system for searching and ordering data in a heterogeneous environment, and standardizing data formats and distribution techniques among differing communities and organizations. Managerial challenges include establishing and maintaining a structure consisting of geographically distributed entities such that cooperative development is carried out effectively despite organizational differences, maintaining interactions with the scientific community to ensure its close involvement despite its size and diversity, and keeping the expectations for V0 consistent with its schedules and resources.