Quantitative Highlights of 20 years Aqua Data Archive and Data Usage

NASA’s Aqua satellite carries six Earth-observing instruments Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Currently only four of six instruments are collecting data, two instruments that stopped transmitting data are AMSR-E that suffered a major anomaly in October 2011 and was powered off in March 2016 while as HSB failed in February 2003. NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project makes these data, along with derived products, available to worldwide data users. Since the launch of Aqua on May 4, 2002, more than 10,000 data products have been archived and distributed by NASA-funded Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that are part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). At the end of the 2021 Fiscal Year with over 100,000 orbits data, about 1,000 Aqua data products constituted almost 16.5 % of the entire EOSDIS data archive volume (8.6 PB out of approximately 55.2 PB), and 7.5 PB of Aqua data were distributed to over half-a-million public users worldwide.

By categorizing the Aqua data products and their distribution, we can get a quantitative assessment of Aqua data usage. NASA’s ESDIS Project has collected archive, distribution, and user information from EOSDIS data users since February 2000. These metrics are available through the ESDIS Metrics System (EMS). EMS information is stored in a relational database from which quantitative metrics of Aqua data use can be retrieved and analyzed.

The purposes of this study are to: 1) perform a comprehensive investigation of the 20-year trend in the archive and distribution of Aqua data products; 2) identify and characterize data product usage over the last 20 years; and 3) identify and characterize the global user community for these data. In addition to revealing how Aqua data use has evolved over time, the results of this study provide insights on identifying the various user communities for different kinds of Earth science data products. Also, because of the enormous quantity of data handled by EOSDIS DAACs, the study provides guidance of the requirements for future data systems that will be needed to effectively and efficiently handle the ever-increasing amounts of Earth science data produced by future (and ongoing) Earth science missions.