The Role and Evolution of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems

One of the three strategic goalsof NASA is to Advance understanding of Earth and develop technologies to improve the quality of life on our home planet (NASA strategic plan 2014). NASA's Earth ScienceData System (ESDS) Program directly supports this goal. NASA has been launching satellites for civilian Earth observationsfor over 40 years, and collecting data from various types of instruments. Especially since 1990, with the start of the Earth ObservingSystem (EOS) Program, which was a part of the Mission to Planet Earth, the observations have been significantly more extensive in their volumes, variety and velocity. Frequent, global observations are made in support of Earth system science. An open datapolicy has been in effect since 1990, with no period of exclusive access and non-discriminatory access to data, free of charge. NASA currently holds nearly 10 petabytes of Earth sciencedata including satellite, air-borne, and ground-based measurements and derived geophysical parameter products in digital form. Millions of users around the world are using NASA data for Earth scienceresearch and applications. In 2014, over a billion data files were downloaded by users from NASAs EOS Data and Information System ( EOSDIS), a system with 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers(DAACs) across the U. S. As a core component of the ESDS Program, EOSDIShas been operating since 1994, and has been evolving continuously with advances in information technology. The ESDS Program influences as well as benefits from advances in Earth ScienceInformatics. The presentation will provide an overview of the role and evolution of NASAs ESDS Program.