Big Data Analytics for Earth Sciences:the EarthServer approach

Big Data Analytics is an emerging field since massive storage and computing capabilities have been made available by advanced e-infrastructures.Earth and Environmental sciences are likely to benefit from Big Data Analytics techniques supporting the processing of the large number of Earth Observation datasets currently acquired and generated through observations and simulations.However,Earth Science data and applications present specificities in terms of relevance of the geospatial information,wide heterogeneity of data models and formats,and complexity of processing.Therefore,Big Earth Data Analytics requires specifically tailored techniques and tools.The EarthServer Big Earth Data Analytics engine offers a solution for coverage-type datasets,built around a high performance array database technology,and the adoption and enhancement of standards for service interaction(OGC WCS and WCPS).The EarthServer solution,led by the collection of requirements from scientific communities and international initiatives,provides a holistic approach that ranges from query languages and scalability up to mobile access and visualization.The result is demonstrated and validated through the development of lighthouse applications in the Marine,Geology,Atmospheric,Planetary and Cryospheric science domains.

GEOSS Platform data content and use

The GEOSS Platform is a key contribution to the goal of building the Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS).It enables a harmonized discovery and access of Earth observation data,shared online by heterogeneous organizations worldwide.This work analyzes both what is made available in the GEOSS Platform by the data providers and how users are utilizing it including multiyear trends,updating a previous analysis published in 2017.The present statistics derive from a 2021 EOValue report funded by the European Commission.The offer of GEOSS Platform data has been the object of various analyses,including data provider characterization,data sharing trends,and data characterization(comprising metadata quality analysis,thematic analysis,responsible party identification,spatial–temporal coverage).GEOSS data demand has also been the object of several analyses,including data consumer characterization,utilization trends,and requested data characterization(comprising thematic analysis,spatial–temporal coverage,and popularity).Among thefindings,a large amount of shared data,mostly from satellite sources,emerges with an issue of low metadata quality and related discovery match.Moreover,the trend in usage is decreasing.Therefore,the progressive disconnection of the GEOSS platform from its data Providers and Users and other possible causes are also reported.

Publishing China satellite data on the GEOSS Platform

This paper is the first of a series that describes some of the main dataset resources presently shared through the GEOSS Platform.The GEOSS Platform has been created to provide the technological tool to implement the Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS);it is a brokering infrastructure that presently brokers more than 190 autonomous data catalogs and information systems.The paper analyses the China Satellite datasets and describes the data publishing process from China GEOSS Data Provider to the GEOSS Platform considering both administrative registration as well as the technical registration.The China Satellite datasets are considered as one of the most important satellite data shared by the GEOSS Platform.The analysis provides some insights as well about GEOSS user searches for China Satellite datasets.

Multi-scale hydrological system-of-systems realized through WHOS:the brokering framework

Global Change challenges are now systematically recognized and tackled in a growingly coordinated manner by intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations.Heterogeneous observing networks provide the founded data sources to assess the Earth environmental status and take sound decisions to achieve a sustainable development.WMO Hydrological Observing System(WHOS)allows to discover and access historical and near real time hydrological observations.WHOS represents the hydrological contribution to the wider WIGOS-WIS system of WMO.It is a digital ecosystems framework contributed by a set of data providers and technical support centers.In this framework,three regional pilots were successfully completed.The WHOS architecture applies the services brokering style,implemented through the Discovery and Access Broker technology.A brokering approach makes a global system of systems possible and sustainable,where the different enterprise systems are enabled to interoperate,despite they implement heterogeneous communication interfaces and data models.In this manuscript,the WHOS brokering solution is detailed by recurring to the definition of a set of transversal viewpoints to describe the important aspects of the complex ecosystem–namely:enterprise,information,computational,engineering,and technological views.Finally,the three regional pilot ecosystems are described as successful cases of WHOS implementation.

Publishing Eurac Research data on the GEOSS Platform

This paper is the third of a series that introduces some of the main dataset resources presently shared through the GEOSS Platform. The GEOSS Platform is a brokering infrastructure that brokers more than 190 autonomous information systems and data catalogs;it was created to provide the technological tool to implement the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This manuscript focuses on the analysis of Eurac Research datasets and illustrates the data publishing process to enroll the Eurac Research Data Provider to the GEOSS Platform through the administrative and technical registrations. The study provides an analysis of the GEOSS user searches for Eurac Research data in order to understand the main use of datasets of an important Data Provider.

Publishing NextGEOSS data on the GEOSS Platform

This paper is the second of a series that describes some of the main dataset resources presently shared through the GEOSS Platform. The GEOSS Platform was created as the technological tool to implement interoperability among the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS);it is a brokering infrastructure that presently brokers more than 190 autonomous data catalogs and information systems. This paper is focused on the analysis of the NextGEOSS datasets describing the data publishing process from NextGEOSS to the GEOSS platform. In particular, both the administrative registration and the technical registration were taken into consideration. One of the most important data shared by the GEOSS Platform are the NextGEOSS datasets: the present study provides some insights in terms of GEOSS user searches for NextGEOSS data.