The mission of the CEOS Working Group on Calibration & Validation (WGCV) is to ensure long-term confidence in the accuracy and quality of Earth Observation data and products and to provide a forum for the exchange of information about calibration and validation, including the coordination of cooperative activities.
Calibration is the process of quantitatively defining a system’s response to known and controlled signal inputs. Validation, on the other hand, is the process of assessing, by independent means, the quality of the data products derived from those system outputs.
Our Working Group addresses the need for standardizing the ways that different data sources are combined to ensure interoperability among existing and future Earth Observing systems. The WGCV promotes the international exchange of technical information and documentation, joint experiments, and the sharing of facilities, expertise, and resources. This makes the WGCV the focal point for all things related to calibration and validation in the international user community. The WGCV Subgroups also conduct many activities around specific topics and sensor types.
The CEOS CalVal portal serves as the main forum for exchange and information sharing for the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation. It provides access to agreed good practices and Cal/Val protocols to the wider Earth Observation community within CEOS and beyond. It connects users to reference data and networks and provides reliable, up-to-date and user-friendly information useful for Cal/Val tasks, facilitating data interoperability and performance assessment through an operational CEOS coordinated and internationally harmonised Cal/Val infrastructure consistent with QA4EO principles.
For more information about the overall mission and objectives of the WGCV, we invite you to please have a look at the WGCV Terms of Reference. Information about current and upcoming WGCV activities are outlined within the overall CEOS 3-Year Work Plan (for the period 2023-2025).
Please feel free to contact the WGCV Chair for more information or to be added to our mailing list.