CEOS Analysis Ready Data

Many satellite data users lack the expertise, infrastructure, and internet bandwidth to efficiently and effectively access, preprocess, and use the growing volume of space-based data for local, regional, and national decision-making. Furthermore, even sophisticated users of satellite Earth observation data typically invest a large proportion of their effort into data preparation. This is a major barrier to the full and successful use of satellite data and threatens the success of the major global and regional initiatives CEOS supports.

 

Countries and international organizations have expressed a desire for support from CEOS to facilitate access to and processing of satellite data into CEOS Analysis Ready Data for Land (CARD4L) products: satellite data that have been processed to a minimum set of requirements and organized into a form that allows immediate analysis with a minimum of additional user effort and interoperability both through time and with other datasets.

 

The 2020-2021 CEOS Strategic Implementation Team (SIT) Co-Chairs, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Geoscience Australia, strategically prioritized the CEOS Analysis Ready Data (ARD) initiative to support the systematic and regular provision of CARD4L to greatly reduce the burden on global satellite data users. Watch the video below to learn more about CEOS ARD, the progress CEOS has made in providing ARD definitions and specifications, and a few forward-looking plans for ARD across domains beyond land.