The NASA Terra, Aqua, and Aura Data Continuity Workshop takes place online May 23-25, 2023. The workshop will discuss data product continuity needs, capabilities, and gaps as these three long-lived missions reach the end of their operational lives.
The inevitable end of these missions creates a challenge for the NASA research and applications communities that have relied on the continuous availability of data from these missions to enable process studies, application development, and the detection of long-term trends. A NASA Request for Information (RFI) was issued on March 1, 2023, seeking responses from the science community and stakeholders for workshop content planning.
NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) was conceived in the 1980s, built in the 1990s, and launched late in 1999 and in the early 2000s. It is comprised of the coordinated, polar-orbiting Terra, Aqua, and Aura satellites. Each satellite carries multiple sensors that collect data for monitoring and understanding key components of the climate system and their interactions. These data and data products are available without restriction through NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
It is critical to plan for and minimize impacts for NASA stakeholders caused by the end of these missions. Additionally, it is important to review preparations, actions, and alternatives to facilitate transition to alternate data sources during this final phase of EOS satellite operations.