Data and Documentation Preservation Systems at the NASA GES-DISC

As many NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) missions have either already reached the end of their active life or are nearing it, preservation of artifacts from these missions takes on added urgency.  Preservation of data products is a fairly well defined task for the NASA  EOS Data Centers or DAACs.  However, preservation of documents or other artifacts needed to help users with the understanding of data from these missions, are also critical to the long-term studies of our planet’s climate, and to aid future generation’s ability to understand climatic changes. The challenge is how to preserve these items along with the traditional data products. This poster will elaborate on the process used by the GES-DISC for this preservation activity and describe the system put together for this purpose. 

The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES-DISC) has implemented a Preservation System to facilitate the long-term archive of documentation artifacts and other associated digital content. The GES-DISC designed this system based on Fedora Commons, an open-source repository management software, for cost savings and flexibility.

The first mission to utilize the GES-DISC Preservation System was the recently completed High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) on the Aura spacecraft.  Data and documentation from  the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) have recently been completed as well. The GES-DISC is negotiating the transfer of data preservation items from the current Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on Aura, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) missions before they end.