Assessing the Usability of Earth Science Data

As Earth science data are being used by diverse communities representing a variety of disciplines, it becomes increasingly necessary to provide diverse populations of potential users with data products and associated services and tools that can be used on demand. Potential users should be able to seek, find, explore, and identify the Earth science data products, services, and tools that are available to meet their needs and answer their questions. Similarly, these resources should be usable by users from various disciplinary backgrounds and levels of expertise, without imposing excessive usage requirements upon such users. Assessing Earth science data products, services, and tools for usability prior to public release can identify opportunities for improving the usability of these resources to enable use by new populations of users. Based on the tradition of scientific reviews, organized community data reviews can contribute to efforts to assess the usability of Earth science data and associated products, services, and tools.