HUNTSVILLE, Ala., July 10 (UPI) -- Satellites have been transmitting data for more than 25 years and now U.S. scientists are seeking ways to make such long-term data useful and accessible.
One such data set closely monitors the planet's weather conditions. Sea surface temperatures, wind, air temperature, atmospheric water vapor, cloud water and rainfall rates are all constantly measured, collected and transmitted to an Earth-receiving station.
Scientists need to make this data useful and easy to access. That was the genesis of DISCOVER -- the NASA-supported Distributed Information Services for Climate and Ocean products and Visualizations for Earth Research.
"The focus of this research project is to provide highly accurate, long-term data retrieval that could meet the most demanding research requirements with easy-to-use data access, analysis, and display tools," said Sara Graves, director of the Information Technology Research Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "This research will provide new and innovative methods for enabling research in climate change."
UAH's Ken Keiser, a project scientist, said technologies under development will allow users to "mix and match" services through specialized applications, providing far greater capabilities than systems currently available.
