Operation Ice Bridge Data Management
Operation Ice Bridge (OIB) is a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) airborne mission making laser altimetry, radar, and other geophysical measurements to monitor and characterize the Earth's cryosphere. The Ice Bridge mission will operate from 2009 until the launch of ICESat II, estimated for 2015. The platforms include the NASA DC-8, P3, and eventually UAS. The instruments include laser altimeters and lidar imagers, ice penetrating radars, gravimeters, and other new technology instrumentation.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), will provide support for data collected by the Ice Bridge missions. In addition to the necessary data management, discovery, distribution, and outreach functions, we will also develop tools that will enable broader use of the data, and integrate diverse data types into cohesive forms to enable new science research. This paper will present the current status of the OIB data management effort at NSIDC and the near-term plans to accomplish the tasks described below.
Two guiding principles are the focus of our work for IceBridge: ensuring preservation of data, and maximizing usage of the data. The scientific and programmatic nature of the IceBridge mission is very fluid and our management approach will be oriented to effectively handle that fluidity within our project. Four directed tasks initially defined for Ice Bridge are described in this presentation. These are: Broker IceBridge Data Sets; Implement Tools and Services; Develop Value-added Science Products; and Ingest Selected Science Data Products.
