CEOS Ocean Variable Enabling Research & Applications for GEO (COVERAGE): An Initiative and Prototype Platform to Simplify and Expand the Accessibility and Usage of Inter-agency Satellite and in-situ Oceanographic Data in Support of Interdisciplinary Applications

Presented at the GHRSST XXIII international science team meeting, 27 June-1 July 2022, online and in-person (Barcelona). #GHRSST23

Short abstract

There is a growing imperative to better marshal available ocean observations of different types in support of interdisciplinary marine science and ecosystem management applications for societal benefit. There is also a related need to develop improved data infrastructures and services for a more digitally integrated ocean observing system, one providing more seamless access to diverse observations for the oceans to enable their synergistic and efficient use also amongst emerging user communities and applications.  COVERAGE is an international effort and 3 year pilot project within the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) involving interagency participation and engagement of the four CEOS Virtual Constellations, including SST-VC, that seeks to address these challenges. Its goal is to provide improved access to multi-agency, multidisciplinary remote sensing data for the oceans that are also better integrated with in-situ observations, also biological, that pose additional data interoperability challenges. COVERAGE focuses on implementing technologies, including emerging cloud-based solutions, to provide an advanced yet accessible data rich, web-based platform for integrated ocean data delivery and access: multi-parameter observations, easily discoverable and usable, organized thematically, and complemented by a set of integrated, value-added data services including data search, visualization and analytics.  COVERAGE development is characterized by a phased, user-driven, open source approach organized around priority application use cases identified by agency partners.  Here we provide an overview of the initiative and the status of current our Phase-C project, and showcase some of the COVERAGE’s core data service capabilities.