VirES for Aeolus - Online visual analysis of Aeolus data

Abstract

VirES (Virtual Workspace for Earth Observation Scientists) is a highly interactive data manipulation and retrieval interface for specific ESA Earth Explorer mission products. It is under evolutionary/operational maintenance by EOX since 2016 for the Swarm geomagnetic mission and starting 2018 it has been extended for ESA's Earth Explorer Aeolus wind profiling mission. The goal of this service is to provide users with intuitive and easy access to the mission's level 1B, 2A, 2B and several auxiliary data products. In order to be able to understand, manage, visualize and analyze the new and complex data produced by the satellite a close collaboration between project partners DLR and DoRIT and EOX as industry partner has been established. VirES for Aeolus provides means for multi-dimensional visualization, interactive plotting and analysis and stands for a modern concept of extended access to Earth Observation (EO) data. It supports novel ways of data discovery, visualization, filtering, selection, analysis, snapshotting and downloading. The service was designed with a focus on the following areas of application: Quality analysis, calibration and validation, scientific exploitation, modeling and prediction. Specialized solutions have been developed to allow visualization of the complex and large datasets in an interactive and intuitive way. The tool has been further refined and improved since the Aeolus launch August 2018 in close collaboration with its users and project partners. VirES for Aeolus offers easy access to the mission data through ordinary web browsers via without the need for installing any specialized software.