GEONETCast—Delivering Environmental Data to Users Worldwide (September 2007)

GEONETCast, a near real-time global environmental information-delivery system by which in situ, airborne, and space-based observations, products, and services are transmitted to users through communication satellites, was accepted as a GEO initiative by the second GEO Plenary. GEONETCast is an interconnected global network of regional dissemination systems that are each focused on a specific geographic region under the respective satellites' footprints. Data from each region can be disseminated outside the originating region through data-exchange links between regions, such as through dedicated lines, overlapping satellite footprints, or use of the Internet or other existing networks. The regional components include one or more data collection, management, and dissemination hubs that receive, process, prioritize, and schedule the incoming data streams or products originating within the particular region. These GEONETCast Network Centres (GNCs) forward the prioritized data stream to the uplink ground station, which receives it, wraps it in a DVB-S dissemination protocol, and uplinks it to a communication satellite for dissemination at Ku- or C-band frequency. The data GEONETCast delivers is specifically targeted to address nine society benefit areas such as natural and human-induced hazards, environment and health, environmental-related energy issues, climate change, water management, weather, ecosystem management, sustainable agriculture, and desertification and biodiversity, with the aim of reaching a global coverage and allow the reception of this data at very low cost (basic reception station below $US2000) by nearly anyone on the planet. GEONETCast is a prominent case in which typical obstacles such as interoperability of existing systems and components reuse of existing infrastructure and interfacing with newly developed components have been resolved successfully.

I. Introduction

Ministers agreed at the third Earth Observation Summit in February 2005 to develop the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to meet the need for timely, quality, long-term, global environmental information as a basis for sound decision making and to enhance delivery of the benefits to society [2]. GEONETCast is a dissemination system under development by which GEOSS environmental satellite and in situ data and products from participating Data Providers will be transmitted to Users through satellites using a multicast, access-controlled, broadband capability. This capability is especially useful in parts of the world where high-speed land lines and/or Internet are not available. Participation in GEONETCast as a Data Provider, end user, or dissemination infrastructure provider is voluntary. The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has defined the GEONETCast task as Capacity Building Task #CB-06-04 with oversight by the GEO Architecture and Data Committee. It is critical, however, that the task also works with the GEO User Interface and Capacity Building Committees and others to identify additional data, products, and services to meet the needs of all nine societal benefit areas under GEO. U.S. Co-Chair Conrad Lautenbacher, based on discussions between the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the United States/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), presented the concept to the GEO Executive Committee on 30th of September 2005. EUMETSAT and NOAA then presented it to the second GEO plenary meeting in December 2005—which adopted the concept in principle. GEO Members and participating organisations recognized that GEO could add value to existing operational and prototype technological efforts underway to enhance the delivery of data and information to users.