CEOS Visualization Environment (COVE) Tool for Intercalibration of Satellite Instruments

Increasingly, data from multiple instruments are used to gain a more complete understanding of land surface processes at a variety of scales. Intercalibration, comparison, and coordination of satellite instrument coverage areas is a critical effort of international and domestic space agencies and organizations. The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Visualization Environment (COVE) is a suite of browser-based applications that leverage Google Earth to display past, present, and future satellite instrument coverage areas and coincident calibration opportunities. This forecasting and ground coverage analysis and visualization capability greatly benefits the remote sensing calibration community in preparation for multisatellite ground calibration campaigns or individual satellite calibration studies. COVE has been developed for use by a broad international community to improve the efficiency and efficacy of such calibration planning efforts, whether those efforts require past, present, or future predictions. This paper provides a brief overview of the COVE tool, its validation, accuracies, and limitations with emphasis on the applicability of this visualization tool for supporting ground field campaigns and intercalibration of satellite instruments.

I. Introduction

The group on Earth Observations’ (GEO) Global Earth Observation System of Systems aims to deliver timely and comprehensive products to meet the needs of its nine “Societal Benefit Areas” [1]. To accomplish this vision, starting from a system of disparate systems that were built for a multitude of applications, it is necessary to establish an internationally coordinated operational framework that facilitates interoperability and harmonization. The space arm of GEO, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), which is comprised of 29 space agencies and 21 other national and international organizations, is best suited for this effort. As a result, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CEOS Systems Engineering Office worked with the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) to develop the unique and innovative CEOS Visualization Environment (COVE). Since its introduction, COVE has evolved into a capable architecture supporting many international calibration campaigns and consistently expanding its user base across the international community [2], [3]. COVE is currently being used in the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Italy, China, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, and others.