Comparing Satellite Architecture Studies Using Standard Taxonomy Approach

The last couple of years have seen the publishing of various satellite architecture studies as NOAA considers its post 2030 observations portfolio. These include the National Research Council’s NASA Decadal Survey, the NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture (NSOSA) study, and the NOAA Observing System Integrated Analysis-II (NOSIA-II). The ability to draw general conclusions is hampered by each study using individual methodologies and scope. Additionally, each study utilizes different vocabularies to express similar terminologies. In conjunction with interagency work supporting the U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG), an effort to help NASA and other satellite data providers gain a better understanding of NOAA’s satellite measurement and data product needs, this talk will illustrate from a NOAA perspective the extent to which the mapping of these well-known external vocabularies can facilitate the decision-making process and foster interagency dialogue and communication with regard to fulfilling of external mandates.