Accessing NPP data from CLASS, a tutorial

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) operational data products will provide global coverage and monitor environmental conditions about the Earth's weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment. These missions will provide information that will allow further study of the data and even reprocessing. This information represents a tremendous increase in data volume compared to the existing heritage systems. This increase in volume will provide many challenges for the successful archive and stewardship of this important environmental data resource.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Data Centers are responsible for the scientific data stewardship of the products and information available from the NPP and JPSS missions. The scientific data stewardship consists of long-term archive and preservation, enhancement of the information, and providing easy and efficient access for users. The NOAA National Data Centers consist of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). Currently, the NOAA National Data Centers archive and serve data from many existing missions, including Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES).

This presentation will illustrate how to access the NPP data through the NOAA National Data Centers' Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS). CLASS provides access to the NPP data through the existing and familiar CLASS web interface. Additional search and access capabilities are planned through the development of the CLASS system evolution.