ASTRONOMY

Mike Folk, president and CEO of The HDF Group, comments: “Our close collaboration with NASA’s EOS program has been a model for the kind of partnership we strive to establish with all HDF customers—one where the users depend on and support a quality product and influence future developments. We are pleased and proud to continue our work with NASA in their mission to serve the Earth Science community.” Under the new contract, The HDF Group will support NASA’s EOS program in five critical areas:

1. Provide user support to EOS data providers and data consumers EOS data are crucial for global climate change researchers, and are also increasingly important for policy makers, educators, the private sector, and the general public. The HDF Group will provide helpdesk access, workshops, training, and documentation to support these communities.
2. Perform software development and quality assurance As technologies evolve and NASA’s EOS program uses HDF in new ways, HDF library and tools must be kept current and robust. The HDF Group will develop, test, and deliver HDF software updates and enhancements to meet the needs of new NASA EOS uses and changing environments.
3. Assure long-term access to HDF data The NASA EOS program’s data have value for decades, possibly centuries. The HDF Group will continue to develop and adopt practices and technologies that allow the HDF library to evolve, while maintaining data and software backward-compatibility.
4. Integrate with complementary technologies and applications NASA EOS program’s users are best served by related technologies that complement each other and interoperate well. The HDF Group will work to ensure that HDF operates well with other software and technologies that are important to the EOS program.
5. Advise follow-on earth systems projects As EOS matures, follow-on projects are ramping up to complement its capabilies, and ultimately to take its place. To help meet NASA’s mission to provide continuity in the collection and use of earth systems data, The HDF Group will advise early-stage follow-on projects as they begin to develop their own HDF-based data models.