CSDA Releases New Data Acquisition Request System
NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program has launched a new data acquisition request system, which allows authorized users to submit proposals for data not yet collected from CSDA’s commercial partners and track their requests through an easy-to-use dashboard.
“Through the Data Acquisition Request System, approved users will be able to perform ‘tasks,’ that is, request future data, from a CSDA commercial partner’s satellite,” said Aaron Kaulfus, CSDA Data Management Team Leader. “The process begins with the user submitting a proposal which goes through an approval process. If approved, the proposal will be processed by a CSDA business partner in accordance with the user’s other settings.”
The Data Acquisition Request System has been integrated with the CSDA program’s Satellite Data Explorer (SDX), an online tool for searching, discovering and accessing commercial satellite data acquired by NASA. (Note: Although anyone can browse the CSDA databases, only authorized data users can log into the SDX and request data. Information on the user authentication and authorization process is provided below.)
“The dashboard shows users the proposals they have submitted and informs them of the status of each proposal and whether it has been approved. In the event that a proposal is partially approved, the dashboard will also include information supporting that decision,” Kaulfus said. “After approval, the proposal will be processed by the supplier and the requested data will be collected and transmitted to the system for upload. This means that users can now request data from a supplier, track the status of their proposal and download the data all in one place.”
By providing these services in a single, centralized system, CSDA aims to make the process of requesting future data from CSDA providers more efficient and user-friendly.
“Currently, the proposal process relies on users filling out a PDF-style form regarding their data needs, followed by a series of email exchanges between users, CSDA program staff and vendors,” Kaulfus said. “The Data Acquisition Request System confines all of these interactions into a single, streamlined system, which allows user proposals to flow through the [proposal review] process as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This process includes extensive reviews of proposals by CSDA staff to ensure that the requested data is within the program budget and vendor capabilities. Therefore, the program’s response to user proposals will not be immediate. Nonetheless, Kaulfus says the Data Acquisition Application System dashboard will help CSDA staff stay informed on the status of each proposal and any actions needed to move it forward through the evaluation process.
In addition to expediting user proposals, the Data Acquisition Request System will help the program meet the needs of long-term CSDA data users by providing the program with information it can use to expand its catalog of commercial satellite data.
“We realized that through the Data Acquisition Request System, we can collect and catalog requests from our users to inform future CSDA initiatives and complement our current capabilities,” Kaulfus said. “For example, when it comes to fire applications, we don’t really have any vendors that support hot spot detection at the moment. But if a large number of users submit proposals requesting hot spot detection data, that indicates a need that we haven’t addressed.”
This ability to focus on unmet user needs supports the program’s goal of expanding the use of commercial data within the NASA data user community.
“Expanding the use of business data is an important part of this effort,” Kaulfus said. “We want to expand the audience of people who use our data and we want to do it effectively, but to do that we need information about what data users need. In addition to direct feedback from users themselves, the Data Acquisition Request System will help us get it.”
For more information about the CSDA Program SDX, see the SDX User Guide.
