Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Aligning NASA Earth Science Data Stewardship with FAIR Principles: Outcomes, Recommendations, and Future Directions Cover

Aligning NASA Earth Science Data Stewardship with FAIR Principles: Outcomes, Recommendations, and Future Directions

Open Access
|Mar 2026

References

  1. Bahim, C., Casorrán-Amilburu, C., Dekkers, M., Herczog, E., Loozen, N., Repanas, K., Russell, K. and Stall, S. (2020) ‘The FAIR Data Maturity Model: An approach to harmonise FAIR assessments’, Data Science Journal, 19. Available at: 10.5334/dsj-2020-041
  2. IOC (International Science Council). (2020) ‘Making data work for cross-domain grand challenges’. Available at: https://codata.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Decadal-Programme-Two-Sider-1.pdf.
  3. Jacobsen, A., de Azevedo, R.M., Juty, N., Batista, D., Coles, S. et al. (2020) ‘FAIR principles: Interpretations and implementation considerations’, Data Intelligence, 2, pp. 1029. Available at: 10.1162/dint_r_00024
  4. Mons, B., Neylon, C., Velterop, J., Dumontier, M., da Silva Santos, L.O.B. and Wilkinson, M.A. (2017) ‘Cloudy, increasingly FAIR; revisiting the FAIR Data guiding principles for the European Open Science Cloud’, Information Services & Use, 37. Available at: 10.3233/ISU-170824
  5. NASA. (2021) ‘NASA data strategy’. Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/nasa_data_strategy.pdf?emrc=4b6067.
  6. NASA CMR. (2023) ‘Onboarding process for a new CMR provider’. Available at: https://wiki.earthdata.nasa.gov/display/CMR/Onboarding+Process+for+a+new+CMR+provider.
  7. NASA CMR. (2024) ‘Metadata management tool (MMT) user’s guide’. Available at: https://wiki.earthdata.nasa.gov/display/CMR/Metadata+Management+Tool+%28MMT%29+User%27s+G.
  8. NASA Earthdata. (n.d.a) ‘ESDIS project’. Available at: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/about/esdis (Accessed: 06. November 2025).
  9. NASA Earthdata. (n.d.b) ‘The DOI process’. Available at: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/engage/submit-data/doi-process (Accessed: 20. May 2025).
  10. NASA Earthdata. (n.d.c) ‘Earthdata pub’. Available at: https://pub.earthdata.nasa.gov/ (Accessed: 20. May 2025).
  11. NASA Earthdata. (n.d.d) ‘Common metadata repository (CMR)’. Available at: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/about/esdis/eosdis/cmr (Accessed: 20. May 2025).
  12. NASA ESDIS. (2016) ‘Global change master directory (GCMD) keyword governance and community guide document’. Available at: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/s3fs-public/imported/KeywordsCommunityGuide_Baseline_v1_SIGNED_FINAL.pdf.
  13. NASA ESDIS CMO (Configuration Management Office). (2023) ‘Metadata requirements base reference. Appendix B. Metadata Requirements Base Reference for Unified Metadata Model – Collection (UMM-C)’, 423-RQMT-003-B, Rev C. Release date: February 16, 2023. Available at: https://wiki.earthdata.nasa.gov/display/CMR/UMM+Documents.
  14. NASA SMD. (2019) ‘SMD’s strategy for data management and computing for groundbreaking science 2019–2024’. Available at: https://science.nasa.gov/science-red/s3fs-public/atoms/files/SDMWG_Full%20Document_v3.pdf.
  15. NASA SMD. (2022) ‘Scientific information policy for the science mission directorate. Document ID: SPD-41a’, Version: September 26, 2022. Available at: https://science.nasa.gov/science-red/s3fs-public/atoms/files/SMD-information-policy-SPD-41a.pdf.
  16. Peng, G. (2023a) ‘Finding harmony in FAIRness’, Eos, 104. Available at: 10.1029/2023EO230216
  17. Peng, G. (2023b) ‘Dissecting the FAIR guiding principles – Key categories, core concepts, focus elements, and harmonized indicators (v01r00–20230225) [Data set]’, Zenodo. Available at: 10.5281/zenodo.7896948
  18. Peng, G. (2024) ‘Four essential components for FAIR data – Capability and category-specific requirements’, Zenodo. Available at: 10.5281/zenodo.11315841
  19. Peng, G., Berg-Cross, G., Wu, M., Downs, R.R., Shrestha, S.R., Wyborn, L., Ritchey, N., Ramapriyan, H.K., Clark, S.J., Wood, J., Liu, Z. and Marouane, A. (2024b) ‘Harmonizing quality measures of FAIRness assessment towards machine-actionable quality information’, International Journal of Digital Earth, 17, Article: 2390431. Available at: 10.1080/17538947.2024.2390431
  20. Peng, G., Downs, R.R. and NASA ESDS O’FAIR Working Group. (2023) ‘Making NASA earth science data open, free and FAIR’, SciDataCon2023 – International Data Week, Salzburg, Austria. 24 Oct 2023. Zenodo. Available at: 10.5281/zenodo.10080066
  21. Peng, G., Downs, R.R. Parsons, M.A., Ramapriyan, H.K., Liu, Z., Ramachandran, B., Moroni, D.F., Mears, C., Chen, G. and NASA ESDS O’FAIR Working Group. (2023b) ‘Supporting NASA’s open-source science initiative – Utilizing FAIR data principles and practices Poster. IN41B-0579’, 2023 AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA. 11–15 December 2023. Zenodo. Available at: 10.5281/zenodo.10459971
  22. Peng, G., Downs, R.R., Ramapriyan, H.K., Parsons, M.A., Moroni, D.F., Liu, Z., Khalsa, S.J.S., Mears, C., Wei, Y., Ramachandran, B., Smith, S. and NASA ESDS O’FAIR Working Group. (2023a) ‘An overview of community FAIR practices – NASA O’FAIR working group inception report’, Document ID: NASA-OFAIR-ESDSWG-DOC-0001. Version: v01r00–20230508. CC-BY 4.0 International. Available at: 10.5067/DOC/ESCO/ESDSWG-0001V1
  23. Peng, G., Downs, R.R., Ramapriyan, H.K., Wei, Y., Ramachandran, B., Liu, Z., Parsons, M.A., Moroni, D., Mears, C., Chen, G., Armstrong, E. and NASA ESDS O’FAIR Working Group. (2024c) ‘Identifying NASA resources & practices to enhance FAIRness in earth science data products (Version V2)’, Poster. 2024 NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group Annual Meeting, Huntsville, AL. Zenodo. Available at: 10.5281/zenodo.10854245
  24. Peng, G., Downs, R.R., Ramapriyan, H.K., Wei, Y., Ramachandran, B., Parsons, M.A., Liu, Z. and NASA ESDS O’FAIR Working Group. (2024a) ‘A practical guide for open, free & FAIR NASA earth science data products’, Document ID: NASA-OFAIR-ESDSWG-DOC-0002. Version: v00r05–20240614. CC0 1.0 + Attribution. Available at: 10.5067/DOC/ESCO/ESDSWG-0002V1
  25. Peters-von Gehlen, K., Höck, H., Fast, A., Heydebreck, D., Lammert, A. and Thiemann, H. (2022) ‘Recommendations for discipline-specific FAIRness evaluation derived from applying an ensemble of evaluation tools’, Data Science Journal, 21. Available at: 10.5334/dsj-2022-007
  26. Ramapriyan, H.K. and Behnke, J. (2020) ‘NASA’s earth observing system data and information system (EOSDIS) and FAIR – A self-assessment, Abstract IN044–08’, AGU 2020 Fall Meeting. Online Everywhere. 1–17 December 2020. Abstract available at: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/683318.
  27. Ramapriyan, H.K., Leonard, P.J.T., Armstrong, E.M., Khalsa, S.J.S., Smith, D.K., Iredell, L.F., Wright, D.M., Huffman, G.J. and Walker, T.R. (2024) ‘Data product development guide (DPDG) for data producers version 2.0’, NASA Earth Science Data and Information System Standards Coordination Office. Available at: 10.5067/DOC/ESCO/RFC-041VERSION2
  28. Silverman, M., Shook, M., Hornbrook, R., Ziemba, L., Hall, S., Ullmann, K., Crounse, J., Bennett, R., Buzanowicz, M., Chen, G. and ESDIS Standards Coordination Office. (2023) ‘Atmospheric composition variable standard name convention version 1’, NASA Earth Science Data and Information System Standards Coordination Office. Available at: 10.5067/DOC/ESCO/ESDS-RFC-043v1
  29. Wanchoo, L., Turcios, D., Hao, Y. and Weir, H. (2024) ‘EOSDIS FY2024 annual metrics report’. Available at: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/eosdis/system-performance-and-metrics/eosdis-annual-metrics-reports (Accessed: 13 March 13 2025).
  30. Wilkinson, M.D., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I.J., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A. et al. (2016) ‘The FAIR guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship’, Scientific Data, 3. Available at: 10.1038/sdata.2016.18
  31. Wilkinson, M.D., Dumontier, M., Sansone, S.A. et al. (2019) ‘Evaluating FAIR maturity through a scalable, automated, community-governed framework’, Scientific Data, 6. Available at: 10.1038/s41597-019-0184-5
  32. Wilkinson, M.D., Sansone, S., Méndez, E. et al. (2022) ‘Community-driven governance of FAIRness assessment: An open issue, an open discussion [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]’, Open Research Europe. Available at: 10.12688/openreseurope.15364.1
  33. Wittenburg, P. and Strawn, G. (2018) ‘Common patterns in revolutionary infrastructures and data’, B2SHARE. Available at: 10.23728/B2SHARE.4E8AC36C0DD343DA81FD9E83E72805A0
Language: English
Submitted on: Jun 17, 2025
|
Accepted on: Jan 12, 2026
|
Published on: Mar 5, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Ge Peng, Hampapuram K. Ramapriyan, Yaxing Wei, Bhaskar Ramachandran, Gao Chen, Zhong Liu, David F. Moroni, Edward M. Armstrong, Rudiger Gens, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.