Group on Earth Observations (GEO) - GEO-NETCast

Paper number

IAC-06-B1.6.01

Author

Mr. Thomas Adang, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States

Coauthor

Mr. Charles Bryant, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States

Coauthor

Mrs. Linda Moodie, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States

Coauthor

Mr. Gerald Dittberner, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States

Year

2006

Abstract

At its second plenary meeting in December 2005, the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) adopted the concept in principle of a GEO-NETCast, as presented by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  The concept received strong support from GEO Members and Participating Organizations.  It was recognized that GEO could add value to existing operational and prototype technological efforts underway to enhance the delivery of data and information to users, particularly those in developing countries, at reasonable cost to both providers and users.  While the concept will be developed by partners directly involved, the GEO Architecture and Data Committee is requested to provide further study and oversight. 

GEO-NETCast is intended to be one dissemination method by which environmental satellite and in situ data, products, and services from participating data providers within GEO would be transmitted to users through a global network of commercial communications satellites, using a multicast, access-controlled, broadband capability.  The communication satellite costs for each sector of the globe would be funded by one or more partners in GEO-NETCast, and the day to day management of each sector would be under their responsibility.  Commercial communication satellite providers would broadcast using a standard protocol interface, i.e., a Direct Video Broadcast (DVB-S) protocol in C- and/or Ku-band frequencies, which are also used for Direct to Home Television (i.e., Direct TV) transmission worldwide.  Different data streams or products would be available on separate channels.  The user would decide when to pull a data set onto his terminal and which data are to be managed and saved locally.

EUMETSAT currently offers a prototype data dissemination service, EUMETCast, which primarily broadcasts meteorological data and products via commercial communication satellites.  The World Meteorological Organization has defined its needs for meteorological data dissemination through communication satellites under its prospective Integrated Global Data Dissemination Service.  GEO-NETCast would broaden the concept and service to include additional providers and additional data, products, and services to meet the needs of all nine societal benefit areas under GEO.

Abstract document

IAC-06-B1.6.01.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-B1.6.01.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.