Redmond, Wash.-based Advanced Digital Information Corp. [ADIC], a provider of storage management software, is helping the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) to manage a rising volume of climatological data.
The EOSDIS stores the world’s largest set of data about the Earth’s environment and gives scientists around-the-clock access to more than 1.8 petabytes of information, ADIC officials said. The system handles about 3.4 million online requests for data each year and NASA satellites are adding 3 terabytes of climatological data a day.
The total amount of data soon is expected to top 2 petabytes, said Steve Whitner, public relations manager at ADIC.
“When you have that much data, it is well beyond the capacity for people to economically create a disk-based storage system,” Whitner said. “Instead, people use large capacity automated tape libraries. The ADIC software manages the data stored in that environment.”
The NASA satellites are used to gather climatological data that is stored, cataloged and offered free to scientists. The data helps to measure global warming and other changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. Raytheon [RTN] is the prime contractor and manager of the EOSDIS system.
–Paul Dykewicz
(Steve Whitner, ADIC, 425/895-3435; Steve Fox, Raytheon, 301/925-0346)
