Glossary

API

Application Programming Interface. The Open Data Cube Application Programming Interface gives programmers full access to the capabilities of the Cube, allowing query and advanced data retrieval.

ARD

Analysis Ready Data. Data which has been pre-processed and compiled to make it more accessible. This makes it easier for users to perform their own analysis.

ARN

Amazon Resource Name. The naming method used by Amazon Web Services to unambiguously specify resources.

AWS

Amazon Web Services. Cloud computing infrastructure provided by Amazon (United States).

COG

Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF. A data file format optimised for efficient workflows on the cloud and remote reading. See https://www.cogeo.org/.

EO

Earth Observation. The field of gathering information about Earth using surveying techniques such as satellite-based remote sensing, or ground-based data collection.

ESA

European Space Agency

GIS

Geographic Information System

Jupyter Notebook

A user-friendly file type that allows code to be run and presented alongside explanatory documentation, figures, and scientific notation. Has the file extension .ipynb.

JupyterLab

An interactive web-based user interface for editing and running Jupyter Notebooks. JupyterLab is used as an analysis environment on the DE Arabia Sandbox.

Landsat

A joint NASA/USGS program of medium resolution satellites that have been collecting publicly available Earth observation data continuously since 1972.

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (United States)

NDVI

Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, calculated from visible and near-infrared light reflected by vegetation.

NIR

Near Infrared, referring to particular bands used to collect Earth observation data

ODC

Open Data Cube, an international open-source project developing the technology that powers Digital Earth Arabia. For more information see http://opendatacube.org/.

OGC

Open Geospatial Consortium

OWS

OGC Web Services. Geospatial services for data access, display and processing.

Python

The programming language used to develop the Open Data Cube. It is easy to use while still allowing high performance access and processing capabilities. See http://www.python.org/ for more information.

SAR

Synthetic Aperture Radar

Sentinel

A series of satellites from the ESA Copernicus programme. They collect publicly-available Earth observation data. The program includes the Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument mission, and the Sentinel-1 SAR mission.

STAC

The SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) is a specification that provides a common language to describe a range of geospatial information, so it can more easily be indexed and discovered. A ‘spatiotemporal asset’ is any file that represents information about the earth captured in a certain space and time. See https://stacspec.org/.

USGS

United States Geological Survey