The goal of SemantiX is to retrieve Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) from AVHRR and Sentinel-3 data, curate them as a long time series in a semantic Earth observation (EO) data cube and facilitate public access from a citizen science smartphone application.
ECVs retrieved from EO data (e.g. snow cover, vegetation indices) are crucial for investigating our climate system. AVHHR offers 40+ years of data (1981-today) and will be complemented by Sentinel-3 (2016-today). ECV time series from the SemantiX project cover the entire Alps and are a valuable contribution to climate-related research.
Data cubes are a midstream EO technology that facilitates and simplify access to Spatio-temporal EO data storage via spatial and temporal coordinates. Semantic EO data cubes provide interfaces via thematic descriptions. A container-based infrastructure allows scalable and flexible deployment.
The integration of the data into the established “Naturkalender ZAMG” Citizen Science project allows interactive data visualisation and public outreach. The project’s app runs on the SPOTTERON platform and are used by an active community, including students or school classes and as the next-generation scientists. Website: www.naturkalender.at