Data processing levels in other domains#
The use of data processing levels arose in the 1970s and 1980s particularly in the US satellite research community and in World Climate Research Program (WCRP) initiatives [Gutman and Ignatov, 1997, Weaver, 2014]. The 1986 NRC CODMAC report in particular [NRC, 1986] defined a set of common terms for data levels or types, with the goal of alleviating confusion in the user community with respect to data processing steps and data products. The NRC report was aimed at guiding future NASA data management practices and led directly to Data Processing (or Product) Levels definitions adopted by NASA for the Earth Observing System (EOS) in the early 1990s [Parkinson et al., 2006, NASA, 2021]. In turn, NASA EOS practices influenced the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) definition of data product levels [CEOS, 2008]. Separate from the above, programs that adopted the WCRP data level categories were heterogeneous and generate data that ranged from in-situ monitoring to satellite products [Gutman and Ignatov, 1997, Weaver, 2014]. The WCRP data level categories were based originally on Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) work from the 1970s.
In the sections below we review: