Google announced that it is working with the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), operated by Battelle, to share their data globally on Google Cloud, including through Earth Engine. NEON is one of the largest ecological observation facilities and sensor networks in the world, collecting high-resolution hyperspectral imagery and lidar-derived terrain data from their Airborne Observatory Platform (AOP).
The sheer volume of data NEON collected posed challenges for researchers seeking to utilize it. To overcome this, NEON is using Google Cloud to process and ingest its data into Earth Engine, a cloud-based platform that provides access to satellite imagery and geospatial data.
One interesting aspect of this collaboration is NEON’s use of Google Cloud services to process and convert its data into GeoTIFF format, a format supported by Earth Engine. By leveraging Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Run, NEON was able to create an efficient and scalable processing pipeline.
This collaboration is a prime example of how cloud services are empowering research organizations to manage, process, and share massive amounts of data. By harnessing the power of Google Cloud and Earth Engine, NEON can now share its valuable data with the scientific community, facilitating scientific discoveries and global collaboration.
