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Quality informs users of the trustworthiness of Earth observation data and products. Multiple Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) groups/venues exist as forums for the exchange of information about understanding, expressing, and improving data quality, along with influencing the interoperability between multiple datasets and products.
Calibration is the process of quantitatively defining a system’s response to known and controlled signal inputs. Validation, on the other hand, is the process of assessing, by independent means, the quality of the data products derived from those system outputs.
| ID | Recommendations |
|---|---|
| CALVAL#1 | Data providers should engage and participate in community calibration/validation groups, such as CEOS WGCV (and its subgroups), WMO GSICS, JACIE and VH-RODA. |
| CALVAL#2 | The Measurand and Uncertainty to a reference (ideally SI traceable) of stated values should be included within all products, as they are key to communicating and understanding data quality. |
| CALVAL#3 | All products should have associated quality indicators, to allow users to assess usability of the data for their applications. |
| CALVAL#4 | Post-launch, Level-1 products should be calibrated/validated using reference measurements, such as CEOS Fiducial Reference Measurements (CEOS-FRM). |
| CALVAL#5 | Community endorsed Cal/Val sites and reference network should be used for satellite cross-comparison, such as CEOS Cal/Val sites, RadCalNet and/or SARCalNet . |
| CALVAL#6 | The Quality Assurance Framework for Earth Observation QA4EO developed by The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and endorsed by CEOS should be followed to enable interoperability and quality assessment of Earth Observation data. |
| CALVAL#7 | The ESA/NASA/USGS Mission Quality Assessment Framework should be used for reporting metrics related to quality. |
| CALVAL#8 | The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) Best Practices document should be used as the guideline for performing standard calibration and validation activities. |
| CALVAL#9 | CEOS CAL/VAL portal should be used as the reference site for accessing community agreed good practices and CAL/VAL protocols for interoperability for Earth observation calibration and validation activities. |