A Review of the Geoportal

The GEOSS is a portal run by the European Space Agency (ESA) Group and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) that provides one way to access earth observation data from around the world.   The site focuses on satellite imagery–Sentinel and Landsat data.  One helpful feature about the site is the ability to send search results to social media or via email.  A list of Popular Searches is a good place to start with the site.  The site is definitely worth investigating as it features a wealth of data.  I found myself wishing that there were more predefined searches listed there (currently 4).  The site also offers a login option and the ability to save your “workspace” which is an intriguing idea; using this feature, you could come back to the site and continue searching and downloading with the knowledge of what you have done previously.  There are different formats available, although at many points in my work with the site, I was confused as to how to proceed, or what format my file would be in, and if I was truly downloading the extent shown in the interface.

Interface for the Geoportal.

Like other portals, this one allows search terms, but without knowing what is there, the user is left with some confusion knowing what search terms to use.  I found myself really wanting a tutorial and a list of data sets I could browse through.  Searching is good but the users also need to know what the possibilities are.  I am intrigued by the data offerings on the site but had trouble navigating and discovering resources; I frequently encountered this message below and even had trouble drawing the bounding box for my desired search area.

Given the data holdings that are available via this portal, I think it is worth investigating further.  The about page on Geoportal lists enhancements to the site that are continually being made, and the mission of the page states that one goal is to make the site intuitive and easy to use.  I therefore have high hopes that it will be moving in this direction.  Give it a try!