China Announces Open Sharing of GF Data

On November 6,2019,at the opening ceremony of the Plenary session during the Group on Earth Observations(GEO)Week 2019,the China National Space Administration (CNSA)launched the 16-meter resolution GF satellite data sharing service platform,sharing 16-meter resolution GF satellite data for global use.China is the GEO 2020 Lead Co-Chair.

The platform was set up by CNSA and established by the China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application under CASC,Huawei Cloud and several other companies.It is capable of processing massive data and real-time sharing,supporting global online access and parallel data downloading with less internet delays and a stable download speed.

The data shared in the platform is taken by GF-1 and GF-6 launched in 2013 and 2018 respectively.Users can view and download three types of such data from the platform,including archive data,generated global coverage data based on the archive data and daily updated 16-meter resolution data as well as policies,standards,data updates,data quality check,satellite introductions,data application products and cases,China’s open policy,technical specifications and application areas for 16-meter resolution GF satellite data.GF-6 large data with a 800 km image swath can be processed using domestic made PIE software.The open sharing of GF data will help to establish a comprehensive,coordinated and sustainable global observation system,giving technical support for resource surveying and monitoring,environmental monitoring and assessment,disaster emergency monitoring,global climate change,agricultural and rural application,Earth science research and helping the sustainable development of other countries,especially those developing countries.

CNSA will conduct cooperation and exchanges with GEO member states and other international organizations in data application,algorithm research,training and education,integrating all resources including data,software,hardware,system as well as professionals,technical and finance,connecting scientists and users both at home and abroad to construct an ecological system based on the GF satellite platform,promoting a common development.