OpenSensors: A community platform to enable the Sensor Web and foster earth observation research

Earth observation data obtained from ground based sensors often plays an essential role in the research of societal benefit issues such as climate change, health, or ecosystems. The integration of earth observation data usually starts with the discovery of appropriate sensors and corresponding data sets, which we analyzed, remains a tedious task. Observing that complex global initiatives, such as the global earth observation system of systems (GEOSS) only ponderously get off the ground, this paper describes a lightweight mash-up based solution that is driven by the research and earth observation community. This paper describes the architectural framework and the used technologies of our OpenSensors platform, which simplifies the digitalization and eventual discovery processes of sensors for research purposes.