For example, EOS (Earth Observing System) is a collection of satellites launched
by NASA in the 1990s to gather information that will support scientists concerned with
long-term trends regarding the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land. It is anticipated that
these satellites will return over one-third of a petabyte of information per year. This data
will be integrated with other data sources and will be stored in EOSDIS (EOS Data and
Information System). EOSDIS will supply the information needs of both scientists and