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The geophysical validation of satellite borne atmospheric chemistry instruments requires a large number of independent observations by a variety of in-situ, remote-sensing and satellite instruments. In the case of the Aura and Envisat missions more than 300 instruments have been formally included in the validation efforts.
In order to extract maximum information from the "ground-truth" measurements, these independent validation datasets must be readily accessible to all investigators in an simple format with standard metadata, variable naming and data structures.
Beginning in 2000, NASA and ESA have been collaborating under the auspices of the CEOS Working Group Calibration/Validation (WGCV) Atmospheric Chemistry Sub Group (ACSG) on the file format definition, metadata formulations, and variable definitions for validation datasets.
This standard, known as the AVDC/Envisat HDF format, is the basis of the Aura Validation Data Center (AVDC) and the Envisat Cal/ Val Data Center implementations. Recently, the AVDC/Envisat HDF formulation has been accepted as the new reporting standard of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), an international network of high quality remote sensing stations, and for the next ESA GMES Earth Observing missions. The concept behind the AVDC/Envisat HDF reporting standard, its implementation and future applications will to be presented in detail.