Earth Observation (EO) plays a crucial role in understanding and monitoring our planet's changing environment. By processing and analyzing satellite images and other remote sensing data, EO applications provide valuable insights into various aspects of climate change, natural disasters, land use, and more. However, developing EO applications can be challenging, especially when it comes to ensuring that they are portable, scalable, and reproducible across different platforms and environments.
This guide aims to help developers create EO applications using the Common Workflow Language (CWL), a powerful and flexible specification for describing analysis workflows and tools. CWL is designed to address the needs of data-intensive science, including genomics, bioinformatics, and Earth Observation. By leveraging the CWL standard, developers can create EO applications that are platform-independent, thus enabling seamless collaboration and reducing the overhead associated with managing custom scripts and tools.
In this guide, we provide an overview of the CWL, its key concepts, and demonstrate how to build a CWL-based EO application using practical examples. Additionally, we cover advanced techniques and best practices for creating efficient and reliable EO workflows. Whether you are new to CWL or an experienced developer looking to adapt your existing EO tools and workflows to the CWL standard, this guide serves as a comprehensive resource to help you get started and make the most of the Common Workflow Language in the context of Earth Observation.
By following the steps provided in this guide, you should now be able to create your own CWL workflows for Earth Observation applications. As you gain more experience with CWL, you can create more complex workflows, integrating different tools and data sources to unlock new insights into our planet.
Remember to always document your CWL workflows and tools, as this will enable others to understand your work and potentially adapt it for their own use. Good documentation is key to fostering a collaborative and innovative Earth Observation community.