At the 7th annual Microsoft Research eScience Workshop at UC Berkeley, Microsoft Research showcased an environmental project that offers researchers data resources for detailed climate science study. The system was developed by Baldocchi; Youngryel Ryu, post-doctoral researcher in biometeorology at Harvard University; and Catharine van Ingen, partner architect, Microsoft Research.
Data is collected from satellite imagery and from more than 500 FLUXNET towers, which form a global network of field-based sensor arrays that measure fluctuations (or "fluxes") of carbon dioxide and water vapor. The data can be analyzed in fine detail -- down to a single kilometer -- or on a global scale. Data can also be scaled by time, from the immediate picture measured over a satellite's five-minute sweep of a defined area to the complex changes tracked over a decade or more.
With the FLUXNET and satellite data and ability to perform complex analysis using MODISAzure-based system, the possibilities for research are immense.