Increasing the interoperability of snow/ice hyperspectral observations

This study aims to set up a metadata profile useful for preparing an interoperable dataset containing snow and ice hyperspectral measurements. The proposed Snow and Ice Spectral Library (SISpec) scheme was prepared for sharing a data collection focused on Antarctica, including 70 observations. Following the perspective to grant "open access" to such a dataset, we found a compromise between the ERC (European Research Council) guidelines, the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse) Data principles defined by the RDA (Research Data Alliance), and the GEO (Group on Earth Observation) Data Sharing Principles. The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard 19115 was chosen as the standard framework for describing SISpec. When the available metadata scheme was not sufficient or suitable, metadata extensions or new detailed metadata components were created to be compliant with the ISO 19115 standard. We also considered the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) requirements and the result is a metadata model that can be useful to share SISpec metadata both in the European and international contexts. Particularly detailed metadata sections and elements were created for describing spectral signatures and microphysical snow parameters.