rasdaman newsletter 06/2025
Datacubes in Practice: Insights from EGU 2025
From climate resilience to aviation safety, Earth Observation is entering a new era defined by actionable, real-time insights—and datacubes are at the heart of this transformation. At EGU 2025, the session “Datacube Analytics – What Really Works” pulled back the curtain on the tools, standards, and innovations that are already reshaping how scientists interact with planetary-scale data.
At the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2025 in Vienna, one session stood out for its pragmatic, forward-thinking focus: Datacube Analytics – What Really Works. In a landscape increasingly defined by data intensity and analytical complexity, this session offered a rare look at technologies that are not just promising, but operational today. The presentations reflected a shared commitment to making multidimensional data usable at scale, particularly through robust standards, scalable architectures, and meaningful integration with artificial intelligence.
Peter Baumann, a leading expert in the field, anchored the session by explaining key facets, including a deep dive into the power of standards like the Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS). These standards, far from abstract technicalities but user-centric, enable true interoperability between systems, institutions, and nations—a necessity in an era where environmental challenges know no borders. His demos on 4D datacubes in aviation weather highlighted just how actionable these technologies can be, allowing pilots to obtain critical flight safety information in realtime.
Further speakers expanded the scope. Chen-Yu Hao from Taiwan introduced a scalable framework designed for complex geospatial analysis, while Giuliano Langella / University di Napoli demonstrated how GPU acceleration is transforming datacube performance, making real-time environmental analytics a tangible reality. These talks collectively underscored that the technical limits of big data processing are rapidly being pushed outward, thanks to innovative combinations of hardware and intelligent software design.
The EarthServer Federation, another focus of Baumann’s presentations, illustrated the global vision driving much of this work. Through a federated system of datacube nodes, researchers can access and analyze petascale datasets from around the world using unified queries. This global coordination has profound implications for both research efficiency and policy impact.
Timm Waldau / JKI introduced DynAWI, a tool specifically developed for agriculture to detect and analyze extreme weather events using datacubes. The project represents a critical application of this technology, responding to the growing need for faster and more accurate early warning systems. It demonstrated how datacubes can be tailored to meet urgent societal needs without compromising scientific rigor.
Perhaps the most future-oriented discussion centered on the relationship between AI and datacubes. Baumann explored how these two domains complement each other—datacubes provide structured, multi-dimensional context, while AI offers pattern recognition and predictive power. Their combination holds transformative potential for fields ranging from earth observation to climate modeling.
EGU 2025 made it clear that datacube analytics are no longer a fringe interest. They are becoming essential tools for scientists grappling with the scale and speed of 21st-century earth system dynamics. The session on “What Really Works” was aptly named—not a Powerpoint circus, but a demonstration of tools and systems ready for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s ambitions.
contact: Prof. Dr. Peter Baumann