GOLD STANDARD · REMOTE SENSING · HOW X WORKS
Prove that old remote-sensing citations still reach the right evidence before declaring a version migration complete
A catalogue can recommend a new collection while old papers, notebooks, APIs and copied URLs continue to circulate. Citation-resolution auditing follows each route from the text a user holds to the exact dataset and version it identifies. Legacy-link persistence keeps historical references interpretable. Migration completion is demonstrated by tested resolution paths and bounded exceptions, not by updating one landing page.
This guide connects the Gold Standard of Remote Sensing, Gold Standard of Education, and How X Works hub.
Chapter contents and reading routes
Choose the route closest to your present task. Every teaching chapter remains expanded, so the article also reads naturally from start to finish.
Inventory resolution paths
Audit legacy routes
Prove migration completion
Transfer and qualify
Use FAQs, sources and connected routes
CHAPTER 1 OF 12 · INVENTORY PATHS
1. A citation is a route, not just a string
A user may begin with a DOI, dataset title, catalogue identifier, landing-page URL, API concept ID, notebook parameter or file manifest. Each starting point should resolve to an object whose version and identity can be checked.
Record the expected destination and relation: exact historical version, recommended successor, current landing page, machine endpoint or archived documentation. One redirect cannot safely stand in for all of them.
CHAPTER 2 OF 12 · INVENTORY PATHS
2. Build a resolution-path register
For every route, store source form, resolver, redirect chain, final status, displayed version, machine-readable identity, successor relation and test date. Preserve both human and API paths.
| Starting reference | Expected result | Audit question |
|---|---|---|
| DOI | Dataset landing page for named collection | Does the DOI resolve and show the right version? |
| Old landing URL | Historical context plus successor link | Was history preserved through redirects? |
| CMR concept ID | Exact collection metadata | Is the concept and revision unambiguous? |
| Notebook query | Pinned data version | Can the run change when “latest” moves? |
| File manifest | Stable file identity and checksums | Can bytes be located and verified? |
| Copied citation text | Discoverable collection record | Can title and version recover the object? |
Add owner and failure consequence. A broken teaching link and a broken emergency-processing endpoint require different response times.
CHAPTER 3 OF 12 · AUDIT LEGACY ROUTES
3. Test redirects for meaning, not only HTTP success
A 200 response can land on the wrong collection; a redirect can remove the version context; a soft 404 can display a generic search page. Check the final title, identifier, version and successor statement.
Allow DOI redirects: resolution is their purpose. For ordinary metadata URLs, reduce unnecessary redirect chains and update the current record while keeping historical paths resolvable where feasible.
CHAPTER 4 OF 12 · AUDIT LEGACY ROUTES
4. Preserve the old object while recommending the new one
A historical citation should continue to identify what the earlier work used. The old page can display a prominent successor notice without rewriting the original processing version or implying that old outputs came from new calibration.
When the old object cannot remain online, preserve a tombstone with identifier, version, dates, reason, successor and archive route. A silent redirect loses evidence.
CHAPTER 5 OF 12 · WORK THE AUDIT
5. Work a six-route collection migration audit
Collection 4.2 supersedes 4.1 after calibration correction. The team updates the main catalogue but must test DOI, old landing page, API concept ID, notebook, benchmark manifest and citation text before closing migration.
| Route | Observed result | Assessment | Repair |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 DOI | Resolves to 4.1 page with 4.2 successor | Correct historical route | Keep |
| Old landing URL | Redirects directly to 4.2 without old context | Meaning loss | Restore 4.1 tombstone |
| CMR concept ID | Returns 4.1 metadata revision | Correct machine identity | Add successor relation |
| Notebook using “latest” | Silently pulls 4.2 | Unpinned behaviour | Require explicit version |
| Benchmark manifest | Pins 4.1 files and checksums | Reproducible historic use | Keep and annotate |
| Citation text search | Finds both versions without guidance | Ambiguous discovery | Add versioned citation examples |
Migration cannot be called complete while one common route silently changes the scientific object. The notebook fix is as important as the catalogue update.
CHAPTER 6 OF 12 · PROVE COMPLETION
6. Define completion across route classes
Set required route classes, pass criteria, test frequency, accepted exceptions and an observation window. Completion may require every critical machine path and a sampled set of human citations, not every web mention ever published.
Separate repaired, intentionally retired and externally controlled routes. An external journal link may be outside direct control, but the repository can still provide a stable destination and correction notice.
CHAPTER 7 OF 12 · PROVE COMPLETION
7. Keep a migration evidence pack
Preserve the route register, test outputs, screenshots or response fields where appropriate, redirect configuration, version relations, exception approvals and final review. Re-run after DNS, catalogue, resolver or API changes.
A completion declaration should name the date and scope. “All links migrated” is not credible without a route population and test result.
CHAPTER 8 OF 12 · TRANSFER THE METHOD
8. Changed-context transfer: emergency maps and climate records
An emergency product may need a short migration window and a clear latest-state notice. A climate record needs durable version history because comparisons span decades.
Transfer the resolution audit and completion evidence, not the same redirect policy, retention period or tolerance for unversioned access.
CHAPTER 9 OF 12 · QUALIFY THE RESULT
9. Run audits from outside the repository team
Test from a clean browser, a command-line resolver, the public API and a notebook environment without staff-only credentials. Internal network success can hide authentication, cache and resolver failures faced by users.
Sample copied citations with punctuation and older title variants. Discovery should not depend on a perfect modern citation string.
CHAPTER 10 OF 12 · QUALIFY THE RESULT
10. Limits and common misconceptions
A resolving DOI does not prove the files remain available. A valid file link does not prove the metadata version is correct. A redirect is not inherently harmful; loss of identity and context is the problem.
Do not overwrite old citation examples with new versions. Do not call migration complete after checking only the canonical landing page. Do not let an unversioned “latest” route serve archival workflows.
CHAPTER 11 OF 12 · CHECK AND CONTINUE
11. Questions readers often ask
Should every old URL remain forever?
Not necessarily. Preserve routes that carry durable identity or significant use, and give retired routes a resolvable tombstone or documented archive path when the historical object matters.
What counts as migration completion evidence?
A defined route population, tested expected outcomes, repaired failures, bounded exceptions, responsible approval and a date for revalidation.
CHAPTER 12 OF 12 · CHECK AND CONTINUE
12. Evidence, connected routes and the next check
NASA Earthdata DOI guidance requires resolvable identifiers and preserves previous-version information. NASA Earthdata guidance on Related URLs identifies landing pages, data access, services and documentation as distinct link purposes and recommends current, described URLs. NASA Earthdata collection-citation guidance records dataset version in the citation route.
Continue through readiness-lineage and citation migration, bridge retirement and user-migration windows, and archive fixity audits. The next check is to start from one citation copied from an old paper and follow every redirect to the exact version it names.