When sensor platforms collect data continuously, automated processing facilitates the organization and searching of the resulting data repositories. Without timely processing, the sheer volume of the data might preclude the extraction of information of interest. Addressing these problems will likely become increasingly important in the future as technology improves and more sensor platforms and sensor networks are deployed.

Where offline processing uses data already in permanent storage, online processing targets distillation of information from sensor data streams as the data is collected. In turn, the results of online processing can be used to annotate and distill raw data into information useful for data stewardship. Many of the techniques for soundscape interpretation and ecosystem assessment are also useful for computing meta-information that can be used for annotating repository sensor data collections.

A regional server system is under deployment to provide data stewardship services for sensor clusters deployed in habitats representative of many different regions. This regional server system is designed to receive raw and processed sensor observations from sensor clusters and store these observations and associated metadata in a digital library. Analytical systems enable the analysis of sensor observations and correlate the results with other ancillary information, such as landscape type or meteorological observations. Grid and other high-performance and distributed systems enable automated analysis and processing of sensor data streams and facilitate scientific inquiry.