The CyberCommons: Cyberinfrastructure for Understanding and Forecasting Ecological Change in the Central Plains Grasslands

Dan Andresen, Ph.D.Kansas State Universitydan@k-state.edu

Donald F. (Rick) McMullen, Ph.D.University of Kansasmcmullend@ku.edu

Great Plains Network Annual MeetingMay 28, 2009Kansas City, KS

Ecological Forecasting Research Modeling interaction of ecosystems, climate and

land use Predicting the impact of climate change, human

activity, changes in biodiversity, invasive species and disease on ecosystems

Inherently multidisciplinary Developing and integrating science frameworks

across many disciplines remains a big problem Cyberinfrastructure required to support all

aspects of multidisciplinary ecological research

Ecological Forecasting CenterCollaboratory to address a grand challenge

of the 21st century

Crucial for sustainable inhabitation locally and globally

Intimately tied to local economy Requires cross disciplinary approach, break

down traditional barriers Large amounts of existing data waiting to be

synthesized New approaches make analyses possible that

never were before (e.g. GIS, statistics, computer models)

The problemUnderstand the biological and

ecological consequences of global change across natural and

human systems Wildlands, agrolands,

exurban to urban sense and analyze

drivers and consequences

biotic, abiotic, and social model and forecast

complex environmental phenomena

Modeling focus: two areas• Ecosystem and biodiversity processes and functions

• Future climate, water and land use/land cover

The Challenge

Integrate science framework

with cyber framework

for ecological forecasting

Ecological Forecasting Center NG

Current EPSCoR project is ending Next generation research infrastructure

must meet these challenges:Broader modeling efforts and more

interdisciplinary researchCoupled models from several disciplines to

develop and test theory and to improve predictive ability

CI is needed to support an extremely diverse set of activities

Meeting the challenge: The CyberCommons for Ecological research NSF EPSCoR Track II: Cyberinfrastructure to enable research

(pending) A CyberCommons for Ecological Forecasting

Two states: KS, OK Four universities: KU, KSU, OU, OSU $6M (NSF) + $3M (match)

Science Framework Data Models Analytics Narratives

Cyber Framework Hardware Software Collaboration Environment Integration Environment

CyberCommons Infrastructure Four primary sites: OU,

OSU, KSU, KU Distributed virtual data

center Sensor networks

Field Station and Ecological Reserves (KSR, KU)

Kessler Farm Field Laboratory (KFFL, OU)

Konza Prairie (KPBS, K-State)

Regional and national R&E networks GPN, KanREN, ONENet Internet2, NLR

Biogeochemistry, climate sensors

Kessler Farm Field Laboratory (OU)Soil reflectometer, wireless, moisture

Konza Prairie (K-State)Big/small animal collars, eco sensors, 2x bandwidth

Field Station and Ecological Reserves (KU)

Flux towers, wireless networks

Plus storage…

Infrastructure tools: biogeochemistry, climate

Eddy Covariance towers to monitor environmental variations in the Kansas River watershed

Large Aperture Scintillometer to monitor CO2, H20, and energy fluxes

CyberCommonsConceptual Framework

Objective is to synthesize the science framework with the cyber framework

Forecast complex reciprocal impacts among primary• drivers: climate, land-use• consequences: biotic, biogeochemical and hydrological

dynamics

Cyber Framework

Science Framework

Data: sensor measurements, satellite imagery, field surveys, vouchered biocollections

Models: system models for climate change, LU/LC change, biogeochemistry, species niches, epidemiology

Analytics: techniques and tools for exploring potential correlates and embedded patterns in complex, multidimensional data (data mining, scaling, mapping)

Narratives: scenarios of change involving drivers and consequences across geospatial and temporal parameters.

CyberCommons: Science Framework

Hardware: storage, computing, visualization components

Software: software, middleware and data service components

Collaboration Environment: social networking tools such as blogs, wikis, interest profiles, link libraries; shared bibliographies; video conferencing, on-line meeting tools and services

Integration Environment: Web portals, grid services, mashups, etc. for integrating science components (data, models, analytics, narratives)

Cyber Framework

Cyber Framework

Cyberinfrastructure components Compute resources (servers, HPC, HTC) Storage (file systems, RDBMS and OODBMS, RDF

triplestore) Sensor networks Authentication and authorization (Shib, entitlement

servers) Service containers (Web services, Grid services,

REST) Software as a Service (models, analytical procedures,

data assimilation processes, workflows) User interfaces and end-user services (portals,

collaboration services)

The cyberCommons components(only a cyber person can decipher this)

General Architecture

Questions?

Dan Andresen, Ph.D.Kansas State University

Rick McMullenUniversity of Kansas