National Data Infrastructure for Earth System Science

National Data Infrastructure for Earth System ScienceEarthCube and other efforts globallyClifford Jacobs, National Science FoundationPeter Fox, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstitutePresented at the town hall meeting AGU fall 2011OutlineContextNationallyInternationallyEarthCube visionInitial EarthCube effortsLong-term visionContextWe no longer have the gift of timeScience foundations for EarthCube

To understand more deeply the planet and its interactions will require the geosciences to take an increasingly holistic approach, exploring knowledge coming from all scientific and engineering disciplines.Fostering a sustainable future through a better understanding of our complex and changing planet.CALL TO ACTION: Over the next decade, the geosciences community commits to developing a framework to understand and predict responses of the Earth as a systemfrom the space-atmosphere boundary to the core, including the influences of humans and ecosystems.GEO VisionCrossroad Challenges of GEOvisionGEO CIThe Dynamic EarthThe Changing ClimateEarth and LifeGeosphere-Biosphere ConnectionsWater:ChangingPerspective5

Arctic Sea Ice

Research Vessel Sikuliaq

Oceans

Water

SatellitesEarth System Modeling

Era of Observation and Simulation

EarthScope Observatory NetworkTIMMany other fields such as astronomy and high energy physics are experiences similar paradigm shifts. 67Framing the Challenge:Science and Society Transformed by DataModern geoscienceData- and compute-intensiveIntegrative, multi-scaleMulti-disciplinary collaborations to address complexityIndividuals, groups, teams, communitiesSea of DataAge of ObservationDistributed, central repositories, sensor- driven, diverse, etc

ALAN

Technology Innovation: Requires New ParadigmsUnprecedented amounts of data collected across planet (by many orders of magnitude)All sciencesNew instruments, sensors, sociological dataSharing data, software, visualizationsCompletely new algorithms, methods, toolsReal-time access to instruments and dataPerformance, interoperability, remote steeringNew types of infrastructure for storage, curation, preservation

Address in the Challenge-Funding:GEO Supports Substantial CINSF Budget (FY 2010) $6,926.5 MGeosciences (GEO) Budget $889.64 MGEO 2010 investments in CI ~$103 M

New investment: ExampleNWSC (NCAR-WY Super Computer Center) FY 2012 With Partners in Wyoming: Center Construction ~$70MComputer Systems ~$30MAddressing the Challenge-SupportMultiple Modes of Support: A Hallmark of SuccessGEO modes of support are and will continue to be essentialFocused grants to individual PIs or small groupsFocused programs that are community drivenSmall centersLarge national centersCyber-enhanced field programsCyber-enhanced observing facilities and MREFC projectsNSF-wide initiativesEducation, outreach, and training activities (EOT)Each mode supports both high-risk, transformative research and practical implementationAlthough each mode contributes, the modes often work independent of one another

Some international contextAustraliaEuropeUKBut there are more

http://www.aeric.org.au/page3/index.html10E.g. WIRADAAustralia Bureau of Meteorology (BoM, operational agency) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, research and application organization)Science Symposium (Aug, 2011) demonstrated significant progressScientists, engineers and informaticists working and meeting together from the start!http://www.clw.csiro.au/conferences/wirada%2Dsymposium/ Cooperation for National Environmental Information System

Research Data Storage InfrastructureA$50M (just started)

Financed by the Education Investment Fund (EIF) A$47 million (2010 2013)nectar.org.au

To serve a national research community of several thousand!!EU Framework Program 7 9th/10th callshttp://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/e-infrastructure/docs/work-programme.pdf INFRA-2011-1.2.2: Data infrastructures for e-ScienceEu 43MClosed Nov. 23, 2011General objectives: Establish a persistent and robust service infrastructure for scientific data..Deployment of generic services for persistent data storage, access and management that assure data provenance, authenticity and integrity and respond to the needs of advanced user communities Development of an open access, participatory infrastructure for scientific information linking peer-reviewed literature and associated data sets and collections which can be open to non-scientists and to providers of value- added servicesScientific community-driven policy development and service deployment for data generation, provenance, quality assessment, certification, curation, annotation, navigation and management so as to promote the sharing of data and the development of trustDevelopment and deployment of tools and techniques for the provision of advanced data services notably for data discovery, mining, visualisation and simulationAll proposals are encouraged to: (a) consider the international dimension of their activities; (b) address education and training; (c) address social factors and incentives or rewards that would encourage the use of open data infrastructures by scientists; (d) leverage national e-Science initiatives on data; (e) foster the use and deployment of open standards and APIs in order to encourage value-added services by third parties; (f) set up help/support lines for users where appropriate;(g) consider appropriate licensing schemes for open source software; (h) address financial sustainability. 16GeoNETWORK

D4Science (phase II)

GRDI2020

EUPractice.eu

http://www.esdin.eu/

UKJISC initiative (National Data Infrastructures Study): http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/preservation/nationaldata.aspx (led by Digital Curation Centre)Managing Research Data (e.g. ADMIRE): http://researchdata.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2011/11/29/jisc-managing-research-data-programme-2011-13-new-rdm-infrastructure-projects/ Data infrastructurEs for Supporting Information Retrieval Evaluation (DESIRE) http://www.promise-noe.eu/events/desire-2011/home Environmental Virtual Observatory -Pilot (NERC) http://www.environmentalvirtualobservatory.org/

What is EarthCube?An alternative approach to respond to daunting science and CI challengesEarthCube is an outcome and a processEarthCube will require broad community participation

23Goal of Earth Cube

to transform the conduct of research in geosciences by supporting the development of community-guided cyberinfrastructure to integrate data and information for knowledge management across the Geosciences. 24EarthCube Will:Be a long-term transformation of the practices within the geosciences community spanning at least a decadeProvide unprecedented new capabilities to researchers and educatorsVastly improve the productivity of community and thus accelerating discovery in understanding and predicting the Earth systemProvide a uniform knowledge management framework for all of the geosciences Initial EarthCube effortsUnanticipated community engagement and contributionEarthCube Website~600 members to the EarthCube website 114 white paper submission185 respondents to user surveyUnknown number of hours of pro bono contributions by communityUnprecedented view of the pulse of the geoscience community Thank you for your contributions!Exceeded our expectationThe creativity and dedication of the geosciences community demonstratedLegacy created with the EarthCube website, whitepapers and user surveyExcellent start to broad engagementContributions remind us of the breadth of, and interest in, geosciencesSustaining and enhancing the engagement is a goal for NSF

27Charrette AttendanceOn-site 146Not all for the entire 3 daysAttendance was high even on last morningVirtualNov. 1 Virtual 139Nov. 2 Virtual 104Nov. 3 Virtual 63Nov. 4 Virtual 37 (preliminary estimate) Broad representation of geosciences research communityIncluding several graduate and post-docsRepresentation also includedOther federal agenciesInternationalIndustry PublishersSocieties and science organizationsOrganizational specialists~20 GEO & OCI POs (not at same time)Representatives from BIO and CISE also in attendance

Immediate OutcomesIdentifying the most important capabilities to be embodied in EarthCubeDefining the initial view of EarthCubeMany 2-pager papers on new capabilitiesResulted from work at the CharretteNew collaborations enabled by the Charrette Instructions NSFs interest in Eager awards post-CharretteStrategic organizational frameworkDevelopment of new capabilitiesProgress on critical milestone (developed at Charrette)EarthCube website was and is an effective tool for community dialogLabor intensive to monitor and maintainBottom line: a new starting place for creative and collaborative ideas, partnerships, and building CI for the geosciences MilestonesRelease of first DCL June 2011WebEx presentationsJune & July 2011Establish EarthCube Social Network siteAugust 2011CharretteNovember 2011Second DCLDecember 2011EAGER and Supplement SubmissionsDecember 2011 April 2012Second Community eventMay 2012Continued community opportunitiesMay 2012 - ?Path To Action

Are we at the beginning of the great convergence?

Discussion Points -- path to action --Are there current synergies that can be built on with minimal/ modest investment?Are there gaps in Data Infrastructures efforts world-wide that EarthCube could address?What are viable means for international cooperation, collaboration, alliances, etc?What are effective means to transformation the culture of geosciences?Question and/or Comment?

EarthSystem Knowledge Management System (EarthCube & similar activities)forDiscoveryObserving SimulatingSharing Collaborating Training Learning Informing Broadening Participation

Schematic Depiction of Knowledge Management

Global Access

Common communication infrastructure Access to external /internal information /knowledge/sources Use of modern methods and toolsMotivation Enablers

Value and culture Rewarding Sharing/exchange of knowledge Shared mindsets and visions Trust of each other Bridging generationsBuilding Knowledge InfrastructureDeveloping a Knowledge Culture(community) Creation

Capacity Building Face-to-face contact Competence centers Community of practices Management of knowledge processes Networking incl. webBuilding Knowledge IntensityEasy Usability

Who knows what Taxonomy of expertise Yellow pages Competence Uniformity of accessMaking Knowledge VisibleFrom A. Boynton, Exploring Opportunities in Knowledge Management: How to Get Started Knowledge Management Symposium: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Impact, IBM Consulting, Sydney, 199637EarthCube Design Elements

Modes of SupportWell-Connected elements ofKM through EarthCubeLoosely or Not ConnectedA Unifying Architecture and Technology Advances Will Lead to Strategic Convergence on KM39Building on the Internet Paradigm The Internet provided a knowledge system that transformed the modality of science Unanticipated OutcomesNSFs role included influencing the set of standards that were adoptedCIF21 investments must provide a framework of integrated and interactive services

Interworkability for collaboration

Internet for interoperability40EVA

We looked to the internet paradigm for inspiration for how a simple framework can change the modality of science. The internet it made it very easy to link things though protocols and standards. And the outcomes were unanticipated and huge. The development of new tools allowed more sophisticated collaborations and social networks; dispersed data was connected leading to greater interoperability.

We expect that future advances in studying a complex Earth System will require another step beyond interoperability. We call this interworkability, where all geoscience data is more easily accessible and discoverable

Additionally, data are easy to manipulate and work with because of a framework that facilitates interaction and integration.Long-term vision for a national data infrastructure for Earth system scienceCan we configure our culture to keep pace with technology?ChallengesThe challenges have been defined in countless reportsIt is not about technology per say, but its effective useIncrease productivity and capabilities in our personal lives are not reflected in our research jobsFuture visions must focus on increased productivity and capability at end point of useAffecting change within the current research paradigm