Emerging Approaches to the

Integration of Autonomous Heterogeneous Air Quality Information Systems

Invited Paper IN13E-01American Geophysical Union, San Francisco

December 11, 2006

Richard ScheffeUS Environmental Protection Agency

Rudolf B. HusarWashington University, St. Louis

GEOSS

Eco-informatics

Accountability/indicatorsSIPs, nat.rules

designations

PHASE

PM research

Risk/exposureassessments

AQ forecastingPrograms

NAAQS setting

EPANOAA

NASA

NPS

USDA

DOE

PrivateSector

States/TribesRPO’s/Interstate

Academia

NARSTO

NAS, CAAACCASAC, OMB

Enviros

Organizations

CDC

Supersites

IMPROVE, NCorePM monit, PAMS

CASTNET

Lidarsystems

NADP Satellite data

Intensive studies

PM centers

Other networks:SEARCH, IADN..

Data sources

CMAQGEOS-CHEM

EmissionsMeteorology

Health/mort.records

Entities participating in AQ information exchannge

Unfortunately, the inner working of the IS that links these entities

is not yet understood.

The challenge posed by R. Scheffe: Please explain this Informatics

Mess

2. Is data sharing a viable approach to achieve the

convergence & optimization?

Common data

Client Data Overlaps

Monitoring SatelliteModeling

1. Can we integrate air quality information

through partnerships?

Specific AQ Informatics Questions:

Infromatics Challenges

Science: Understand and explain how IS work

Dependencies, driving forces (co-opetition) and processes of IS

Engineering: Design of Info Systems

Information Flow, SAO, System of Systems

Technology: Harnessing and harvesting IT & the web.

Web Services, Workflow, Social Software, Google *.* Web2.0, RSS

• Data are distributed geographically by autonomous providers

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

• Data includes emissions

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

Information Providers: Geography, Content, Agency, Form

• Data includes emissions, ambient data,

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

• Data includes emissions, ambient data, satellite data

Satellite

Satellite

SatelliteSatellite

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

• Data includes emissions, ambient data, satellite data and model output

Model

Model

ModelModel

Satellite

Satellite

SatelliteSatellite

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Ambient

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

• Data are provided by multiple agencies: EPA, NOAA, NASA and others

NASAMission

NOAAGASP

NASAIDEA

NASA DAACs

NOAA ASOS

EPA-AQSDataMart

EPA AIRNow

RPO VIEWS

FS FireInv

State/LocalEmission

EPA NEISGEI

EPA NEI

NOAA WeaMod

EPAAQModel

NOAA Forecast

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

NASA DAACs

NOAA GASP

NASAIDEA

NASA Missions

EPA NEI

EPA NEISGEI

FS FireInv

State/Local Emission

NOAA ASOS

RPO VIEWS

EPA AIRNow

EPA-AQS AIRS

NOAA WeaMod

EPA AQModel

NASA GloModel

NOAA Forecast

• Furthermore, data are provided in varied formats and access protocols

Emission

Ambient

Satellite

Model

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Content | Agency | Form

• Data on Internet are geography-independent and can be ‘linearized’

Internet

Remote Sensing

SurfaceObs

Emission

SciForecast

Model

• Users are distributed geographically

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

Policy

Policy

Policy

• Users includes policy makers

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

• Users includes policy makers, the public

Policy

Policy

Policy PublicPublic

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

• Users includes policy makers, the public, AQ managers

Policy

Policy

Policy PublicPublic

Manager Manager

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

and scientist

Policy

Policy

Policy PublicPublic

Manager ManagerScientist Scientist

Scientist

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

• Users are affiliated with multiple agencies: EPA, NOAA, NASA, as well as others

Policy

Policy

Policy PublicPublic

Manager ManagerScientist Scientist

Scientist

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

Users: By Types, Agency, Info Needs

• Furthermore, users need various types of information provided in multiple formats

Policy

Manager

Policy

Scientist

ManagerScientistScientist

Policy

Public Public

EPA

NOAA

NASA

Other

Stakeholder | Agency | Form

Policy

Manager

Public

Scientist

• Since the users are also on the Internet, their geographic location is irrelevant

Public

Manager

Scientist

Internet

other

Information System ChallengeRefining and delivering information

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data Knowledge

Agile Information System: Data Access, Processing and Products

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Organizing

DocumentStructure/FormatInterfacingV

alu

e A

dd

ing

P

rocesses

Agile Information System: Data Access, Processing and Products

Uniform Access

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Organizing

DocumentStructure/FormatInterfacingV

alu

e A

dd

ing

P

rocesses

Homogenizing

Format profile Standard accessData as Service

Agile Information System: Data Access, Processing and Products

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Organizing

DocumentStructure/FormatInterfacing

Characterizing

Display/BrowseCompare/Fuse CharacterizeV

alu

e A

dd

ing

P

rocesses

Homogenizing

Format profile Standard accessData as Service

Agile Information System: Data Access, Processing and Products

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Analyzing

Filter/IntegrateAggregate/FuseCustom Analysis

Organizing

DocumentStructure/FormatInterfacing

Characterizing

Display/BrowseCompare/Fuse CharacterizeV

alu

e A

dd

ing

P

rocesses

Homogenizing

Format profile Standard accessData as Service

Value-Adding Processes

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Analyzing

Filter/IntegrateAggregate/FuseCustom Analysis

Organizing

DocumentStructure/FormatInterfacing

Characterizing

Display/BrowseCompare/Fuse Characterize

Reporting

Inclusiveness Iterative/Agile Dynamic ReportV

alu

e A

dd

ing

P

rocesses

Homogenizing

Format profile Standard accessData as Service

Agile Information System: Data Access, Processing and Products

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Control

Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Data

Control

Seeking Information

Providing Information

Negotiating & Market Space

Infromatics Challenges

Science: Understand and explain how IS work

Dependencies, driving forces (co-opetition), information processes

Engineering: Design of Info Systems

Information Flow, SAO, System of Systems

Technology: Harnessing and harvesting IT & the web.

Web Services, Workflow, Social Software, Google *.* Web2.0, RSS

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Control

Data

Acq

uis

itio

n Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Standard Data Query Language:

Where? When? What? (Space-time query by OGC WMS, WCS)

GetCapabilities

GetData

Capabilities, ‘Profile’

Data

Where? When? What? Which Format?

Server

Back End S

td.

Inte

rface

Client

Front EndS

td.

Inte

rface

Query GetData Standards

Where? BBOX OGC, ISO

When? Time OGC, ISO

What? Temperature CF

Format netCDF, HDF.. CF, EOS, OGC

T2T1

Loosely Coupled Data Access through Standard Protocols

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Control

Data

Acq

uis

itio

n Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Web Services and Workflow for Loose Coupling

Service Broker

Service Provider

PublishFind

BindServiceUser

Web Service Interaction Service Chaining & Workflow

Web Services Triad:Publish – Find – Bind

Workflow Software:Dynamic Linking

Software Mashups

Software Mashup:Coarse-grain Linking

Uniform Access

Data Processing Web Service Chain

Custom Processing

SciFlo

DataFed

Products Reports

Forecast

Compli.

Other

Science

Public

Manager

Scientist

Users

other

Control

Data

Acq

uis

itio

n Provider

NASA DAACs

EPA Model

EPA AIRNow

others

Data

Collaborative Reporting and Dynamic Delivery

Co Writing - Wiki

ScreenCast

Collaborative Analysis and Writing

Wiki, Blogs, Group Annotations

Dynamic Content Delivery:

GoogleEarth, Screencasting…

Summary

• There IS an ‘alignment of stars’ for integrating AQ data systems

• Third-party mediation can homogenize the distributed data

• Agile SOA-based IS can deliver info products to diverse users

• Since 2005, one such IS, DataFed is used by EPA and in research

Some major AQ Information System Challenges(Same as the DoD, ES Challenges?)

WCS/WMS

App

App

App

App

Are WCS/WMS Convergence Protocols?

Connecting Humans!

Right Level of Networking?

DataFed assumes autonomous data providersNon-intrusively wraps data into web services

Provides processing and analysis tools

Apparent divergences?Organizations have different missions

NPSProtect ecosystems, AQ WQ

NASAExplore fundamental Earth System Properties

USDAProtect/optimize Ag and forest resources

EPA (Protect human health & envi.

Improve air, water, ecosystem

CDCTo promote health and quality of life ….

NOAATo understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and …

Collaboration (culture) empire building?

Observation technologies {e.g., satellites}

Computational power

Science, talent{embodied in AQ models and young geniuses}

Budgets, agency collaboration resource/program accountability

Accountability, ↓ regulatoryassessments {e.g., NAS, CASAC}

Information technologies{e.g., data sharing protocols}

Alignment

Stars aligned?