ESIP Federation Activities

Rob Raskin

NASA/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA

Earth Science Information Partner (ESIP) Federation

• Networking consortium of 120 organizations that provide or add value to Earth system science data/information

• Initially formed by NASA, but now independent entity

• Membership open to any organization, after application and approval processes

• Almost entirely US-based

ESIP Membership Types

• Type 1– Raw data providers– Archive centers, mostly NASA and NOAA

• Type 2– Science/research data product providers

• Type 3– Commercial entities– Educational organizations– Planning agencies and decision makers– Service providers

Plus strategic funders, such as EPA, NASA, NOAA

Data Value Chain• Raw data (Type 1)

– Primarily remote sensing observations• Science data products (Type 2)

– Fully validated– Quality controlled– Vetted

• Applications (Type 3)

– Decision-making– Policy– Regulation– Commercial uses– Education– Expert testimony

Ready-to-use

Why Organizations Participate

• Broaden involvement• Use Cases• Community Standards• Share technology developments• Leverage what other Agencies/Organizations have

experienced– Lessons learned

• Testbeds

Networking Mechanisms

• Semi-annual meetings• Committees (top-down origin; permanent status)

– Information Technology & Interoperability– Products and Services– Education

• Clusters and working groups (bottom-up origin; may be transient)

– Thematic• Air quality• Water• Disaster• Climate

– Methodological• Environmental decision making• Semantic web• Preservation and stewardship

Environmental Decision-Making Cluster

• Objectives– Metrics

• What constitutes a good decision

– Better understanding of data requirements for decision models

– Greater appreciation for the value of data in decision-making

– Better tool interoperability• Most decision support systems are stove-piped

Information Technology and Interoperability Committee

• Objectives– Encourage the use of best information technology

practices– Ensure that data, information and services can be

readily exchanged and integrated– Encourage the use of standards and protocols

relevant to interoperability

• Activities– Convene technical workshops at Federation meetings

Air Quality Working Group

• Workshop on implementation of interoperability standards

• GEO AQ Community of Practice

Water Cluster

• Data integration and display tools

• Semantic architecture

• Ontology management

• Use cases

Semantic Web Cluster

• Common ontologies for:– Datatypes

– Data services

– Science/Application context

• Improve awareness of semantic interoperability– Tutorials

– Use cases

• Community standards for ontology content

SWEET Ontology

• Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET)– Purpose: to improve discovery and use of Earth-referenced data

• Upper-level ontology set for Earth system science• 4000 concepts spanning Earth system science, applications,

and data– Organized into 140 modular ontologies– Scalable to readily accommodate growth– Written in OWL-DL– Easily extended for specialized domains

• Long-term maintenance to be provided by the ESIP Semantic Web Cluster

Physics

Chemistry

Math

VectorFunction StatisticsGeometryTime Space

Scale

Distribution

Object

Coordinates

DirectionScale GeologicScience

System InstrumentUnits

ElecMag

GravitySpectrum

Radiation

Solid

Fluid

Waves

Fluid Dyn

Thermo

Dynamics

TransportSound Organic

Element

Compound

Process

State

Particle

Biology

Plant

Process

Ecosystem

Animal

Biome

Hydrosphere

Surface

Ocean

Dynamics

WaterBody

Composition

Groundwater

Astronomy

Heliosphere

Sun Planet

Geosphere

Tectonica

OceanicContinental

Orogen

Basin

Petrology

Volcano

Resources

Atmosphere

Cloud

Pressure

Stability

Wind

Composition

Front

Precip Mesoscale

Electric BoundaryLay

Human

Impact

Agriculture Infrastruct

Commerce

Aviation

EnvControl

Data

Services

Representation

Geography

Border Geomorphol

Soil

Landform

CoastClimateZone

Climate

EarthReference

Cryosphere

Measurement Systems

Basic Science

Earth System Science

Applications

Abstract to Applied

Environmental Ontologies

• 12 new modules for cross-cutting environmental applications

• Supplements rather than replaces existing air and water chemistry modules

Environment

Indicator Decision

Regulation

Protection

StandardsImpact

Protection Control

Transport

Assessment

PollutantSustainability

SWEET Top Level View

More Info

• ESIP Web Site– http://wiki.esipfed.org

• ESIP Collaboration Pages– http://esipfed.org

• Upcoming ESIP Meetings– Knoxville, TN July 20-23, 2010

• SWEET– http://sweet.jpl.nasa.gov