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2.4 Data & product serving, an overview of capabilities developed in 10 years
Lead author: Frederique Blanc (CLS)
Author/co-authors: F. Blanc1, R. Clancy2, P. Cornillon3, C. Donlon4, P. Hacker5, K. Haines6, S. Hankin7, S. Pouliquen8, M. Price4, T. Pugh9, A. Srinivasan10
1Collecte Location Satellites , France
2US Navy, U.S.A.
3University of Rhode Island, U.S.A.
4 ESA, The Netherlands
5University of Hawaii, U.S.A.
6Reading University, UK
7NOAA/PMEL, U.S.A.
8IFREMER, France
9BMRC, Australia
10RSMAS, U.S.A
Abstract
This article provides a review of what has been achieved for data and product serving within the lifetime of the GODAE project. Products belong to two categories, observational data products and modelled ocean forecast products. The primary need for data and product serving was to develop a common knowledge and understanding of the product portfolio. The success of this activity within GODAE is attested to by the current mature and structured description of products and ocean forecasting systems, and the development of product classification and qualification (levels in products, notion of best estimate time series). Then, the challenges of data serving have been addressed over the last 10 years of work, through the cooperative skills and energies of many individuals, people of different knowledge and expertise have collaborated and exchanged ideas; agreed upon technologies, standards and work practices; and developed operational solutions.
In this context, we will review here the variety of networking services implemented by GODAE partners, commenting upon the user needs they serve, including
1. A common knowledge and understanding of the products
2. Data format and data inventory (for interoperability)
3. How to find and discover products
4. Understanding and evaluating the products
5. How to query and access a product
6. Data manipulation and analysis (for data qualification or science data use)
7. Monitoring and reporting (product handling, usage report, user feedback).
The key technologies behind these networked services being offered are reviewed in a companion paper led by J. Blower.
To conclude, the GODAE project has minimised the cost and maximized productivity by drawing together information technology contributed by many partners. The primary aim has been to enable the assessment and operational qualification of ocean forecasting systems. Each partner has faced the challenge of demonstrating operationality (including version tracking, system monitoring, and robustness measures such as reliability, availability, accessibility, timeliness, volume handling, networking capacity); and usability/fitness for purpose of their systems. All partners have found that much of this operational infrastructure can be harmonised and shared to the benefit of all (cf. Mersea/MyOcean European concept, IOOS-DMAC projects) and this has been one of the key lessons of the GODAE project.
The ability to utilize these networked services in varied configurations will enable new integrated ocean applications through for instance the use of GIS thematic portals (cf. Argonautica and AlgaeRisk portals). Ultimately this harmonised and shared data serving infrastructure will flourish if it serves the ultimate goal of real user applications or commercial services.
Keywords: Operational oceanography, ocean portal, data discovery, data serving, ocean viewer
(Last Updated: 13-10-2008)