Global Earth Observing System-of- Systems (GEOSS) Architectural Framework Doug Nebert FGDC, U.S. Geological Survey February 2008

Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) 72 Member countries plus the European Commission 52 Participating Organizations GEO Secretariat (Geneva) Committees: –Architecture and Data –Capacity Building –Science and Technology –User Interface

GEO Key Outputs The Framework Document –A high-level synopsis of the GEO effort for senior policymakers, presenting the purpose, expected benefits, and broad framework for developing the 10-year Implementation Plan, establishing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) The 10-Year Implementation Plan –A 10-Year roadmap for creating GEOSS as a distributed system of systems, building step-by-step on current cooperation efforts among existing observing and processing systems within their mandates, while encouraging and accommodating new components. The GEOSS will be: comprehensive, by including observations and products gathered from all components required to serve the needs of participating members; coordinated, in terms of leveraging resources of individual contributing members to accomplish this system, whose total capacity is greater than the sum of its parts; sustained, by the collective and individual will and capacity of participating members. 10-Year Plan Reference Document Builds on 10-Year Implementation plan (See for GEO activities and documents)

What is GEOSS? Global Earth Observing System of Systems GEOSS is a distributed system of systems built on current international cooperation among existing Earth observing and data management systems – in situ and remote sensors and systems GEOSS enables the collection and distribution of accurate, reliable Earth Observation data, information, products, and services in an end- to-end process GEOSS recognizes and promotes the deployment of geospatial standards to enable broad access and interoperability among diverse systems – engages the space and environment community to adopt and expand Spatial Data Infrastructures

The Global Framework A distributed system of systems –Improves coordination of strategies and observation systems –Links access to all platforms: in situ, aircraft, and satellite data collection and management systems –Identifies gaps in our global capacity –Facilitates exchange of data and information –Improves decision-makers’ abilities to address pressing policy issues

GEOSS proposed to support societal needs: Interdisciplinary focus: Sensor and platform systems are often targeted at specific communities and effectively hidden from others; need to expand potential clientele, exposure, and use to multiple communities An integrated international system using remote sensing & in situ systems: EO systems are not sufficiently integrated, even at the catalogue level, limiting applicability and versatility Foundation for sound decision-making at global, regional, & local level: EO resources are not highly visible or accessible to the decision- making public and those who support them

Implementation Approach Vision Societal Benefits Requirements Architecture Components / Systems Standard Services Implementation

GEO Societal Benefit Areas Disasters – Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human-induced disasters Health – Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well being Energy – Improving management of energy resources Climate – Understanding, predicting, mitigating and adapting to climate variability and change Water – Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle Weather – Improving weather information, forecasting and warning Ecosystems – Improving the management and protection of terrestrial, coastal and marine resources Agriculture – Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification Biodiversity – Understanding, monitoring, and conserving biodiversity

General GEOSS Requirements Promote access to all contributed systems, services, and standards within GEO by users, integrators, and operators for decision-support applications Individual contributed systems will remain autonomous, but standards-based public service interfaces are encouraged to enable interoperability (system-of-systems concept) Promote open access policies to EO data and services Standards and common practices will be adopted Communities of interest will be served through integrated search and presentation of GEO-wide available resources End-user requirements will be captured and linked to availability and gaps in available EO resources

GEOSS infrastructure elements Components –Systems, projects, programs, initiatives Services –Web services, brokered services, linked with information content for delivery Registries –“Yellow-pages” directories of common GEOSS resources Clearinghouse –Cross-GEOSS search capability for services and data Web Portals –User interface to access all GEO resources, search GEOSS Registries and Clearinghouse

GEOSS Registries as common infrastructure GEOSS Components Registry –Systems, initiatives, programs and their operators GEOSS Services Registry –Web service interfaces and websites with links to all relevant associated standards or practices GEOSS Standards and Interoperability Registry –Service interface standards, data formats, schemas, and other standards –Non-standard community practices can be registered as “special arrangements” Best Practices Registry/Wiki – under development Earth Observation (User) Requirements Registry – under development

GEOSS registry system objectives To register components and have them approved by the GEO Secretariat, To register services and associate them with GEOSS- recognized standards – and special arrangements for implementations using non-recognized approaches, To register special arrangements and GEOSS-recognized standards. –Taxonomy of standards types is used to assist in the discovery and classification of GEOSS service implementations. Best practices (wiki) and EO User Requirements On-line access – –

GEOSS workflow GEOSS Component, Service registry Standards, Special Arrangements Registries references Web Portal searches Offerors contribute Community Resources accesses GEOSS Clearinghouse Catalogues User accesses get catalogue services accesses searches invokes Component System Service(s)

GEOSS Registries The Registries store organizational, system, and service information in the context of existing standards and practices within the GEO community.

Registering items GEO members and participating organizations are invited to register their offers for GEOSS participants to find Components and Service Registry created and hosted at George Mason University –Registered services include data access services, WMS, metadata catalogs, order, data transformation, etc. –Services should be standards-based but may alternately reference community practices or ad hoc standards, known as “special arrangements” Standards registry hosted by IEEE to provide official list of registered standards and special arrangements

Registration Process Enter Individual Info GEO Affiliation Enter Component Info Link to SBAs Enter Service Info Link to Standards Done Data format, metadata, Protocol, schema, Service specification

GEO Web Portal Candidates GEO-wide Web Portal candidates were requested to demonstrate capabilities against common requirements. Web Portals can be re-deployed for communities, countries, or SBAs but retain access to common architecture (Registries, Clearinghouse, Component Services). Three offered candidates: –Compusult, Ltd. –European Space Agency (ESA) –ESRI, Inc.

Compusult

esa

ESRI

GEOSS Clearinghouse Clearinghouse is a broker to Community Catalogues Searches GEOSS Service Registry to identify services that can be searched Community Catalogues may either be “harvested” in advance or “searched” at the time of a user query Searches received from GEO Web Portal, Community Portals or any other external application acting as a catalog client Brief or full responses are marshaled and returned to requesting client as XML

Web Portal, Client, DS Client, Desktop application Register catalogs as services GEOSS Clearinghouse OGC CSW Collate response 7

GEO Web Site Client Tier Business Process Tier Access Tier GEOSS Web Portal GEOSS Registries Services Components Standards Direct Broadcast Other Services Data Access Services Model Access Services Community Portals Decision-Support Applications Requirements Community Catalogues Portrayal Services Workflow Management Processing Services Other Services GEOSS Clearinghouse CSW/ISO23950 Get list Register CSW/SRU/UDDI Sensor Access Services GEOSS Architecture – Engineering Viewpoint

Initial Operating Capability An Initial Operating Capability (IOC) was established for GEOSS in November 2007 largely as a result of a GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot, Phase 1. Several demonstrations portray the IOC functionality. –Users can access the GEOSS IOC functionality through the GEOSS Web Portal Candidates, Community Portals and Decision Support Clients. –Providers can register their services as part of the IOC at the GEOSS registry system. –Developers can view a description of the GEOSS IOC architecture through the website:

GEOSS Architecture: IOC Summary GEOSS Registries established for Components, Services, and Standards –66 Components & 74 Services registered (1 Feb 08) User access: GEO Web Portal Candidates (3), Community Portals (27) and Decision Support Clients (13) Several organizations capable of providing –GEO Web Portal solutions –GEOSS Clearinghouse solutions IOC Summary Web Presence – –Recommend hosting on a GEO web site

GEOSS Component Registry Service Registry GEOSS Standards and Special Arrangements Registry references GEO Portal links GEOSS Clearinghouse Catalogues Services User accesses Accesses all Registered Community Resources searches GEOSS Common Infrastructure GEONETCast Websites/ Webportals Catalogues Registered componentsExternal resources Websites/ Webportals GEO Web Site links Links to Other Community Resources Register Documents RSS Catalog Query Clients GEOSS Common Infrastructure

An invitation to participate Register your geospatial systems (“Components”) and services with the GEOSS Component and Service Registry Register the service access points (e.g. URL for GetCapabilities) and system websites and associate them with the appropriate standards you apply GEO Web portals will be able to help integrate your content into available resources for use with other earth observation data systems

For more information, contact: Douglas Nebert U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee