1. The VIRTUAL SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL OBSERVATORY Peter Fox 1 (pfox@ucar.edu), Don Middleton 2, Stan Solomon 1, Deborah McGuinness 3, Jose Garcia 1, Luca Cinquini 2, Patrick West 1, James Benedict 3 ( 1 HAO/NCAR) ( 2 SCD/NCAR) ( 3 McGuinness Associates) Using the Virtual Observatory Concept – data, models and educational materials Virtual Observatories: integrating data denters, data systems Functionality Parameter classes Goal - find the right balance of data/model holdings, portals and client software that a researchers can use without effort or interference as if all the materials were available on his/her local computer. The prototype Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO) is a distributed, scalable education and research environment for searching, integrating, and analyzing observational, experimental and model databases in the fields of solar, solar-terrestrial and space physics (SSTSP). VSTO comprises a framework which provides virtual access to specific SSTSP data, model, tool and material archives containing items from a variety of space- and ground-based instruments and experiments, as well as individual and community modeling and software efforts bridging research and educational use. The prototype will be fully functional; addressing a substantial need within the SSTSP community, allowing science projects to advance more rapidly. E.g. in solar coronal physics there is a need to cohesively assemble multi-wavelength images of the dynamic solar upper atmosphere. Space weather model inter-comparisons, and Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics results need to be distributed to their communities. In discussions with data providers and users, the needs are clear: ``Fast access to `portable' data, in a way that works with the tools we have; information must be easy to access, retrieve and work with.'’ Too often users (and data providers) have to deal with the organizational structure of the data sets which varies significantly --- data may be stored at one site in a small number of large files while similar data may be stored at another site in a large number of relatively smaller files. There is an equally large problem with the range of metadata descriptions for the data. Users often only want subsets of the data and struggle with getting it efficiently. One user expresses it as: ``(Please) solve the interface problem.'' VSTO addresses this specific problem. Datasets alone are not sufficient to build a virtual observatory. The VSTO addresses the interface problem to bring data to the users' tools, and to the tools within the VSTO, effectively and scalably. VSTO leverages the development of schema (e.g CEDAR, MLSO, VSO, Earth System Grid, SPMDL) that adequately describe the syntax (name of a variable, its type, dimensions, etc. or the procedure name and argument list, etc.) and semantics (what the variable physically is, its units, etc. or what the procedure does and returns, etc.) of the datasets and tools. A Grid-enabled (http://www.globus.org) virtual observatory minimizes the time to make data available and usable. Data does not have to be moved or reformatted, only registered with the catalog. It is then available from the VSTO web portal or the user's preferred application which has access to the VSTO interfaces. The Center for Integrated Space-Weather Modeling (CISM: http://www.bu.edu/cism) is an NSF STC project in community science. Its goals and mission are broad and its collaborators are geographically distributed. Its model intercomparison needs for Space Weather are clear but the capability to effectively manage and present those models is yet to be developed or implemented. Beyond that there is also the lack of a framework for building and distributing advanced data assimilation tools. ASSOCIATIONS: Earth System Grid, Community Data Portal, CEDAR, NSF/NMI SPONSORS: National Science Foundation/CISE/Shared Cyberinfrastructure Initiative FURTHER READING: http://vsto.hao.ucar.edu/ and watch for http://www.vsto.orghttp://vsto.hao.ucar.edu/http://www.vsto.org The CEDAR (Coupled Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) is an NSF focused global change program. NCAR hosts the CEDAR database, a collection of data from a variety of ground instruments, models and indices. The CEDAR Data System mission is to provide: long term archive for observations and models of the Earth's upper atmosphere and geophysical indices and parameters needed to interpret them, browsing capability to survey the data holdings and identify periods, instruments, models, of interest, reliable data access methods that are fast, stable and interactive, and detailed documentation on data acquisition and reduction. Current developments for CEDAR have addressed the data services and transport and the user interface taking into account the current CEDAR schema and query support. VSTO will build on this adding formal semantic representation and still interoperate with the current CEDAR system. 1: ontology enabled search/find for data from CEDAR database 2: 1. + plot (what can I plot -> 'this' and 'that') 3: 2. + how can I plot (same coordinates, etc.) or alternately synthesize data 4: 3.+ with different coordinates, etc. (needs to 'know' how to make a sensible plot). Use-Cases Ontology Development CEDAR: begin with flat listings of CEDAR parameters, instruments and develop a simple hierarchy Where applicable: add to SWEET; Realms, Properties, Space, Time, etc. Instances: contain the metadata CEDAR/VSTO ontology: will map from SWEET Build/evolve: using Use-case application ………. … OPeNDAP server Portal (ION) services Protocol (http) server Page server URL (data) generator Plot handler Catalog service Authentication Catalog (SQL)User DB User Web pages CEDAR data file CISMACOSCEDAR INSTRUMENTCODEABBRLATLONGALT Jicamarca Peru I.S. Radar10JRO-11.95283.120.520 Arecibo P.R. I.S. Radar20ARO18.35293.250.0 Millstone Hill I.S. Radar30MLH42.62288.510.146 EISCAT I.S. Radar70EIS69.5819.220.087 Ground-Based Indices: Geophysical NGDC: AE211AEIN/A Geophysical NGDC: Dst212DST Model Outputs: NCAR TGCM/TIGCM Model310GCMN/A AMIE Model311AREN/A HF Radars: Halley Antarctica HF Radar820HHF-75.5333.4 MST Radars: Arecibo P.R. MST Radar1040ARM18.35293.250.0 Poker Flat Alaska MST Radar1140PKR65.13-147.46 LF and MF Radars: Scott Base Antarctica MF Radar1210SBF-77.85166.75 Poker Flat Alaska MF Radar1375RPK65.13-147.50.208 Passive Optical Instruments: Davis Antarctica Spectrometer3010DVS-68.4877.970.025 Arecibo P.R. Fabry-Perot5160AFP18.345293.250.0 LIDARs: USU ALO Rayleigh LIDAR6330USL41.74-111.811,466 USU Mesospheric Temp Mapper CCD Imager 7191MTMN/A Excerpt from SunRealm: 85000 500000 SWEET VSTO +SPDML GLOSSARY: SWEET - Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology, sweet.jpl.nasa.gov SPDML - Space Physics Data Markup Language, sd-www.jhuapl.edu/SPDML CEDAR - Coupled Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions, cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu CISM - Center for Integrated Space-Weather Modeling, www.bu.edu/cism ACOS - Advanced Coronal Observing System, mlso.hao.ucar.edu Radar Incoherent Scatter Ionospheric Doppler(aka HF) Middle Atmosphere (aka MLT) MST MF LF Meteor Wind Digisondes Optical (hasBand, measuresTo, etc.) Interferometers Fabry-Perot Michelson IR Doppler Spectrometers IR ([OH]) Airglow Imagers All-Sky Cameras Lidar Spectrometers Polarimeter Heliograph Photometers Single-Channel Multi-Channel hasName: alsoKnownAs: isOperatedBy: hasOperator: isType: isPartofProgram: isFundedBy: hasCoverage: hasSensor: Measurement: hasOperatingFrequency: hasOperation: Start: hasOperatingMode: Measurement: hasDataFrom: hasDataTo: hasLocation: Address: CityTown: PostalCode: Country: Continent: Latitude: Magnetic: Longitude: Magnetic: hasLocalTimeatZeroUT: Instrument classes Excerpt from SunRealm.owl Excerpt from EarthRealm.owl Density Electron Uncorrected Maximum Height Increment Neutral Mass Number Pressure Neutral Temperature Ion Electron Ratio (Ion/Electron) Neutral Model Exospheric temperature Model Velocity Ion Line of sight Bisector Spread (spectral width) Local azimuth Local elevation Eastward Northward Neutral Field Magnetic Interplanetary Bx By Bz Strength Geo Northward Eastward Downward Strength Solar-Terrestrial System <owl:onProperty rdf:resource="http://sweet.jpl.nasa.gov/ontology/numerics.owl#ha sDefaultUnit"/> <owl:hasValue rdf:resource="http://sweet.jpl.nasa.gov/ontology/units.owl#kilogra m_perMeterToPover3"/> Excerpt from Properties.owl CodeFull NameScaleUnitsName Time related parameters 10Year (Universal time)1.0yryear 34Time past 0000 UT1.E-03houruth 36Time past 0000 UT10.0secuts Geographic parameters 110Altitude (height)1.0kmgdalt 120Range1.0kmrange 130Mean azimuth angle (0=N, 90=E)1.E-02degazm 140Elevation angle (0=horizontal, 90=vertical)1.E-02degelm 194Declination angle (GEI coordinates)1.E-02degdec Basic ionospheric parameters 510Electron density1.E+09m -3 ne 550Ion temperature1.0Kti 552Ion temperature0.1Ktip1 560Electron temperature1.0Kte Neutral atmosphere parameters 800Line of sight neutral velocity (away: >0)1.0m/svnlu 810Neutral temperature1.0Ktn Vector field parameters 1410Direction 1 neutral wind (eastward)1.0m/svne 1420Direction 2 neutral wind (northward)1.0m/svnn 1610Direction 1 electric field (eastward)1.E-05V/mee Spectral parameters 2400Wavelength0.1nmwaveln CEDAR - current “Instrument” table (excerpt) “Parameter” table (excerpt) The Problem: CEDAR - has ‘flat’ and overlapping listings of instruments (covers radars, optical, indices, models and more), parameters (same name, different scale factor or units, no formal specification of independent variables, etc.)