Global Environmental Change Research Pathways for the Next Decade (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
9 Processing and Distributing Earth Observations and Information
9 Processing and Distributing Earth Observations and Information
Pages 435-444
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 435... ...
Finally, the higher-level and summary data products will be sought and used by a broad constituency through global electronic networks. THE EOS DATA AND INFORMATION SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE USGCRP This chapter concentrates on the data and information issues associated with EOS: they are urgent in themselves, and they are also a prologue for the issues that must be resolved for the USGCRP as it develops early in the twenty-first century.
|
From page 436... ...
For Earth observations such as those of EOS, there will be strong interdependencies among instruments that must be resolved during data processing, and thus algorithmic com plexities and sequencing issues complicate the problems associated with large data rates. The instrument teams must find ways to interact effec tively to produce accurate data and to document carefully and rigorously what has been done to the observations.
|
From page 437... ...
The broader the user community and the more complex the system becomes, the more likely it is that competing demands and conflicting requirements will lead to chaos rather than consensus. It has been assumed for a decade or more that the processes of producing, using, and archiving EOS observations could be described by a set of requirements specifying data rates and paths, specific capabilities and facilities needed by users, interoperability mandates, and archiving methods.
|
From page 438... ...
• Scientists and scientific teams can use the system for interaction as well as a form of electronic publication and dissemination of results. At that time the committee argued that the commitment to the "right model" for governance, management, and operation of the system would ensure that "the details related to design and technology would readily fall into place."b Arguing that expectations for the information system mandated that the scientific community accept full partnership and shared responsibility, the committee identified two key requirements for the system model: that it use an open management approach in which consequential decisions are made with community leadership and with assignment of responsibilities based on peer review, and that it encour b Note that this view of the model or conceptual framework for information system governance and management is quite different from the process described earlier, in which the implicit assumption is that a "right system" can be designed.
|
From page 439... ...
. The report examines federated structures from a variety of organizations -- libraries, international organizations, industry, government, and academia -- and discussed objectives, governance, potential costs and benefits, measures of success, and lessons for an ESE federation.3 Revisiting EOS Information Federation Models The EOS information federation model recommended by the NRC in 1995 envisioned that NASA would convert the EOS data it received from the spacecraft into geophysical units and would couple this information with spatial and temporal coordinates to produce a basic data stream.
|
From page 440... ...
NASA support to ensure a representative menu of EOS products. Government archives basic data and Government archives basic datasets.
|
From page 441... ...
A significant advantage is thus that the basic data processing is performed by the principal investigators under government sponsorship and management through the contract, presumably ensuring that the data streams from space will indeed be made available to both science and applications in a timely manner. Another advantage of the new federation model is that it provides a mechanism for NASA to continue to support experimentation and innovation in information access, management concepts, and technology that will advance global change research and applications, thus enhancing the value of the EOS data.
|
From page 442... ...
Many members of the EOS community have been thinking about EOSDIS for years and about federated models at least since this committee's endorsement in 1995.4 A wide range of models has been considered, as shown by Table 9.1. The committee believes that the new federated model offers advantages over its 1995 proposal and that: The new EOS Federated Information System, including processing by the instrument teams to create the basic geophysical data, should be thor oughly explored to be sure it meets the needs of the four segments of the community: data producers; scientific assimilators and data consumers, including global change scientists; other scientific users; and the private sector.
|
From page 443... ...
Thus, NASA, as the principal initial source of funding, must devise contract award and management procedures that attract federation partners committed to high-quality science and service to their community. Mechanisms will be needed to ensure institutional credit for the complex task of publishing reliable and trustworthy datasets and supporting users, as well as for the usual regard for well-founded scientific conclusions (see Annex 3, on producing trustworthy scientific information in the EOS Information Federation)
|
From page 444... ...
For the future we envision a federation that will be effective in transcending lists of requirements by providing enabling capabilities and by focusing on the value of EOS data for science and applications rather than on system mechanics. The operational details of the EOS information system will then fade into the background of an existing supportive, but largely invisible, global information infrastructure, and scientists will be able to concentrate on science.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.