# Presentation: 262542

## Information Technology forOcean Observations and Climate Research

- TYKKI Workshop, December 9-11, 1998, Tokyo, Japan

**Nancy N. Soreide**
**NOAA **
**Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory**

## Vision

- Societal benefits through climate studies and improved climate prediction
- Investing in observations, satellites, models, research
- Investments in Information Technology
- Remove restrictions of the past
- Build a pipeline to the future
- Maximize the return on investments

## TAO as an example...

## TAO as an example...

## TAO as an example...

## TRITON/TAO 

- TAO/TRITON data integration
- Mechanism for data intercomparisons
- Web pages for seamless delivery of  integrated
- Improved delivery of TRITON/TAO data
- User defined plotting options
- Sophisticated Web component
- JavaScript and Java Servlets*
- Highly interactive, all-Java application
- Collaborative PMEL/JAMSTEC effort

- * A Servlet is a Java application that runs in conjunction with a web server. Java Servlet technology has built-in functionality that makes it a good server technology, with  faster response time, better performance, and reliability.

## TAO 

- TAO set a standard in the climate community
- Data dissemination in initial project planning
- Researcher involvement has assured data quality
- Benefits of data dissemination
- Wide use of TAO data
- Traditional research, modeling, forecasting groups
- Over 200 refereed publications in past 5 years
- Related disciplines, educational, administrative, public
- With recent advances in technology, we can do much more...

## How can Information Technology benefit Climate Programs?

- Data Access
- Centralized, uniform, consistent access to  geographically distributed data in a common data format
- Realtime data
- Satellite data
- Model outputs
- Data & information products
- “Data Portal”
- A “doorway” to climate data

## The Data Portal:  a “doorway” to climate data

- Why do we need a Data Portal?
- Each Project Office provides a highly customized Web sites for their data
- but different datasets have different navigation and interface characteristics
- so the user faces a bewildering spectrum of data access interfaces and locations
- Data Portal is single, uniform, consistent “doorway” to to climate data in a common format
- User goes to a single location and sees a consistent interface
- Complements the customized data access

## How do we build a Data Portal?

- Build on a proven prototype
- Next Generation NOAAServer software
- connects 5 geographically distributed data servers in Silver Spring, Boulder, Seattle
- CORBA for network connections
- unified interactive Java graphics
- data from distributed servers are co-plotted together on the same axis on the users desktop
- Atmospheric and oceanic profiles, time series, ADCP data, global gridded data
- http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/~nns/noaaserver/nodc-coads-tao.html
- http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/~nns/noaaserver/coads-tao-raster.html
- http://merlin/dwd/talks/mts98/unified_browse/

## Next Generation NOAAServer

## Next Generation NOAAServer

## Next Generation NOAAServer

## Other technology advances:

- Networks (100 Megabits/sec)
- Next Generation Internet (NGI) and Internet 2
- Visualization
- 3D
- Virtual reality
- Immersion technology
- Collaboration tools
- advanced high-speed telecommunications systems for collaboration applications
- tele-immersion systems allow individuals at different locations to share a single virtual environment
- Use networks not airplanes

## Other technology advances:

**3D Visualization**
**and **
**Virtual Reality (VRML)**

- http://pmel.noaa.gov/home/visualization/visual.html

## Data Portal / Visualization/Collaboration

- Traditional users:
- Modelers
- Forecasters
- Researchers
- New users:
- Educators
- Students
- General Public

**Data & Information Users**

- Distributed data
-     Observed data
-     Satellite data
-     Data and information
-        products
-     Model outputs
- Visualization

- Uniform network access

## Data Portal

- Browser

- Java
- Application

**User**

**Network**

- CORBA*

- Client Support

- Java Servlet

- Graphics

**One or more **
**Web Servers**

- TAO data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- Observing System Server

- Data

- Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is an industry standard Middleware.  CORBA is used  in the NOAAServer software from which this effort will leverage.  Based on performance indicators, Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI), an alternative middleware, could easily be substituted for CORBA.

- CORBA*

- Network

**Data Server**

*Data Portal*

## Data Portal

- Browser

- Java
- Application

**User**

**Network**

- CORBA*

- Client Support

- Java Servlet

- Graphics

**One or more **
**Web Servers**

- Drifter Data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- TAO data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- Observing System Servers

- Satellite data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- Satellite Data Servers

- Model data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- Model Output Servers

- Data

- Gridded data support

- CORBA*

- Data

- Gridded Data Servers

- Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is an industry standard Middleware.  CORBA is used  in the NOAAServer software from which this effort will leverage.  Based on performance indicators, Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI), an alternative middleware, could easily be substituted for CORBA.

- CORBA*

- Network

**Data Servers**

*Data Portal*

## Information Technology Climate Centers (ITCCs)

- Focal point for utilization of Information Technology for the advancement of climate programs
- Provide technical software/hardware support
- Data Portal
- Unified, central access to distributed data servers
- Observing system data, model outputs, satellite data, data & information products
- Visualization
- 3d, virtual reality, immersion technology
- Collaboration tools
- use networks not airplanes

## Typical ITCC requirements 

- Facility or building
- Data Portal:
- Computer and networking hardware and software
- Increased network bandwidth/speed
- Next Generation Internet (NGI) connection
- Visualization
- 3D, Virtual Reality, collaborative virtual environments
- SGI workstations, CAVE, ImmersaDesk...
- Personnel
- Relationships:
- Observing System Project Offices
- Research community, academia...
- other ITCC nodes
- Steering Committee

## Climate Program Resource Allocation

## Information Technology Climate Center Structure

- Steering Committee

- ITCC

- ITCC

- ITCC

**ITCC Customers**
- Providers of Data & Information
- Users of Data & Information

- Observations
- &
- Satellite
- Groups

- Modeling
- &
- Forecasting
- Groups

- Research
- Groups

- New Users
-   Educational
-   Administrators
-   General Public