# Presentation: 525690

## Implementing the Data Environment for the Living-with-a-Star era

**Charles P Holmes**
**Joseph H Bredekamp**
**NASA Hq**

## The Sibeck-Kucera et al Vision of the LWS Data Environment

**“****Report and Recommendations of the LWS Data System Planning Team”, Winter, 2002.**
**The LWS data environment:**
- Based on existing services and evolve in response to user needs
- End-to-end management of all research-quality data sets and extensions
- Science participation in data management
- Peer-reviewed process for elements of the environment
- Begin now; community driven; integral to the Target Research & Technology program

## Authors’ Extensions to the Vision

**LWS data environment needs to support all SEC research activities and programs.**
**The data environment will evolve from current data entities.**
**The “Right Amount of Glue” sets the philosophy**
- J.B. Gurman (Fall 2002 AGU, SH52C-03)
**The Virtual Solar Observatory is a path-finder.**
**Activate/Energize discipline-based approaches to the evolution of the data environment.**
**Distributed funding and implementation activities.**
**Blend ‘bottoms-up’ implementation approaches with ‘top-down’ vision for the whole scope of an integrated data environment.**

## The Virtual Solar Observatory

**Beginning prototype development**
**Organized by the solar data services**
- SDAC
- NSO
- Stanford
- Montana State Univ
**Small box approach but ‘extensible’**
**See the Design Proposal and other info at http://virtualsolar.org**

## The VxO concept:Separable Elements

**Data Services:**
- Data online
- Searchable capability
**The VxO broker mediates between the data services and data user:**
- Metadata library employing XML Schema as the standard
- Discipline-specific query engine
- Returns queried data of instructions to retrieve queried data
- APIs to analysis tools
- Logged searches would be cited and acknowledged in published articles
**The analysts’ work bench:**
- Accesses the VxO
- Software library of analysis tools, data manipulation and translation
- Some results can in turn become new or updates to the data services

## A Concept for the LWS Data Environmentvia ‘small boxes’

**Virtual Solar Observatory**
**Virtual Heliospheric Observatory**
**Virtual Magnetospheric Observatories**
**Virtual ITM Observatories**

- Services <-> VxOs  <-> Analysts’ tools

## Think ‘small box’

**Limit the initial set of data services**
- Place additional or future data services on the ‘to do’ list
**Limit functionality and capability**
- Focus on the core functions of data query and retrieval
**Share (publish) the schemata**
- Schemata are referenced via registered URLs
**VxOs work w/ data services to create and maintain schemata**
**Analysts work w/ the VxOs to create, debug and update the query engines and APIs**
**Each VxO needs an associated software library of data manipulation and analysis tools**
- E.g.  SolarSoft library serves the solar research community

## Attributes of a VxO

**‘****x’-community organized**
- Share data
- Share and organize tools
- Share experiences - search/query paths
**Separate the elements**
- Data services
- VxO engine
- Analysts’ tools
**Extensible architecture**
- The ‘right glue’ - XML becomes the ‘new standard’
**Programmatic:**
- Data services funded from MO&DA and by other operations budgets
- (under consideration) -> VxO engines from a new SEC data environment line for development and maintenance of the VxOs
- Analysts’ tools funded via AIRSP, TRT, etc.

## Progress

**VSO **
- Starting to prototype
**VHO **
- The ‘L1-in-situ’ community is organizing and preparing white paper
- NRA for the L1 Cluster
**VMOs **
- Several initiatives - SPASE, etc.
- Presentation at Yosemite conference
- Etc.
**VItmO**
- Organizing white paper around the TIMED data system

## New Tools, etc.

**Presentations/Posters at Fall 2002 AGU:**
**D. Han (NSSDC) *****et al.***** have used XML as the glue in a translation facility that allows CDF, HDF, and FITS users to access each other’s data without provoking religious warfare (****SH51A-0424)**
**Orbit display tools in SSCWeb: XML (Candey *****et al. *****SH51A-0422)**
**OpenDAP (Fox ****SH51A-0419) – another data interchange tool**
**Scientific Resource Access System (Daley *****et al.***** ****SH51A-0417) for search and discovery: *****It’s the metadata, stupid!***
**Collaborative Sun-Earth Connector (Hurlburt SH51A-0420): distributed software**
**Aaron Roberts,etc. activities.**
**Etc.**

## Towards the future

**Need to consider integrating of cross-disciplinary items:**
- HQ to organize an implementers forum to promote the sharing experiences and working towards the scope of a larger data environment
- Other integration approaches: TBD??
**Follow the path and learn from VSO, EGSO, other VOs.**
**Create and/or tailor future research announcements:**
- To foster and promote the elements of the LWS data environment.
- Promote research and technology for integrating the environment
- E.g., cross VxO interactions, data mining, grid-like features, etc.
**Create new and/or tailor existing management structures to carry on with the rEvolution.**
- Existing include the SDAC, NSSDC/SPDF, LWS systems engineering, etc.
- New are TBD?
**[??What about permanent archiving??]**

## Abstract

**Current practices for analysis of SEC data and the anticipation of performing research under the Living-With-a-Star (LWS)-era programs have created an expectation for an environment which will greatly enhance access to SEC data and analysis tools.  The vision for this new data environment has been espoused by Sibeck, Kucera et al and presented recently at AGU meetings and community workshops.  The Sibeck-Kucera group recommends an interdisciplinary environment of distributed data federations, coupled with analysis tools and phenomenological models, with access to the environment provided through consistent and common user interfaces.  We present an approach for evolving toward the envisioned environment.  An integral element of the approach is the "virtual observatory" concept.  The Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO), currently in prototype development, offers an architecture which can be replicated to the other SEC disciplines.  Common features of the architecture include separation of the functions for data serving, data access and query, data analysis, mining, and modeling but glued together through the power of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML).  Another feature of the VSO is that of the 'small box' approach - start small and don't solve all requirements.  Through bottoms-up, science-driven, and technology-enabled activities we envision the creation of several VxOs which will evolve into the environment needed for the LWS era.**

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