MRI: Instrumentation for Enabling Data Analysis, Sharing, Storage, and Preservation

Cuny College Of Staten Island, Staten Island NY

Investigators

Abstract

Retaining collected data and sharing it with the broader research community is necessary for developing a better understanding of the impact of urbanization on the global ecology and environment. The data intensive instrument to be installed at CUNY College of Staten Island will provide data analysis and data asset management capabilities to allow researchers to share, federate, and retain data and will provide for reproducibility and traceability. Researchers will be able to organize, analyze, manage and annotate metadata, and search and share their data sets. The proposed interface will use a service-­oriented architecture based on an open standards framework to provide a library of core services for managing data and metadata. It includes a hierarchical storage system with at least a 1.4 petabyte disk farm and at least a 1.2 petabyte robotic tape system. The instrument will enable the expanded use of computations for a large number of researchers in the biological, ecological, environmental, and economic disciplines. In environmental studies, it will facilitate the creation of a "virtual" urban-oceanographic-atmospheric­-land observatory allowing four significant Research Centers that are studying various aspects of the effects of urbanization to now retain and share their data. The instrument will help to accelerate the research required to understand and forecast the impact of mega city and urban planning decisions on the local and global environment, on ecology and ecosystem services, on energy systems, and on economic systems. It will have similar benefits to researchers in other disciplines. The Research Centers are committed to use the instrument to share their data and the results of their research with each other and the broader research community. Each of the participating Research Centers is multi-­institutional. Many of them are led by, and most include, Minority Serving Institutions. Consistent with NSF policy and CUNY traditions, each of these Research Centers has extensive internship and training programs that encourage women and minority student participation. Fall 2009 enrollment statistics for the 23 institutions that comprise CUNY show that 53% of its 259.515 full-­time students were Black or Hispanic and 60% were female. Fall 2009 statistics showed 27,962 students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics disciplines, including 65 American Indian/Native American, 6,195 Asian/Pacific Islander, 7,878 Black, 6,473 Hispanic, and 7,351 White students; 34% of the students were female. These statistics and CUNY's College Now, Teacher Academy, and Discovery Institute outreach programs attest to CUNY's commitment to broadening participation and to the outreach initiatives of the NSF.