EAGER: Readiness of Disciplinary Data Systems for Cross-Domain Interoperability within a Standards-Based EarthCube Reference Framework

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

This EAGER award promotes a new paradigm in the development of an integrative and interoperable data and knowledge management system for the geosciences for a new NSF initiative called EarthCube. Led by a team of experts from across the fields of geoscience, cyberinfrastructure, engineering, and computer science this project focuses on using a collaborative, as opposed to competitive, method to create community consensus on the most appropriate means to realize interoperability of databases containing disparate data types that are widely distributed among many large and small data repositories. To achieve this goal, the project will create registries of interoperable infrastructure components for information-sharing of geoscience data; define user requirements for such a system; and carry out proof-of-concept, cross-domain interoperability workflows using federated catalogs, cross-linked vocabularies, common data services, and shared model semantics. One of the unique aspects of this project is that the approach employed utilizes an inclusive, community-driven, collaborative approach. It also engages individuals from most of the major NSF-funded geoscience data facilities, creating a much needed forum to exchange tools, services, and best practices allowing for a better return on research money investment. Broader impacts of the project include a focus on engaging students and young researchers in cross-domain data-intensive research, the likelihood that impacts of the project will crossover to other science domains, and the fact that some core project members were from under-represented groups in science and engineering. An additional broader impact is an international component that engages UK scientists as members of the core project team.