Collaborative Research: EarthCube Integration--Brokered Alignment of Long-Tail Observations (BALTO)

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This project, Brokered Alignment for Long-Tail Observations (BALTO), is supported under the EarthCube program. The development team seeks to build a tool and infrastructure to allow the community to easily submit long-tail observational data that cannot easily fit into existing data repositories. A data brokering technique will be developed to accomplish the goals of the study. Graduate students, including from underrepresented minority groups, will receive training opportunities via this project. To facilitate access to long-tail observations this work seeks to develop a core capability for the future EarthCube (EC) architecture in the Architecture and Implementation Plan - Brokered Alignment for Long-Tail Observations (BALTO). BALTO entails an open-source interface to discover, access and transform geoscience data sources through a brokering solution implemented by user-developed accessors. BALTO integrates core attributes of successful prior EC Building Blocks, BCube and ODSIP, to create a next generation EC capability. Leveraging its large installed base and its open-source flexibility, BALTO will extend Hyrax OPeNDAP's data server for ODSIP with capabilities for distributed brokering. Results from this project will demonstrate improved access and its impacts on scientific discovery via three NSF funded interdisciplinary use-cases that span geodesy, seismology, hydrology, oceanography, and geodynamics.