View source for Client Side Technology Infusion Working Group

[[CSTI Member List]] Add your name there...

The Client Side Technology Infusion Working Group looks directly at issues of data access, analysis, and display in the world outside the Internet browser environment. Today, as it was ten years ago, probably 95% of the scientists who use NASA/NOAA (etc.) data sets do so with commercial software products such as Matlab, IDL, ENVI, or ARCgis. 

While browser-based access offers an important new avenue of access for these data resources, new, non-browser-based software products are also emerging that offer services as stand-alone applications. Google Earth, World Wind, and My World GIS are examples of newly published software for accessing earth data/images.

At the same time, new data service chains are being built that help solve many of the data access issues that all data users face. Emerging server standards, such as the WMS/WFS/WCS standards also open up data access to new users. 

Serving new users, from decision makers to high-school students, will require services and client interfaces that are tailored to the specific needs of each group. The one-size-fits-all software or browser-based solution is not sufficient. This means that existing client-side solutions will need to be expanded and new solutions found. Some will be browser-based, some will be added code to the big software products--commercial software user communities in the earth sciences have long been sharing code and information about data access problems and solutions--and some will be custom software. 

The CSTI Working Group will look at the entire range of client-side needs and resources to see where future work can help bring NASA/NOAA data resources into the hands of key players and stakeholders. 

Here is a preliminary list of issues the CSTI WG will examine:

*   Current data access issues for commercial software users (e.g., WCS client issues in IDL)

*   Data format issues, such as KML export/import

*   Interoperability between non-browser clients and proposed web services

*   Registering client capabilities for SOA and other web-based services

*   User interface design best practices

*   ???? What's your top issue?