NOAA Data User Workshops

During the January 6-8, 2009 ESIP Federation meeting, NOAA/NESDIS will conduct a series of workshops related to the topics below. The workshops will be designed to not only educate data users about the many things NOAA is offering but to elicit feedback from those in attendance. This page is for sharing topic ideas under the initial tracks that have been identified. Please note that the information on this page is a work in progress and not the final program description.

Access Tools for Targeting Environmental Information Users

Track Leader, Timothy W. Owen, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center
January 7, 2009

CLASS SNAAP API

Abstract: The Simple NOAA Archive Access Portal is an API for developers to access NOAA's archived data through a common interface. This API which was developed as part of the Comprehensive Large Array Stewardship System provides access to multiple types of data including grids, time-series, maps and granule based data. The SNAAP API is now under going transition from proto-type to operational system and this session will provide details as to what developers can expect as far as capabilities, time lines and new data sets.

Climate Portal: Technical Steps to a Successful Deployment

Abstract: Public demand for climate data, services, and information is growing. Decision makers, business leaders, scientists, educators, and concerned citizens are all expressing a need for more timely data and resources to help them make more informed decisions in their lives and livelihoods. Thus, there is an increasing need to manage and distribute climate information in an effective, efficient, customer-focused manner. The rapid evolution of Web technologies coupled with the migration of user communities on-line seeking climate resources underscore the need for a comprehensive new NOAA climate data and services Web portal. The NOAA Climate Services (NCS) Portal project has been initiated to proactively address these challenges.

IOOS

Abstract: [Coming Soon]

Portal Tools for Targeting Climate Information Users: The NIDIS Experience

Timothy W. Owen and Michael J. Brewer NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Asheville, North Carolina

Abstract: Translation of scientific information for targeted user groups is a critical challenge facing the development of any comprehensive climate services framework. This talk explores the lessons learned from the development of a National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) portal (drought.gov) to this end. The NIDIS portal focuses on communities of shared user interest, distinct tabular and map-based data accessibility pathways, and the judicious use of database crawlers to incorporate new and emerging data and information. These foci are informing the development of a climate services portal within NOAA scheduled for initial release in 2009.

• List Potential Topics Here

Data Stewardship At the NOAA Data Centers

Track Leader: Kenneth Casey, NOAA's National Ocaeanographic Data Center
January 6, 2009

Abstract: NOAA maintains three Data Centers: the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Each of these data centers is responsible for preserving data and information over the long term for their respective user communities, and each is also working toward providing broader, more comprehensive data stewardship. Included within this emerging concept are activities such as data archaeology and rescue, quality assurance and monitoring, and the generation of value-added products to meet user requirements. Please join NOAA representatives and managers in a discussion of these and related issues, and help the NOAA Data Centers refine their focus on data stewardship and chart a course for the future. [Brief Introductions by Margarita Gregg, Director NODC; or Chris Fox, Director NGDC]

• Data Archaeology and Rescue - Data centers routinely seek to acquire and preserve information that is in danger of being lost forever, from causes as diverse as deteriorating storage media to retiring principal investigators who never submitted their data to an archive. Participants are encouraged to discuss with the Data Centers their needs, areas of focus, and new technologies to support these rescue efforts. What are the key gaps the Data Centers should focus on? [Possibly someone from NOAA CDMP program]

• Long Term Archive and Access - Preserving data and information in the digital age - and making it accessible in meaningful ways - presents new challenges (and opportunities!) to archives that must ensure their information remains available through the next technological revolution and possibly dramatic changes in observing systems. What might that technological revolution look like, what kinds of observations should be archived in the future, and what can the Data Centers do to prepare?

• Quality Monitoring for Long Term Applications - While many observing systems include quality monitoring for real or near real time applications, Data Centers must also be concerned with the sometimes more subtle and difficult to detect long term changes. Quality assurance from an archive perspective is also critical to avoid the "garbage in - garbage out" problem that can occur when data streams flow into the archives unchecked and unmonitored. How can the Data Centers increase their partnerships with the data producers to ensure appropriate controls and monitoring are in place? [Ted Habermann, NGDC]

• Value-Added Products - Archives have a special perspective, often being among the very first places where integration of data from wide and disparate sources is achieved. Physically integrating many observations from many sources allows the Data Centers to generate high-quality value-added products of great utility to the communities they serve. Where should the Data Centers focus their value-added efforts, and what kinds of products should they be creating?

• Keeping Pace with Evolving Communities - The Data Centers serve both data producer and data consumer communities that are constantly in flux, evolving to meet the changing needs of society and adapting to changing technologies and scientific understanding. How can the Data Centers engage their many communities, keeping pace with these changes to ensure their data and information serve both today's requirements and those of future generations who rely so heavily on the archives? [Ken Casey, NODC]

The GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot-2: NOAA Access and Registry Activities

Abstract: [Coming Soon]