NASA ROSES 2009 ACCESS RFP

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The NASA (ACCESS) Program is seeking proposals that address earth science user access to distributed web services and service registries.

NASA 2009 ROSES Call for Proposals: ACCESS solicitation

Area of Interest 1: Improving Earth science user access to web services and service registries

• Many web-based ES applicable services have been created
• However, these are are not accessible or easily discoverable

The ACCESS program seeks proposals to:

• Provide means for users to discover and use services provided by NASA, other Agencies, academia..
  • Detail how services will be discovered by users
  • What data system components will be used to bolster the persistent availability of these services
    • through GUI interface or
    • machine-to-machine interface

This often requires the utilization of tools and services to aid in measurable improvements of Earth science data access and data usability.

Mature technologies of Technology Readiness Level of 7 or greater= System prototype demonstration IT and TRL

Area of Interest 2: Improving knowledge of NASA’s Earth science data quality and production legacy:

• Users need substantial information about product quality, usability, and legacy of inputs and processes to these data.
• Substantial data quality and processing lineage of the data products offered.
• However, it is not available with the data delivered, nor is it included in attached metadata.

NASA is seeking proposals that help users better interpret data product metadata, read me files, and other associated materials.

• Including methods for improving data product knowledge
• [DataSpaces] for connecting users to product information; best practices, known errors, etc.
• Describe metrics used to verify the impact of enhanced data product on achieving science goals and ES research.

Additional Requrements

• Serve the research and applied science – include IT and Earth science experts.
• Identify the Earth science focus area and tie to an Earth science research issue(s)
• Identify the improvements of by the proposed tools/services.
• Provide an operations concept for continuance of the tools and services
• ES Data and Software rights, life-cycle cost for the targeted users.
• Encourages Edu/Outreach supplement, tool or service life cycle, continued operation after ACCESS.

ESIP NOI for ACCESS Proposal

Details on NOI Pg. 38 of NASA Proposers Handbook

Short Title (50 Char)

Service Oriented Data System for Air Quality (SODAQ)

Sharing, Finding and Using Air Quality Services

Adoptive, Collaborative, AQ DataSystema

Long Title (254 Char)

• Short Title: Air Quality Infrastructure Partnership (AQIP)
• Air Quality Infrstructure Partnership: Service-Oriented Tools and Methods for Finding and Accessing NASA Data

information systems infrastructure

ACCESS projects increase the interconnectedness and reuse of key information technology software, techniques, and services underpinning the advancement of Earth science research.

data system components by leveraging these proven information technologies in order to rapidly deploy data system services that bridge specific gaps within the agency’s Earth science information systems.

Service Oriented Data System for Air Quality (SODAQ) Sharing, Finding and Using Air Quality Services Adoptive, Collaborative, AQ Data Systema Toward an Air Quality Information Partnership (AQIP) Accessing Air Quality Information Partnership (AAICP)

Outline

• Lots of data resources in NASA, elsewhere
• Not available as data as services
• if it is a service, e.g. openDaP, may need rich clients, hard coded, loose coupling not easy
• Even if reusable service is available it cannot be found.

• Service Orientation, while accepted has not been widely adapted for serving NASA products
• SOA allows the creation of loosely coupled, agile, data systems
• SOA -> requires ability to Publish, Find, Bind (Register, Discover, Access)
• While, binding to data through standard data access protocols, publishing and finding requires metadata system

• Metadata system for publishing and finding content has to be jointly developed between data providers and users.
• Generic catalog systems - metadata collection of not only what provider has done but also tracking what users need
• Communication along the value chain, in both direction;
• Metadata the glue and the message
• Market approach; many providers; many users; may products

The Users Dilemma (direct problem)

• There are no data for what the user needs
• If there are needed data, the user can not find them
• If the user can find them, he can not access them
• If the user can access then, he does not know how good they are
• If he knows how good they are, he can not merge them with other data.

• There are no data for what the user needs
• If there are needed data, the user can not find them
• If the user can find them, she can not access them
• If the user can access then, she does not know how good they are
• If he knows how good they are, she can not merge them with other data.

Providers Dilemma (indirect problem)

• There are no users for the data
• If there are users, the provider can not find them
• If the provider can find the users, he does not know how to deliver the data
• If he can deliver them, he does not know how to make it more valuable
• If the provider can make it more valuable...

• There are no users for the data
• If there are users, the provider can not find them
• If she can find the users, she does not know how to deliver the data
• If she can deliver them, she does not know how to make it more valuable
• If the she can make it more valuable...

AQ Network as Scale-free network

• (so is GCI) not central
• holarchy , data up into the pool though the aggregator network and down the disaggregator/filter network

Partmentsip

• Toward an Air Quality Information Partnership (AQIP)
• Agencies: EPA, NASA, NOAA, DOE ....
• Intrastructure first

Data Life Cycles: Acquisition, Transformation, Usage

• Stages: Acquisition, Transformation, Usage
  • Acquisition is a stovepipe
  • Usage is value chain
  • In-between is the 'market'

• Fan-In, Fan-Out
• Publish Find Bind

Data distributed through Scale-free aggregation network. Metadata contributed along the line of usage. Homogenized and shared.

Faceted search

• user is happy

Data as Service

• Wrappers, reusable tools and methods ( dataset classes)
• To illustrate the Network, Coding (faceting) through metadata, WMS to show data
• WCS next

Collecting and Enhancing Metadata from observing Users

• Google Analytics - Where do users come from (spatial, internet, i.e. search engine, direct Url), which pages are most popular, where do they go next, how much time do they spend on the site, how many leave after just one page?, new vs. returning visitors, ...
• Amazon - what do customers ultimately buy after viewing this product? popularity in different categories, what else did they buy at the same time? targeted advertising - interested in this product, may be interested in this company
• Ebay - knows recent searches, so on return displays products of interest,
• Google Reader - items posted, items read, which blogs did you read more from, how active are the blogs you read? how obscure are the blogs you read (# of subscribers), time of day blogs are posted, day of week blogs are posted.
• Blogger?/Wordpress - Technorati - where do readers come from?

Stuff

The global and the local environment is being monitored daily and hourly by satellite and surface-based sensors that produce large multi-dimensional data sets covering four physical dimensions: X,Y,Z and time and several ‘variable’ dimensions. The output from individual sensors is collected and archived by many organizations, like EPA, NASA, USGS as well as state and local agencies. Even though most organizations are eager to share their data, the actual data sharing is very tedious and inefficient: There are no general data formatting and access standards, so the data access and processing is done ‘by hand’, the hard way. Accordingly, the collected data are not adequately supporting environmental decision-making or ‘just in time’ learning processes.

A model will be presented that views the production of environmental knowledge as a flow of information through a refinery that converts low-grade raw data into high-grade knowledge. Furthermore, each processing step is a node in the value-adding chain. The objective of the supporting information engineering system is to design flow pathways and to reduce the resistances to the information flow and processing.

Several aspects of distributed data flow and processing systems are now falling in place:

1. multidimensional data storage and query processing, OLAP
2. standard data description and transmission protocols, XML
3. multi-platform data viewers, Java
4. willingness by the community to share data and knowledge

The above model will be illustrated through past examples of ‘just in time’ learning and decision support situations. The special role of OLAP as a value-adding technology emphasized.

Net-Enabled Systems

The emphasis in these systems is having computers assist humans in awareness and decision-making processes across physically separate warfighting and sensing elements. These systems involve large amounts of data push (control) or data pull (awareness) function and are typically command and control; battle management systems; or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. The net-reliant system is characterized by an intense realtime requirement, a heavy reliance on exchanges with external information sources or consumers, and may be pushing the state-of-the-art in data fusion and blackboard collaboration.

CTEs may also enable efforts to manage data, translate data, and establish composability (how systems bind to one another). The IT that realizes the system and the elements cited above should be considered for CTEs.

Network infrastructure system acquisitions provide the equipment and capabilities necessary for the successful operation of net-reliant systems.

Possible ESIP AQ Response to ACCESS CFP

Through its contributions to the GEOSS AIP, the ESIP Air Quality Workgroup appears to be in a position to submit a response. ESIP has been actively involved in the creation of the air quality community catalog and portal and their connection with the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (including the GEOSS Clearninghouses and GEOSS Registry) in providing standards-based interfaces for registering and finding data services. As the catalog, portal and overall ‘publish and find’ processes become more stable, one of the next steps is to solidify the process of ‘binding’ to and using the services.

ESIP’s investment in the AIP combined with the leveraging of Air Quality Workgroup participants own projects in creating and maintaining the air quality community components of the GEOSS AIP provides a foundation on which to address the ACCESS Program objectives. An ACCESS Program project could be an opportunity for support to enhance the community infrastructure and improve its value (aka use) and persistence by applying it to the air quality community’s activities in research, applied science and management.

The includes the following:

“Improving Earth science user access to web services and service registries: Users searching and using NASA Earth science data systems often do not have broad knowledge of services that may be available pertinent to their data of interest. Many web-based services have been created that are of direct applicability to Earth science research and applied science uses. Many of these services, however, are not easily discoverable or are exposed through very limited access points.

The ACCESS program seeks proposals that address this information gap by providing the means for users to discover and use services being made available by NASA, other Federal agencies, academia, the private sector, and others. Proposals should detail how existing services will be discovered by users and what other available data system components will be used to bolster the persistent availability of these services in both a traditional user interactive GUI interface or those using a machine-to-machine interface.”

Workgroupd Discussion Items

• Should the ESIP Air Quality Workgroup lead a proposal in response to the ACCESS solicitation?
• If so, which of the two topics: Publish-Find Services or Metadata

RBH Apr 1 09:

• ACCESS is for development, not for maintenance - how we phrase it?
• Tone down operational. Want be near TR7 this summer.
• Lots of work on service standard, metadata standard, discovery standard; metadata flow
• ACCESS calls for finding, accessing NASA products ??, not GEOSS. Need to phrase it as both.
• Should use this platform for including EPA, NASA, DOE +++ International Orgs into the Publish/Find/Bind system

Schedule

• Letter of Intent due April 1.
• Proposal, June 2009

Links

• Interoperability of Air Quality Data Systems Workspace
• Community_Air_Quality_Data_System_Workspace
• Air_Quality_Data_System_Vision_and_Goals by Husar
• Data_System_Connectivity_Matrix by FAlke
• Networking_of_Air_Quality_Data by Husar

• New York Times argues that we're seeing a swing in innovation from small inventors to big systems. Shift in thinking is under way, driven by altered circumstances in multifaceted fields like the environment, energy and health care that rely on complex systems. Solutions will come from a larger network of change shaped by economics, regulation and policy. Progress, will depend on people in a wide range of disciplines, and collaboration across the public and private sectors.