Candidate Technical Topics
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Air Quality Data Network (ADN), Non-IT Issues
Non-IT Issues. These are all potentially contentious topics, so can only be touched upon, not necessarily resolved.
What is the purpose of ADN?
Who are the participating users of the network? What are their roles?
What organizations are stakeholders in the network? How do they relate to ADN?
What is the ADN governance, legitimacy, impediments
What are the minimum requirements for ADN?
What few things must be the same, so everything els can be different. Autonomy - Interoperability balance...
What is the scope of AQN?
Geographic, Variables, Ambient fixed station observations, satellite observations, emissions, models?
What data (processing) level served through ADN?
Is ADN a decider? Why not the Provider? Data Raw, Derived;
Data Servers: Technical Realization (IT) Issues and Solutions
AQ community server issues including netCDF,CF and WCS interoperability standards;Implementation issues for gridded and station data;Development tools;Performance issues
Issues re. the use of netCDF and other data formats
netCDF is standard format for multi-dimensional data. Cf-netCDF is used both as an archival format of grid data as well as a payload format for WCS queries.
- Issue: ambiguity of CF
- Issue: We should define a standard python interface (PyNIO, python-netcdf4, scipy.io.netcdf?)
- Issue: Delivery of (small) data sets in ASCII/csv format
- Issue: Reading of grib data (?)
Use of WMS, WCS, WFS .. in combination?
Data display/preview is through WMS. AQ data can be delivered through WCS, WFS. In AComServ, WCS for transferring ndim grid and point-station data; WFS for deliver monitoring station descriptions.
- Issue: WMS interface for preview; "latest" token for dynamic links?
WCS versions
WCS is implemented in multiple versions: 1.0, 1.12, 2.0. The AQ Community Server (AComServ) is now implemented using WCS 1.1.2. Define here the WCS version (WCS 2.0) issue in about one sentence
Gridded data service through WCS
This generally works well.
- Issue: Extraction of vertical levels?
- Issue: Ambiguity of WCS; core plus extended (do we know what is valid?)
Delivery of station-point data
- Issue: use WCS or WFS, Combination of both?
- Access rights?
Data server performance issues/solutions?
Define performance issues, measurements
Server co-development tools, methods
Server code is maintained through SourceForge, Darcs code repositories are available at WUSTL and in Juelich.
- Issues: Version control, Platform independence, Documentation
Relationship to non-AComServ WCS servers
- Issue: protocol compatibility, standard compliance, data format(s)
Linkages to non-WCS servers
- Issue: is there a need?
- Issue: which protocols? (OpenDAP?, GIS servers?)
Data Network: Technical Realization (IT) Issues and Solutions
What is the design philosophy
Service oriented (everything is a service), Component and network design for change; open source (everything?!)
Functionality of an Air Quality Data Network Catalog (ADNC)?
Content and structure (granularity) of ADNC?
Interoperability of ADNC
Interoperability with whom? what standards are needed? CF Naming extensions? ===