Guest Editor: Mike Seablom michael.s.seablom@nasa.gov
Deputy Editor: Dr. Daniel McInerney dmcinerney@earthzine.org
Collaborative WorkBench for Researchers ÛÒ Work Smarter, not Harder
There is a need to augment scientists’ computational research environment and tool set to allow them to easily collaborate with each other.
Collaborative Workbench provides a solution by integrating the researcher’s desktop with a cloud infrastructure enabling not only the sharing of research artifacts but also the collaborative development of algorithms and interpretation of data and analysis results.
NASA Earth Exchange (NEX): Managing Scientific Knowledge and Collaboration
NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a collaborative platform that combines state-of-the-art supercomputing, Earth system modeling, remote-sensing data from NASA and other agencies, and a scientific social network to provide an environment in which users can explore and analyze large Earth science data sets, run modeling and analysis codes, collaborate on new or existing projects, and share results within or among communities. A number of technologies are being tested to enhance scientific productivity within the NEX community.
Architecting an Earth Observation Strategy for Disaster Risk Management
Supporting international disaster management with satellite observation often involves ad hoc arrangements among many players. This limits the effectiveness and efficiency of satellite support to disaster management operations. To address this challenge, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Working Group on Information Systems and Services documented a high-level reference model for the use of Earth observation satellites and associated products to support disaster risk management within the Global Earth Observation System of Systems context.
Climate Informatics: Human Experts and the End-to-End System
åÊIn this article, we argue for a fundamental refocusing of cyberinfrastructure to support climate science and the broader use of climate information. Our ultimate goal is to accelerate the use of state-of-the-art climate information in management and planning.
Earth Science Data Analysis in the Era of Big Data
Many Earth scientists are wondering: How will Big Data technologies benefit Earth science research? To illustrate the effects of combining a Big Data technology with an effective means of collaboration, we relate the (fictitious) experience of an early-career Earth science researcher a few years beyond the present, interlaced and contrasted with reminiscences of its recent past.
Improving Numerical Weather Prediction Models and Data-Access Latencies
The data center community must work to allow researchers more time to spend on analyzing results and less time coding and worrying about file formats and data transfers. We identify some of the existing limitations of traditional archives, discuss examples of model data diagnostics, and explore the many benefits of providing archive-based computational resources on peta-scale databases.
OGC netCDF: Powerful Tool for Science
A widely used “fluid earth systems” data model and data access standard called netCDF now provides an important bridge between GIS and the complex 4-D processing systems used in oceanography and atmospheric sciences. By bringing netCDF into the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards organization, the netCDF community has given climate scientists, for example, a streamlined method for bringing virtually all types of spatial/temporal data and processing into climate science models and workflows.
Call for Papers — Earth Science Informatics Challenges
Earthzine is soliciting articles of 800-3,000 words for its first quarter 2014 theme on Earth Science Informatics Challenges. This theme focuses on the challenge of performing analysis with voluminous Earth science data products that are becoming increasing difficult to migrate to high-productivity computing platforms.