An On-line Collaborative Platform for Earth Observation Scientists

An on-line platform For: Earth Observation Scientists Facilitating: Collaboration between scientists Application access, management and sharing Data access, management and sharing Leveraging: Web 2.0 and social networking technologies Cloud computing technologies Semantic Web technologies Funded by: CANARIE - Network Enabled Platform (NEP-1) program Cybera ( http://geochronos.org/ ) Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

An on-line platform

For:

Earth Observation Scientists

Facilitating:

Collaboration between scientists

Application access, management and sharing

Data access, management and sharing

Leveraging:

Web 2.0 and social networking technologies

Cloud computing technologies

Semantic Web technologies

Funded by:

CANARIE - Network Enabled Platform (NEP-1) program

Cybera

Solutions Portal rich with social networking features Tags, bookmarks, profiles, blogs, wikis Friends/contacts, groups Discussions, message boards, calendars Status, activity feeds Technology Portal built on top of a social networking platform Initial prototype built in Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com ) Secondary prototype built on white label social networking platform Ning ( http://www.ning.com ) Current portal built on open source white label social networking platform Elgg ( http://www.elgg.org ) Next Steps Plan to keep using Elgg platform and upgrade as new versions released Develop new Elgg plugins as needed i.e., plugins for more easily sharing publications and presentations Collaboration Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Solutions

Portal rich with social networking features

Tags, bookmarks, profiles, blogs, wikis

Friends/contacts, groups

Discussions, message boards, calendars

Status, activity feeds

Technology

Portal built on top of a social networking platform

Initial prototype built in Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com )

Secondary prototype built on white label social networking platform Ning ( http://www.ning.com )

Current portal built on open source white label social networking platform Elgg ( http://www.elgg.org )

Next Steps

Plan to keep using Elgg platform and upgrade as new versions released

Develop new Elgg plugins as needed

i.e., plugins for more easily sharing publications and presentations

Dashboard Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Groups Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Solutions Interactive Application Service (IAS) On-line, on-demand access to scientific applications Share application sessions and data with other users Technology IAS is hosted on top of a cloud computing platform Use ASPEN ( http://grid.ucalgary.ca/projects/DataCentre/ ) which can dynamically provision virtual machines to host applications based on user demand Next Steps Batch processing and automated workflow services Handle longer running data processing tasks and simulations Automate data workflows involving data acquisition and transformation of data into different data products more suitable for use by scientists (i.e., mosaic, reproject and subset MODIS data) Applications Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Solutions

Interactive Application Service (IAS)

On-line, on-demand access to scientific applications

Share application sessions and data with other users

Technology

IAS is hosted on top of a cloud computing platform

Use ASPEN ( http://grid.ucalgary.ca/projects/DataCentre/ ) which can dynamically provision virtual machines to host applications based on user demand

Next Steps

Batch processing and automated workflow services

Handle longer running data processing tasks and simulations

Automate data workflows involving data acquisition and transformation of data into different data products more suitable for use by scientists (i.e., mosaic, reproject and subset MODIS data)

Application Catalogue Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Interactive Application Service Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Solutions Spectral Libraries Store, share and browse spectral data View spectral plots, metadata, ancillary data and maps Manage and generate metadata for spectra Create and share metadata schemas Technology iRODS ( http://www.irods.org/ ) for data storage/management Semantic Web technologies such as RDF (Resource Description Framework) to link/relate data Next Steps Generalization of spectral library solution Acquire, store, manage, browse and share other types of data MODIS and other satellite data Flux tower and phenology tower data Meteorological data Other data Data Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Solutions

Spectral Libraries

Store, share and browse spectral data

View spectral plots, metadata, ancillary data and maps

Manage and generate metadata for spectra

Create and share metadata schemas

Technology

iRODS ( http://www.irods.org/ ) for data storage/management

Semantic Web technologies such as RDF (Resource Description Framework) to link/relate data

Next Steps

Generalization of spectral library solution

Acquire, store, manage, browse and share other types of data

MODIS and other satellite data

Flux tower and phenology tower data

Meteorological data

Other data

Spectral Library - Browse Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Spectral Library - Metadata Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Portal Usage 70 users from Europe, South America and North America Used at IAI International Wireless Sensor Networking Summer School in Edmonton in July 2009 (~40 participants) On-going usage by Tropi-Dry community for collaboration and sharing documents Slowly opening up portal to different communities of users as development progresses Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

70 users from Europe, South America and North America

Used at IAI International Wireless Sensor Networking Summer School in Edmonton in July 2009 (~40 participants)

On-going usage by Tropi-Dry community for collaboration and sharing documents

Slowly opening up portal to different communities of users as development progresses

Apr 21, 2009 - CANARIE NEP-1 Synergy Workshop (Winnipeg) Jun 22, 2009 - SpecNet Workshop (Lethbridge) Jun 24-26, 2009 – Meeting of the Collaborative Research Network II (CRN2) and Small Grant Program for the Human Dimensions (SGP-HD) Principal Investigators (Montevideo, Uruguay) Jul 6-18, 2009 - IAI International Wireless Sensor Networking Summer School (Edmonton) Aug 15, 2009 – Elgg Camp (Boston) Oct 14, 2009 – Summit 09 (Banff) Presentations/Demonstrations Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Apr 21, 2009 - CANARIE NEP-1 Synergy Workshop (Winnipeg)

Jun 22, 2009 - SpecNet Workshop (Lethbridge)

Jun 24-26, 2009 – Meeting of the Collaborative Research Network II (CRN2) and Small Grant Program for the Human Dimensions (SGP-HD) Principal Investigators (Montevideo, Uruguay)

Jul 6-18, 2009 - IAI International Wireless Sensor Networking Summer School (Edmonton)

Aug 15, 2009 – Elgg Camp (Boston)

Oct 14, 2009 – Summit 09 (Banff)

R. Curry, C. Kiddle and R. Simmonds. Social Networking and Scientific Gateways. To appear in Proceedings of the Grid Computing Environments Workshop , Portland, OR, November 20, 2009. N. Markatchev, R. Curry, C. Kiddle, A. Mirtchovski, R. Simmonds and T. Tan. A Cloud-based Interactive Application Service. To appear in Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Conference on e-Science , Oxford, UK, December 9-11, 2009. Publications Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

R. Curry, C. Kiddle and R. Simmonds. Social Networking and Scientific Gateways. To appear in Proceedings of the Grid Computing Environments Workshop , Portland, OR, November 20, 2009.

N. Markatchev, R. Curry, C. Kiddle, A. Mirtchovski, R. Simmonds and T. Tan. A Cloud-based Interactive Application Service. To appear in Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Conference on e-Science , Oxford, UK, December 9-11, 2009.

Project Team Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009 Dr. Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa University of Alberta Dr. John Gamon University of Alberta Dr. Benoit Rivard University of Alberta Dr. Rob Simmonds University of Calgary Prinicipal Investigators Project Coordination Platform Development Domain Scientists

Virtual Organization Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009

Contact Information Summit 09 Oct. 14, 2009 http://geochronos.org/ [email_address] http://grid.ucalgary.ca/ http://ceos.ualberta.ca/ http://www.cybera.ca/