FYI I have also proposed a session entitled "Standardizing fine-grained access to geoscience data" co-convened with Kerstin Lehnert of LDEO.
This is intended to be *complementary* to the GALEON topic, description as
follows:
"Web services provide the opportunity for on-demand access to observational and
other data in support of scientific investigations. However, the style of data required
varies across the geosciences. Those sub-domains (earth observations, seismology, etc)
that primarily use large-volume, regularly-organized data (e.g. grids) have a legacy of
de-facto standards that can underpin web-service implementations. However, in order to
support sub-domains (geochemistry, structural geology, etc) that depend on sparse, but
highly structured data, the information models and corresponding access interfaces must
support sophisticated queries (e.g. GML, OGC's WFS). This topical session is intended to
provide a forum for investigators working on data models and structures, schemas and
service interfaces in support of fine-grained data access within the geosciences. "
Simon Cox
