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| CommuniteE-Letter | Volume III, Number 6, October 2006 |
 
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| Featured Site: The University of Hawaii APDRC |
by Jim Potemra and Sharon DeCarlo, Asia Pacific Data Research Center at the University of Hawaii
The Asia Pacific Data Research Center was set-up within the International Pacific Research Center to be a data storing and serving facility. Our mission is to increase understanding of climate variability in the Asia-Pacific region by developing the computational, data-management, and networking infrastructure necessary to make data resources readily accessible and usable by researcher scientists and the more general public, as well as undertaking data-intensive research activities that will both advance knowledge and lead to improvements in data collection and preparation. The APDRC is unique to a certain extent since it links research activities with data management in one center. This combination was envisioned to lead to increased data usage, to improvements in data products, and hence to more rapid scientific progress.
The APDRC faces a number of challenges. Among them are accessing the wide variety of data set types and formats, providing access to data sets from numerous remote locations, and providing both direct (client) and web-based access to data and products. The APDRC relies on Unidata products to provide solutions to these and provides different, integrated servers for the user [FIGURE ONE]. These servers all read netCDF formats (among others), and many of the data served by the APDRC is in the netCDF format.
For direct access to these data sets, the APDRC uses the THREDDS server developed at Unidata. The THREDDS server is used in two ways. First, it can be used to provide a clean, organized front end to remote data sites. For example, APDRC uses THREDDS along with OPeNDAP to serve model data from JPL and GSFC in a consistent form (see figure one above). Second, THREDDS is used as an aggregation server. Data sets, typically from model output, can be stored as individual files for a given time step (e.g., one file per month). THREDDS allows these data sets to be served as a single set, so users can create time series or do other such manipulations. The THREDDS technology even allows these individual data sets to exist on separate machines, or even at separate sites, but it appears as one continuous data stream to the user. To give users an idea of access speeds to remote data, speeds are periodically checked and displayed on the web page (see figure 2). Users can then view the data using client-software such as Unidata's Integrated Data Viewer, or can get web-based access via a Live Access Server (LAS).
The APDRC will continue to build and improve upon its data archiving and serving capabilities, and Unidata products will play an important facilitating role.
by Dr. Kevin Robbins, Director Southern Regional Climate Center, Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University
Introduction
The Southern Regional Climate Center (SRCC) at Louisiana State University has been a partner with the Unidata Community and acted as an IDD tier-one relay for more than a decade. We operate a NOAAPort receiving site that is merged with the Unidata IDD feed to provide increased reliability for downstream data feeds and internal uses. We have also been tasked to provide Level II NEXRAD data and archive "raw" streams of IDD and NOAAPort data. To support these responsibilities and to meet the need of anticipated increases in data volume, provision of Level II NEXRAD data, and additional downstream feed sites, we needed to upgrade our IDD computing infrastructure. Direct support for Unidata community activities was not available in operational budgets, and the only way to obtain these needed upgrades was through the Unidata Equipment Award program. An ancillary benefit of this award was the added computing resources made available to support coursework for a Climatological Data Analysis course within the Department of Geography and Anthropology at LSU. The IDD data environment provides students with real-world data that offers added interest to course lectures and assignments.
Purchased Equipment
Two (2) Dell 2850 rack-mounted servers. Specifications: Dual Xeon 2.8GHz processors; Hot plug redundant power supplies; 800Mhz FSB; 4GB DDR2 RAM; (5) 146GB SCSI drives; Dual-channel embedded RAID; Dual 1000MT network adapter.
Impact on Coursework Content
The server class computers purchased with the Unidata Equipment Award provide excess processor cycles that are used to provide access to the R language and environment for statistical computing and graphics and to the NCAR Command Language (NCL). Compared to the continuous operation of these servers for IDD data delivery the use of the computers for coursework is minimal and does not degrade IDD system reliability or performance. The availability of these computers and environmental data infrastructure allowed us to redesign a Climatological Data Analysis course from a course that was based primarily on lecture material to one that emphasized classroom presentation of data analysis techniques. Students follow lecture examples through immediate use of on-line data and data analysis tools and are given follow-up assignments that reinforce skills demonstrated in class. This method of instruction has piqued student interest and has increased participation in climate courses by students in related geoscience disciplines.
Increased Use of Unidata Tools and Data
The SRCC uses IDD data as a source of operational data for near real-time monitoring of regional climate. These data are merged with historical data archives obtained from the National Climatic Data Center to provide an uninterrupted time series of in-situ weather and climate observations. This provides a data infrastructure that enables resource managers, environmental planners, and researchers to effectively manage operations and programs that require near real-time climate information.
A unique use of these data was recently highlighted by the establishment of a data feed to the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Fortunately, the equipment obtained through this Unidata Equipment Award was delivered in time to be installed prior to the arrival of hurricanes Katrina and Rita that inflicted severe damage to large areas of southern Louisiana. We used the IDD data to provide event monitoring prior to, during, and following these two events. While we left the forecasting to the NWS and the NHC, we provided concise information in the form of briefings and briefing products, interpretation of official forecast products, and integration of data from sources such as NWS, USGS, NDBC, and local data collection agencies. The use of IDD data and Unidata tools in these support activities was relayed to Unidata program managers and resulted in an article that is posted on the Unidata web site.This article describes the support activities that were made possible using Unidata IDD data and data display tools.
Summary
The equipment award obtained from Unidata has allowed the SRCC to stay current with increasing demands to supply atmospheric environmental data for internal needs, the needs of the Unidata community, and for support of environmental management and emergency support operations. Through the installation of our servers we have documented increased reliability and decreased latency in providing IDD data to downstream sites.
The Unidata Users Committee welcomed two new members during its fall meeting: Eugene Cordero of San Jose State University and Scott Rochette of SUNY-Brockport. Elen Cutrim of Western Michigan University accepted a second three-year appointment. The Unidata Program Center and the Users Committee extend their thanks to Michael Voss of San Jose State University and Jim Steenburgh of the University of Utah. Jim is stepping down not only as a long-time committee member, but also as Committee Chair, a position he filled with distinction for several years. Gary Lackmann of North Carolina State University accepted the role of Chair.
The Unidata Policy Committee welcomed three new members. Rich Clark of Millersville University, who's far from new to Unidata, attended his first meeting as a Policy Committee member at the fall meeting. Rudolph Husar of Washington University in St. Louis and David Tarboton of Utah State University complete the Policy Committee roster. Unidata thanks the following departing committee members for their service: Steve Ackerman, Philip Bogden, and David Maidment.
Unidata's governing committees facilitate consensus building for future directions for the program and establish standards of involvement for the community. The members are an important link to the extended community for the Unidata Program Center. Membership represents geographic, disciplinary, and institutional balance between small and large programs. Please remember that as your representatives, you may contact the Policy Committee members and the Users Committee members to express your interests and concerns.
The Workshop is Coming! The Workshop is Coming! Unidata's annual training workshops are taking place this fall October 23 through November 12. New sessions offered this time around are: netCDF for Developers, netCDF JAVA, and THREDDS Data Server Administration. A few openings remain, so check the web site to see if slots are available in areas that interest you.
We are pleased that these sessions have attracted so many international participants. A full 25 percent of registrants hale from non-U.S. locales. This international flavor is consistent with Unidata's existing goal of fostering international connections between academic institutions in diverse geographical locations. We look forward to welcoming all of you who've registered for the workshops.
Alphabet Soup It's long been acknowledged that Earth-system Science spawns acronyms. Though this is somewhat facetious, it IS a fact that acronyms proliferate at a near-alarming rate. We'd like to encourage you to help us keep up with this virtual flood of new ones by browsing through our acronym/glossary list and alerting us to any that we may be missing. Thanks.
Pennant Update Unidata's famous Pennant Collection has grown, and that makes us happy. Outgoing representative, Mike Voss, who's from San Jose State University, provided the latest addition to the collection. Mike's tenure on the committee is ending, it's true, but we'll have the pennant to remind us of his participation, and, incoming committee member, Eugene Cordero, who also happens to be from SJSU will carry on in that same tradition. Hurrah! We love seeing the collection grow to reflect our community's membership. Pictured at right: Mike and Eugene in the conference room with the newest addition to the collection.
Call for DeSouza Award Nominations The Unidata Users Committee invites you to submit nominations for the Russell L. DeSouza Award for Outstanding Community Service. This Community Service Award honors individuals whose energy, expertise, and active involvement enable the Unidata Program to better serve the geosciences.
Honorees personify Unidata's ideal of a community that shares data, software, and ideas through computing and networking technologies. Nominations should be sent nominations@unidata.ucar.edu. Please provide a brief description of the nominee's contributions to the Unidata community. The deadline for submitting nominations is October 31, 2006. The awardee will be selected by the Unidata Users Committee and will receive the award at the AMS Annual Meeting.
