Boulder, Colorado
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Members
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UPC Staff
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|---|---|
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John Merrill (Chair, U. Rhode Island) Representatives David Carlson (UCAR/ATD) |
Sally Bates John Caron Steve Chiswell Ethan Davis Ben Domenico Steve Emmerson Joanne Graham Jo Hansen Robb Kambic Linda Miller Don Murray Russ Rew Mike Schmidt Jeff Weber Mike Wright Tom Yoksas |
Action 1: An update from COMET will be on a future Policy Committee meeting agenda.
Fulker and Rew summarized the many contributions Glenn Davis had made to the Unidata Program in his 12 years as a staff member.
Director's Report
Fulker summarized the program's status as follows:
User Relations - Green
Data Sources - Green
Data Distribution - Green
Current Software - Green
Java Software - Yellow
Scheduling - Red
Finances - Green
Staffing - Red
Fulker noted that the three non-green areas were a direct result of the loss of Glenn Davis. He noted that the program was in excellent shape otherwise: Specifically:
The only area in which problems remain is in documentation (including Web maintenance), and plans are being implemented to address these.
Discussion
Users Committee Report and MetApps
Moody gave a brief description of the Committee's April meeting, the summary
of which is on the Web. Murphy noted that the Users Committee had agreed to
expand membership in MetApps. He also expressed surprise by the concerns expressed
in the last Users Committee meeting about the future of GEMPAK and believed
it to be a problem of better informing the community.
Discussion
Action 2: The community needs to be better informed about the work of MetApps and the ramifications of the UPC's work on Java. Bates and Murphy will explore mechanisms for further educating the community on these topics.
NASA Report
George Serafino submitted the following report via e-mail:
Update on Request for Access to Historical NCEP data at the DAAC
----------------------------------------------------------------
Since the question of access to historical analysis data came up at the last
UPC "virtual" meeting, we decided to take a harder look at exactly what is available
at the GSFC DAAC. In addition to the 2 week rolling archive of NCEP datasets
described at ftp://larry.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/www/larry.html, we also have the
following flavors of NCEP analyses searchable and orderable in the DAAC :
(1) NCEP and UKMO analyses used as correlative data for UARS
Time Period: 9/91 - present (2 month lag)
Format: IEEE binary
Parameters: Height, Temperature, Moisture, Winds at 18 levels (NMC) and 21 levels
(UKMO)
Frequency: Once per day (12Z)
Access: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataset/UARS/02_Correlative/index.html
(2) NCEP Final Analysis used as ancillary data for SeaWiFS processing
Time Period: 3/97 - present
Format: HDF
Parameters: Height, Temperature, Moisture, Winds at 18 levels
Frequency: 4 times per day (00, 06, 12, 18Z)
Access: ftp://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/seawifs/anc/NCEP/
(3) Climate Prediction Center Analysis (with some mods by the Atmospheric Chemistry
and Dynamics Group at GSFC)
Time Period: 11/78 - 4/96
Format: GrADS
Parameters: Height, Temperature, Balanced Winds, Potential vorticity, Relative
Vorticity at 18 levels, Troposphere Pressure, Troposphere Temperature
Frequency: once per day (12Z)
Access: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/FTP_SITE/readmes/cpc_acdb.html
(4) NCEP GDAS analysis data used as ancillary data to TRMM processing
Time Period: 4/97 - present
Format: GRIB
Parameters: All atmospheric and surface parameters from GDAS
Frequency: 4 times per day (00, 06, 12, 18Z)
Access: Not yet visible to public
In a footnote to (4), we are now engaged in an effort to ingest and archive
the earlier NCEP GRIB analysis data from January, 1994 to March, 1997 which
at the time was called Final Analysis or FNL for short. This should be completed
by the time of the next UPC meeting. As long as NOAA/NCEP does not object, all
of the GRIB data can be easily made visible and searchable for ordering by the
public free of charge.
New Product from the Data Assimilation Office at NASA/GSFC
----------------------------------------------------------
To support the processing needs of the EOS Instrument Teams for the upcoming
Terra (formerly AM-1) launch, the Data Assimilation Office at GSFC will be producing
higher resolution (1 degree by 1 degree) First-Look, Late-Look, and Final Platform
analyses to replace the existing 2 x 2.5 degree products. More information on
the products can be found at URL http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/DAO_people/lucchesi/file_spec/.
The products will be available via the EOSDIS Core System (ECS) component resident
at the GSFC DAAC either via subscription or by placing ad hoc orders through
a modified form of the current WWW Gateway (URL TBD).
NASA Federation Initiative
--------------------------
As you may or may not know, NASA had embarked upon an experiment involving funding
of a number of Earth Science Information Partners, or ESIPs, to explore the
feasibility of a distributed but interoperable network of science systems providing
data products and services to wide spectrum of users in the earth sciences (i.e.,
a Federation). A good overview of the strategy and goals is given at http://www.ceosr.gmu.edu/~esipfed/.
The DAAC iteself is partnered with George Mason University (GMU), the Center
for Land, Ocean and Atmospheres (COLA), and the University of Delaware as an
ESIP focusing on seasonal to interannual climate research (see http://www.siesip.gmu.edu/
for more details). It would be interesting to see what the possibilities are
in somehow tying together the UniData and ESIP nodes to create an even larger
and indispensable source of earth science information and data to the constituent
members as well as to the public.
Other Interoperability Items of Interest
----------------------------------------
We have been in consultation with Peter Cornillion with regard to installation
of a DODS server at the DAAC. I bring this up because I know DODS is a frequently
discussed issue at the UPC and Unidata User group. Since we have a large number
of HDF data in our tape archive as well as a large online inventory of binary
datasets, we can capitalize on the capability of DODS to translate user-selected
data into an internal format, provide subsetting or subsampling services if
requested by the client, and ship the results across the net to a DODS-enabled
client (either MATLAB IDL at this point) for re-interpretation and analysis.
In the near term, we will apply this to data on our anonymous FTP (online) site
(about 350 GB).
By experimenting with DODS we hope to:
(1) provide additional data services to our data users
(2) bring in new customers (i.e. DODS users)
(3) demonstrate an interoperability cluster as part of the EOSDIS federation
mentioned previously and/or with UniData nodes if DODS is widely adopted by
the latter (I could probably use a refresher course on the status of DODS and
UniData; guess I'll peruse the online material from the last 2 UPC meetings).
NOAA Report
In a conference call to the committee, Mary Glackin reported:
Discussion
Action 3: Radar mosaics (of both 10-km and 1-km resolution) will be in NOAAport. The UPC will ensure that Unidata users have access to these when they become available on NOAAport.
NSF Report
Cliff Jacobs reported on the FY 1999 budget (which contained a 6.1% increase
for ATM) and the NSF request for FY2000. (A copy of his presentation has been
put on the Web under meeting materials for this meeting.) Bernard Grant noted
that the deadline for the equipment grants was fast approaching (24 May) and
that no proposals had yet been received. Awards will be made in August.
Discussion
SCD's new director, Al Kellie, joined the committee for a discussion of how university access to SCD data archives might be facilitated. Kellie and Fulker noted that a task force had been created to examine this issue (a summary of its activities is on the Web) and that SCD's data support group is working to identify a list of candidate data sets. NCAR is currently capturing NOAAport data via the IDD. These are a starting point. Kellie envisions the first step as being the design of a simple mechanism for accessing the raw data on line. He also noted that Ethan Davis (Unidata) and Ethan Alpert (SCD) are examining mechanisms for making climate simulation data available on the DODS server. Kellie noted that SCD is committed to improving data access within SCD generally and believes that a system of use to universities will evolve along with that effort.
Discussion
Action 4: The Unidata Users Committee will assess Unidata users interest in the satellite data archived at SSEC and report on this at a future Policy Committee meeting.
Action 5: Bob Fox will provide URLs to information on MODIS.
Mary Marlino summarized recent PAGE activities for the Committee. She briefly described the conference in November (in which the PAGE mission was refined) and PAGE's two recent proposals. One is a Digital Libraries proposal to develop a prototype digital geoscience library. Collaborators on this include IRIS, Keck, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Colorado, among others. Marlino plans to be involved with a Digital Libraries meeting in August, and this meeting may have ramifications for the next Users summer workshop.
Discussion
The exchange of e-mail between SUNY-Albany's David Knight and the Irish MetEireann, forwarded by Fulker to NSF, is on the Web. Fulker noted that SUNY-Albany's use of the data in question was clearly educational and that there was no evidence that the data were being used for profit. Furthermore, Knight noted that the data in question were not in use anywhere on SUNY's Web site; they're just made available as part of the data-recovery effort SUNY provides for Unidata users (i.e., on an FTP site). Knight responded to MetEirann's objections by simply blocking access to the data by anyone from Ireland.
Discussion
Action 6: The UPC will draft a statement of explanation on the educational use of data under WMO Resolution 40 and send the draft for comment by NWS and NSF. (The goal is to create a clear statement of responsibilities to share with Unidata users.)
Action 7: Discussion of the Action 6 draft statement will be on the agenda for the next Policy Committee meeting.
Fulker explained that Unidata currently keeps tracks of software licenses for McIDAS and GEMPAK. This clearly undercounts Unidata participants, since the LDM and netCDF are not licensed. It also focuses on site representatives, not on users. How do we know who is a Unidata participant? What are we losing by not keeping better track of who our users are? Fulker then introduced Mike Wright, who briefly described the Open University in the United Kingdom.
OU has been doing distance education for 27 years. Its students are distributed throughout Europe and there are over 150,000 students enrolled in degree programs, plus over 60,000 involved in skills enhancement. OU has recently started using the Internet in courses (as a complement to other resources), and it has become heavily involved in offering courses tailored to particular industries (e.g., MBA courses for IBM.) They have considerable experience in engaging nontraditional students. Among the lessons Wright has gleaned from his participation in OU is that
Discussion
The following resolution was proposed and then tabled:
Resolution 1: (tabled)
The Policy Committee recommends that Unidata continue to restrict its support to universities (i.e., to WMO Region 4 educational institutions) and not expand its support activities beyond this.
Action 8: Fulker will devise a new Unidata participation policy that addresses questions of licensing and access to software; the policy will include implementation. Discussion of this policy will be on the agenda for the next Policy Committee meeting.
Action 9: The Policy Committee will select new members for the Users
Committee via e-mail.
Dave Fulker and Russ Rew presented ideas for coping with the loss of Glenn Davis. Fulker noted that the first step was to lower stress in the office by putting the LDM and netCDF development into stasis for awhile and accepting Bob Fox's offer of help (in the form of contributed efforts from an SSEC staff member).
The second stage will be to seek new staff members. Unidata will now be filling two positions, one of which had been identified before Davis's death. The staff will carefully deliberate on how these positions should be filled. In this process, every effort will be made to encourage new creativity among the current staff while realizing that Unidata will be profoundly different. The products are certain to change, and the quality of new designs will be monitored by both internal and external review processes. Unidata will keep users informed, making every effort to identify users' expectations and fears.
Rew noted that the future may entail freezing some packages, abandoning some approaches, incorporating external methods, and engaging in new collaborations. Unidata expects guidance from the Policy Committee and the Users Committee in setting Unidata development priorities. Rew noted that there will be another release of netCDF and LDM (these were close to completion) and that Davis left some very valuable legacies: excellent code, the proven value of good abstractions and good designs, the merits of debate, and "an attitude."
Discussion
Resolution 1: (tabled)
The Policy Committee recommends that Unidata continue to restrict its support to universities (i.e., to WMO Region 4 educational institutions) and not expand its support activities beyond this.
Action 1: An update from COMET will be on a future Policy Committee meeting agenda.
Action 2: The community needs to be better informed about the work of MetApps and the ramifications of the UPC's work on Java. Bates and Murphy will explore mechanisms for further educating the community on these topics.
Action 3: Radar mosaics (of both 10-km and 1-km resolution) will be in NOAAport. The UPC will ensure that Unidata users have access to these when they become available on NOAAport.
Action 4: The Unidata Users Committee will assess Unidata users interest in the satellite data archived at SSEC and report on this at a future Policy Committee meeting.
Action 5: Bob Fox will provide URLs to information on MODIS.
Action 6: The UPC will draft a statement of explanation on the educational use of data under WMO Resolution 40 and send the draft for comment by NWS and NSF. (The goal is to create a clear statement of responsibilities to share with Unidata users.)
Action 7: Discussion of the Action 6 draft statement will be on the agenda for the next Policy Committee meeting.
Action 8: Fulker will devise a new Unidata participation policy that addresses questions of licensing and access to software; the policy will include implementation. Discussion of this policy will be on the agenda for the next Policy Committee meeting.
Action 9: The Policy Committee will select new members for the Users Committee via e-mail.
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