Metadata Development in the Earth System Curator

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Metadata Development in the Earth System Curator

• Spanning the Gap Between Models and Datasets
• Rocky Dunlap, Georgia Tech

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Motivation

• Two primary products of the climate community
  datasets and the models used to produce them

Models
Datasets
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Motivation

• Many efforts in place to provide uniform access
  to datasets
• Additionally, groups like ESMF are working to
  develop frameworks for component exchanges and
  interoperability
• e.g., couple two different ocean models with the
  same atmosphere

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Motivation

• However there is currently a gap between models
  and datasets
• Models and datasets are currently treated as
  distinct and separate entities
• Earth System Curators claim
• This gap is actually an artificial barrier that
  inhibits access to resources and results

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What is the Earth System Curator?

• The goal of the Earth System Curator project is
  to provide a transparent interface to climate
  models and their output data

Models
Datasets
What do we need to make this happen?
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Metadata

• Metadata is data about data
• What would it take to completely describe a
  particular climate model run?
• completely means you could reproduce the output
  bit for bit

Model Run
Model Metadata
Output
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Convergence of Models and Data

• ESC begins with a crucial insight
• the descriptors used for comprehensively
  specifying a model configuration are also needed
  for a scientifically useful description of the
  model output data
• This leads to the convergence of models and data
• There is a need for a common metadata formalism
  to unify the treatment of models and data

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(Simplified) System Overview
Simulation Datasets
?
Query
Metadata
Graphical User Interface
Models
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Research Approach

• Study metadata structures of existing projects in
  the climate community
• Create a common ontology that aligns the metadata
  models, while also allowing for eventual
  inclusion of other metadata sources
• Extensibility is a priority!
• The resulting metadata description will be the
  foundation of the Earth System Curator database

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Current Efforts

• Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF)
• NSF, NCAR, DoD, NASA, NOAA, DoE, MIT, UCLA,
  University of Michigan
• Earth System Grid (ESG)
• DoE SciDAC sponsored
• Labs ANL, LBNL, LLNL, NCAR, ORNL
• GFDL Curator database

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Earth System Modeling Framework

• Common modeling infrastructure for climate and
  weather models
• Components have standard interfaces which
  facilitates coupling
• ESMF already contains a number of metadata-rich
  structures for describing climate models
• gridded component, coupler component, field,
  bundle, state, clock, grid

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ESMF Coupled Model

• Our goal is to extract the metadata needed to
  adequately describe hierarchical, coupled climate
  models

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Earth System Grid

• Make output of high-resolution, long-duration
  climate simulations available to global-change
  impacts researchers
• Enable analysis and knowledge development from
  earth system models
• Increase productivity by linking users with
  needed data

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Earth System Grid
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GFDL Curator

• An initial shot at a database that describes both
  climate models and data
• Multiple compartments
• Models
• Variables
• Workflow
• Post Processing
• Data Portal

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Conceptual Modeling
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Why is this hard?

• Disagreement about what terms mean
• What is a model?
• What is a component?
• What is a coupler?
• What is a code base?
• Metadata must be as generic as possible while
  still being useful

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Deliverables

• Allow researchers to archive and query Earth
  system models, experiments, model components, and
  model output data
• Perform technical compatibility checking
• How can we determine if two components will run
  together?
• What about scientific compatibility?
• Prototype auto-assembly of components to
  facilitate model runs
• Involves automatic code generation of simple
  couplers

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Broader Impacts

• Improve climate prediction for policy makers
• Facilitate Model Intercomparison Projects (MIPs)
  by allowing fast setup and execution of
  experiments using different model components
• Encourage Curator-like activity in other domains
• Promote the use of Curator as a normative ontology

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ESC Collaborators

• NSF Funded
• National Center for Atmospheric Research
• NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
• MIT
• Georgia Tech

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Thanks!

• Website http//www.cc.gatech.edu/projects/curator
  /
• Questions?