EarthCube Transforming the Geosciences

1. EarthCubeTransforming the Geosciences UCGIS Symposium - George Mason U: May 23, 2013 A Joint Venture of the NSF Directorate of Geosciences and Office of Cyberinfrastructure

2. Big Questions, Big Problems!! • climate change • geohazards • life as a geologic agent • formation & evolution • of the atmosphere & oceans • environmental • change & resilience • extreme events – causes, periodicity, & implications • future world • the origin of life • resource discovery & abundance • human-earth interactions • deep – surface earth • Interactions & feedbacks • continental evolution & changes thru time

3. Community: Crazy, Complicated, Fascinating • Age of Enlightenment • Industrial Age • Modern Age • Bronze Age Geospatial/Cyberinfrastructure Communities • YOU ARE HERE! • I am here Atmosphericand Climate Science Communities the 15% Seismology/Earthquake and Physical OceanographyCommunities Nearly all other Geoscience groups the 85% Present Relative State of Cyber-Sophistication and Knowledge in the Geosciences

4. Read It and Weep • Neither are well integrated with each other and both types of data and types of geoscience disciplines are required to solve the complex, inter-related, and pressing environmental problems we and the earth are facing • The 15% spend an increasing amount of time having problems wrestling with unmanageably large data arrays and problems scaling from global to regional or local scales • The 85% spend about 80% of their time looking for, collecting, and getting the necessary data together in a format they can use and about 20% of their time actually thinking/doing science

5. The Problem (the 15% vs the 85%) • Two very different types of data •  sensor, bit-stream, real-time: GB/TB size (satellite, radar, seismic) •  point-based, observations, images, multi informational, hard to describe • Two very different relationships with data •  Array-based: No personal ownership, don’t care about any given data • point, computationally intensive processing and modeling • Point-based: intense personal ownership, care deeply about each point, • can interpret directly or simply • Two very different levels of investment • HPC, big iron, federal archives, modeling centers, data repositories, • dedicated personnel and facilities •  Excel spreadsheets, hero code, dark data, cultural issues, no sustainability

6. The Geosciences: Diverse Communities, Data Types, Cultures, and Levels of Cyber Sophistication Accelerating Scientific Discovery Grand Challenge Multi-disciplinary & multi-scale integration Communities Interoperability CIF21 Visualization Software Analytics Modeling Sea of Data

7. Our Biggest Present Problem

8. What Is EarthCube? • Transform the conduct of data-enabled geoscience-related research. • Create effective community-driven cyberinfrastructure. • Allow global data discovery and knowledge management. • Achieve interoperability and data integration across disciplines. • Dynamic Earth • Changing Climate • Water: Changing Perspectives • Earth & Life • Geosphere-Biospheric Connection

9. Who Is EarthCube? You Are!!! Polar Programs Tectonics Structure Geo-chemistry Solar Terrestial Cyber Computer Science EarthScope Aeronomy Earth Science Education Meteor-ology Space Physics Geodetics Geophysics Tectonics Structure. Hydrology Paleo-climate Sediment-ology Climate Dynamics Geobiology ? Geomorph-ology NCAR EarthCube CI Atmosphere Chemistry Physical Ocaeno-graphy Marine Geology Biology Chemical Oceano-graphy OceanDrilling ? Ecosystem Ocean Education Biological Oceano-graphy Glaciology Geospatial HPC, super computing Marine Geophysics Software Engineering Data manage-ment

10. Path to the Vision CUASHI Unidata OOI IEDA NCAR IRIS Important Features: • Builds off existing data/modeling systems/cyberinfrastructure investments • Provides tools/approaches that enhance data discovery, access, and integration • Addresses serious cyber needs in fields where individual data points and observations are important • Leverages investments across fields • Allows for more integrative and interdisciplinary science

11. Convergence Using Spiral Development Given: Technology improves and changes over time. Result: EarthCube being designed in a step-wise, modular fashion to accommodate change and allow refreshing over time. 10 Years

12. Timeline 2013 - 2014 FY 2014-FY 2016 (cycle repeats) • GEO End-User Workshops Phase 1 • Proto-Gov • & EC-RCN Awards – 1st Amend • End-User Workshops Phase 2 • Community Meeting Oct 2012-Mar 2013 Sept 2013 May 2013 Jun 2013 • Release of 3rd • Amendment • Building Blocks & Concept Design Architecture Awards – 2nd Amend • Release of umbrella • Solicitation w/ • 1st Amendment • Deadline of 1st & release of 2nd • Amendment Nov 2013 Feb 2013 Nov 2012

13. Feel Our Pain! help me!

14. Seven Modes of Failure

15. Barriers to Progress

16. Blue-Skying the Future • Now: • Imagine a world with easy, unlimited access to scientific data from any field. • Imagine a world where anyone can easily plot data of interest and display it any way they want. • Imagine a world with where people can easily model their results and explore any ideas they might have. • What science could they do? • What discoveries could you help them make?