NSF and Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Margaret Leinen Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Workshop, NCAR 2002

A brief history of “cyberinfrastructure” at NSF 2000 : –Community and NSF concern about the asymmetrical development of computer power and tools to use the power –CISE funds a number of large scale infrastructure proposals as part of the Information Technology Research priority area Late 2000 CISE proposes a “cyberinfrastructure” component to the ITR

Cyberinfrastructure cyclesnetworkingdata mgttrainingsoftware data manipulation

Early 2001 –NSF establishes a “Blue Ribbon” panel to provide advice in developing cyberinfrastructure –Kelvin Droeggemeier a member of panel –Environmental community discussion of cyberinfrastructure needs

Special challenges of environmental research Global scope Geospatial reference Complexity of systems Disciplinary integration Volume of data Need for long-term data collection and simulations Value of historical data Predictive power for decision- making in uncertainty

Changes in Environmental Education New demands for curricular materials –Connect data on Earth’s physical and biotic components –Include recent research data and results Discovery-based learning –Hands-on activities –Consideration of social implications in decision-making exercises

Needs in Environmental Education Digital Libraries for data collections and images Tools for manipulation of data and discovery activities Communications networks for access and collaborations Support services for contributors, teachers, and students

Challenges: Synthesis of Needs of Various Environmental Communities Management of distributed observing systems Standards for data integrity and accuracy Capacity to archive large data sets Rapid access to databases and computational power through high bandwidth networks Common modeling frameworks Computing power for modeling, visualization, and prediction Long-term maintenance, operations, and data management Need for skilled workforce

Other Challenges Challenges that have not been identified because they are beyond the n –Combining spatial images and digital data –Modeling frameworks that integrate earth, atmospheric and ocean systems –Modeling frameworks that integrate physical systems with biological and engineering systems –Knowledge or decision-support systems that combine geospatial information with demographic, economic and other data for land use and disaster management –Intellectual property issues –Security and privacy issues

Discipline research Discipline cyberinfrastructure Computer and computational cyberinfrastructure Computer and computational research Where does cyberinfrastructure stop and research begin?

Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Compute cycles

Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Compute cycles Networks, software, data manipulation, data management, training CISE cyberinfrastructure:

Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Compute cycles Networks, software, data manipulation, data management, training Cyberinfrastructure for discipline science

Environmental Cyberinfrastructure Spatial data challenges: e.g. Merging digital imagery with digital data Compute cycles Networks, software, data manipulation, data management, training Cyberinfrastructure for discipline science

S. Kazenski, U Texas - Austin

Galveston Bay, 1855

Galveston Bay, 1901

Galveston Bay, today