Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
for basic research in the operation, development and use of spatial data analytical
techniques and spatial modeling should be identifi ed as an important focus in the fu-
ture evolution of data services.
Another recent trend of GIS is to make it accessible via the Internet, allowing
easier exchange of data and functionality. The GIS applications were historically built
as stand-alone tools, often based on proprietary architectures. However, with the in-
creasing availability of geospatial information from diverse sources and their disparate
applications in different settings, there is a growing recognition that standards are the
key to the interoperability and wider use of GIS tools and services. Organizations like
the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) and International Standards Organization are aiming
to addresses these interoperability and connectivity issues based on open standards,
interfaces, and protocols. In fact, one of the stated goals of the OpenGIS specifi ca-
tions is to make it easy to integrate, superimpose, and render for display geospatial
information from different sources and perform in spatial analyses even when those
sources contain dissimilar types of data. For instance, the OGC “Geo-interface for At-
mosphere, Land, Earth, and Ocean netCDF” (GALEON) Interoperability Experiment
supports open access to atmospheric and oceanographic modeling and simulation out-
puts and it will implement a geo-interface to netCDF datasets via the OpenGIS Web
Coverage Server protocol specifi cation. The interface will provide interoperability
among netCDF, OPeNDAP, ADDE, and THREDDS client/server and catalog protocols.
CONCLUSIONS
It is important to recognize that we are in the midst of a revolution in data services
and the underlying information technologies. This revolution is far from complete.
The data services we see today, though advanced, are still evolving and their evolu-
tion toward more complex and sophisticated systems is expected to continue for the
foreseeable future.
This chapter has presented a brief overview of many issues reshaping geoscience
education and research and it provided a survey of many of the technological trends
that have contributed to new approaches to data provision and their integration in ESS
education and research. The new approaches and services are transforming how stu-
dents, faculty, and scientists use data services in their daily work The imminent data
deluge from a new generation of remote sensing satellite instruments, next generation
models, and experiments will have a profound impact on the scientifi c community and
data infrastructure, and it calls for new ways to exploit these and other IT trends for
the development of new approaches to scientifi c data services.
KEYWORDS
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Cyberinfrastructure
•
Earth system science
•
Information technology trends
•
Geographic information systems
