Building a Scalable Biological Information Network - A Workshop Proposal to be held September, 2001 at the San Diego Supercompter Center, San Diego, CA

加州大学圣地亚哥分校的Alison Withey获得了一笔拨款，用于召集一个研讨会，调查用户需求、启用技术以及为环境科学建立可扩展信息网络的成本。该研讨会由生物多样性信息学伙伴关系*主办，将召集研究科学家、野外观测站和海洋实验室主任以及计算和信息科学专家，讨论建立地方、区域和国家级网络的技术要求，这些网络旨在实时或接近实时地提供连续、综合、高质量的数据。这些听众都将为信息交流作出贡献并从中学习。科学家们将分享他们在将特定地点的科学扩展到更广泛的空间尺度方面的经验，并将根据新的传感器（现场和卫星）和数据收集能力讨论未来的信息基础设施需求。实地台站和海洋实验室主任将根据现有基础设施和能力的现状，为如何扩大实地台站和海洋实验室以满足国家观测和了解环境复杂性能力的需要，提出新的设想。计算和信息科学家将展示传感器技术、网络、信息传递和知识生成方面的最新发展。研讨会演讲、讨论和工作组会议将集中讨论三个主题：1)数据和信息管理和交付的使能技术和用户需求；2)建立分布式传感器网络：设计和实施问题；3)建立可扩展的环境信息网络：从研究人员到实地站到国家架构。随着环境研究变得越来越复杂和多学科，我们对生态系统生物复杂性的理解可以通过应用改善数据管理和交付的技术来进一步提高；增强建模和预测能力；并促进个人、环境传感器、计算机和数据库之间的通信。这次研讨会将首次尝试设想一个可扩展的国家环境信息基础设施，以满足在地方和更大范围内工作的科学家以及可能需要从区域到国家范围的信息的决策者和教育工作者的需要。因此，预计讨论和工作组报告将引起许多学科的广泛兴趣。讲习班的产品将通过网络广播和介绍的网络档案提供给更广泛的社区；会议记录和建议的白皮书将在网上发布；以及同行评议的文章，概述当前的技术能力，未来环境信息基础设施的设计，以及能够实现这一目标的研究和实施计划。*生物多样性信息学合作伙伴（PBI）是一个由圣地亚哥超级计算机中心（SDSC）、国家生态分析与综合中心（NCEAS）、自然历史博物馆和堪萨斯大学生物多样性研究中心（KU-BRC）以及长期生态研究计划网络办公室（LTER）组成的联盟。

A grant has been awarded to Alison Withey at the University of California, San Diego to convene a workshop to investigate user requirements, enabling technologies, and costs for building scalable information networks for the environmental sciences. The workshop, hosted by the Partnership for Biodiversity Informatics*, will assemble research scientists, directors of field stations and marine laboratories, as well as experts in computational and information sciences to discuss the technical requirements for building local, regional, and national-level networks designed to deliver continuous, integrated, high-quality data in real or near real time. Each of these audiences will contribute to and learn from the information exchange. Scientists will share their experiences in expanding site-specific science to broader spatial scales, and will discuss future information infrastructure needs in light of new sensors (field and satellite) and data collection capabilities. Directors of field stations and marine laboratories will ground the workshop in the present-day realities of existing infrastructure and capabilities, and will contribute to a new vision for how field stations and marine laboratories can expand to meet the needs for a national capability for observing and understanding environmental complexity. Computational and information scientists will present state-of-the-art developments in sensor technologies, networking, information delivery, and knowledge generation. Workshop presentations, discussion, and working group sessions will focus on three topics: 1) Enabling technologies and user requirements for data and information management and delivery, 2) Building distributed sensor networks: design and implementation issues, and 3) Building a scalable environmental information networks: from researchers to field stations to a national architecture. As environmental research becomes more complex and multidisciplinary, gains in our understanding of ecosystem biocomplexity can be furthered through the application of technologies that improve data management and delivery; enhance modeling and prediction capabilities; and facilitate communication among individuals, environmental sensors, computers, and databases. This workshop will be the first attempt to envision a scalable national environmental information infrastructure that meets the needs of scientists working at local and broader scales, as well as decision-makers and educators that may require information at regional to national scales. Consequently, the discussions and working group reports are anticipated to be of broad interest to many disciplines. Workshop products will be made available to a broader community via a webcast and web archive of the presentations; a white paper of the proceedings and recommendations which will be posted online; and peer reviewed article(s) outlining present technical capabilities, the design of a future environmental information infrastructure, and a research and implementation plan that will enable this goal to be achieved. * The Partnership for Biodiversity Informatics (PBI) is a consortium consisting of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center at the University of Kansas (KU-BRC), and the Network Office of the Long Term Ecological Research Program (LTER).