EarthCube Building Blocks: A Broker Framework for Next Generation Geoscience (BCube)

地球科学的巨大挑战需要跨越传统学科界限。科学家们被要求寻找、访问和使用用语义描述的各种各样的海量数据类型。BCube项目汇集了一个由地球科学家、网络基础设施专家和社会科学家组成的强大团队，使用成熟的中介框架来解决这些互操作性挑战，包括发现、访问、语义、网络抓取、工作流程和增强的用户服务。前三个已经被探索为地球科学和足够成熟，以提供地球科学家在试验台环境中的短期参与。爬行，工作流程和服务将在项目期间开发。来自水文、海洋、极地、天气等领域的地球科学家（包括早期职业科学家）将汇编社区需求，并评估经纪人在日益复杂的一系列用户场景中的能力。为了解决文化障碍，BCube将社会科学和教育纳入项目团队。BCube与五个主要存储库合作（DataOne、OOI、USGS、NCAR/RAL、NSIDC）测试和演示与代理框架的互连，并在第二年扩展到国际存储库。代理发现和访问模块具有两个重要而独特的特征：这种设计可以在不给用户或供应商带来负担的情况下建立互操作性，并具有界面网络爬行能力，可以找到新的数据、模型和服务。随着Broker将语义和工作流程等领域的网络基础设施研究转化为面向用户的跨学科地球科学研究能力，新功能也随之而来。敏捷开发过程将支持快速适应不断变化的用户需求。由于没有任何需求可以预期，Broker还将为科学家提供API，以便为他们自己的应用程序编写模块。BCube将在跨学科研究中关注文化问题，以提高经纪人的接受度和使用率。技术和文化经纪人属性都将通过用户场景来行使，这些场景从单个地球科学研究问题开始，然后转向更复杂的跨学科研究。这将为指标开发参考案例，随着经纪人框架的发展和成熟，监测和验证进展。为了应对社会面临的巨大挑战，地球科学家需要一个可持续发展的网络基础设施，支持跨学科研究，具有强大的互操作性。在解决该项目？的六个不同领域将证明这一点，并在更广泛的地球科学中产生进步。Web 2.0的代理模块将支持使用众包和公民科学。BCube？的教育分析和早期职业科学家将是接触新一代的最佳途径。扩展到国际数据访问将通过与BCube？的国际知识库合作伙伴和国际研究数据联盟的一个特殊利益集团。

The grand challenges of geoscience require working across traditional disciplinaryboundaries. Scientists are being called upon to find, access, and use diverse and voluminousdata types that are described with semantics. The BCube project has put together a strongteam of geoscientists, cyberinfrastructure experts and social scientists to address theseinteroperability challenges using a maturing Brokering Framework for discovery, access, semantics,web crawling, workflows and enhanced user services. The first three have been explored forgeoscience and are mature enough to provide near term engagement of geoscientists in a testbed environment. Crawling, workflow and services will be developed during the project. Thegeoscientists, (including early career scientists) from the domains of hydrology, oceans, polar, weather, will compile community needs and assess broker capabilities in an increasing complex series of user scenarios.To address the cultural barriers, BCube includes social science and education in the project team. BCube engages five majorrepositories (DataOne, OOI, USGS, NCAR/RAL, NSIDC) to test and demonstrate interconnectionswith the Broker Framework, with extension to international repositories in the second year.The broker discovery and access modules have two important and unique characteristics: a designthat builds interoperability without putting a burden upon either users or providers and aninterfaced web crawling capability to find new data, models and services. New capabilitiesalso come as the Broker translates cyberinfrastructure research in areas such as semanticsand workflow into a user-oriented capability for cross-discipline geoscience research. Anagile development process will support rapid adaptations to changing user needs. Since notall needs can be anticipated, the Broker will also have APIs for scientists to write modulesfor their own applications. BCube will look at the cultural issues in cross-discipline researchto improve acceptance and use of the broker. Both the technical and cultural broker attributeswill be exercised through user scenarios that start with individual geoscience research issuesand move to more complex cross-discipline research studies. This will develop reference casesfor metrics, monitoring and validating progress as the Broker Framework evolves and matures.To address the grand challenges facing society, geoscientists need a sustainable and evolvablecyberinfrastructure supporting cross-discipline research with powerful interoperability. Successin addressing the project?s six diverse domains will demonstrate this and engender advancementsin the broader geosciences. The Broker module for web 2.0 will support use of crowd sourcingand citizen science. BCube?s education analyses and early career scientists will considerthe best way to reach a new generation. Expansion to international data access will be demonstratedthrough collaboration with the BCube?s international repository partners and a special interestgroup of the international Research Data Alliance.