Elements: Data: U-Cube: A Cyberinfrastructure for Unified and Ubiquitous Urban Canopy Parameterization

城市冠层参数(UCP)可用于模型模拟，以研究城市的健康和行为，确定维持不断增长的人口的能力，并研究极端天气事件的潜在影响。识别和计算城市树冠参数的能力一直是城市模型中缺失的要素；该项目开发了用于城市设计和分析的能力，将天气模型和遥感数据结合起来，以推断不同规模城市的3D模型。该项目在一个可扩展、可广泛使用的网络基础设施门户网站内部署了创新的基于科学的分析工具，使用户能够获取卫星图像和其他地理信息系统(GIS)数据，以计算城市树冠参数。网络基础设施将改善城市建模和规划，特别是针对极端天气事件。这些工具以及高性能计算和存储资源将被其他研究人员通过门户网站使用。潜在的受益者包括规模较小、处境不利的城市和国家，而这些城市和国家缺乏城市规划所需的城市定性和建模资源。该项目还计划将这项研究的成果转移到大学生以外的社区--当地教师、中学生和博物馆，以及地方、州和国际层面的地理信息系统城市规划用户社区。该项目开发了网络基础设施，该基础设施将使用一种结合卫星图像、社会科学和城市地带性数据的新型逆向建模方法来推断城市的3D模型，从该模型可以推导出城市冠层参数，以便在模拟模型中使用。重点是天气建模、城市参数化以及更好地理解可持续城市化的愿望。主要的网络基础设施产品将是3D城市模型和城市位置的UCP值。这些UCP参数将用于精细城市天气模拟，以及在一个综合门户中评估各种分类技术和模拟模型。这种方法不同于以前的工作，这些工作依赖于简单的城市树冠模型，要么针对大都市进行调整，要么假设所有城市都是相同的。该团队使用普渡大学(HubZERO)的网络基础设施平台和地理空间数据分析大楼块(Gabbs)，这是在之前资助的NSF数据基础设施项目期间开发的一套软件模块。最终的平台可以使用Amazon Web Services进行部署，扩展内置的地理空间数据功能并提供可扩展的CI解决方案。研究人员可以使用该平台来测试预测模型或部署已开发的应用程序。该小组已经与与拟议研究相关的研究界和利益攸关方建立了关系。通过世界城市数据库和访问门户工具(WUDAPT)项目--一个以社区为基础的项目，收集世界各地城市的普查--该小组已经与全球城市规划社区建立了联系。该项目将提高城市天气模拟的准确性，并增加新技术、新能力和专用网络基础设施的可用性和可及性。这些成果有可能为城市官员和城市规划者提供支持，特别是在城市化速度最快的地区和/或发展中国家，因为在这些地区，获得计算资源的机会可能有限。NSF高级网络基础设施办公室的这一奖项将由NSF工程局内的化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司以及NSF地球科学局内的大气和地球空间科学部以及综合和合作教育与研究(ICER)计划共同支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Urban canopy parameters (UCPs) can be used in model simulations to study the health and behavior of a city, determine the ability to sustain a growing population, and study potential impacts of extreme weather events. The ability to identify and compute urban canopy parameters has been a missing element in city models; this project develops that capability for use in city design and analysis, integrating weather models and remote sensing data to infer a 3D model of cities of various sizes. The project deploys innovative science-based analysis tools within an extensible, broadly-available cyberinfrastructure portal, allowing users to ingest satellite imagery and other geographic information system (GIS) data to calculate urban canopy parameters. The cyberinfrastructure would improve urban modeling and planning, particularly for extreme weather events. The tools and high-performance computing and storage resources would be usable by other researchers through a portal. Potential beneficiaries include smaller and disadvantaged cities and countries without the resources for urban characterization and modeling necessary for such urban planning. There are also plans to transfer the results of this research to communities beyond college students -- to local teachers and secondary students and museums, and to the GIS urban planning user communities at local, state, and international levels.The project develops cyberinfrastructure which would use a novel inverse modeling approach incorporating satellite images, social science and urban zonal data, to infer a 3D model of a city from which urban canopy parameters could be derived for use in simulation models. The focus is on weather modeling, urban parameterization and a desire to better understand sustainable urbanization. The main cyberinfrastructure products will be 3D urban models and UCP values for urban locations. These UCP parameters will be used for fine-scale urban weather modeling, and evaluation of various classification techniques and simulation models in an integrated portal. The approach differs from prior work that relied on simple urban canopy models, either tuned for a large metropolis or assuming that all cities are the same. The team uses a cyberinfrastructure platform at Purdue (HubZERO) and the Geospatial Data Analysis Building Blocks (GABBs), a suite of software modules developed during a previously funded NSF Data Infrastructure project. The resulting platform can be deployed using Amazon Web Services, extending built-in geospatial data capabilities and providing a scalable CI solution. This platform can be used by researchers to test predictive models or deploy applications that have been developed. The team has cultivated relationships with the research communities and stakeholders relevant to the proposed research. Through the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) project -- a community-based project to gather a census of cities around the world -- the team is already connected to the urban planning community globally. The project will improve urban weather modeling accuracy and increase availability of and access to the new techniques, capabilities and dedicated cyberinfrastructure. The results have the potential to support city officials and urban planners, especially in regions with the fastest rate of urbanization and/or those in developing countries, where access to computational resources is likely to be limited. This award by the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure will be jointly supported by the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, within the NSF Directorate for Engineering; and the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences and the Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER) Program, within the NSF Directorate for Geosciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.