Collaborative Research: EarthChem & SESAR - Data Infrastructure for Geochemistry and Earth Science Samples Communities

地球科学家通过收集岩石、矿物、化石、沉积物、冰、河水或海水等地质材料的样本，并在实验室中分析这些样本来测量它们的化学和物理性质，从而收集了大量和多样化的数据。这些分析产生的数据帮助科学家了解过去、现在甚至未来地球系统的自然过程，并形成新的想法、假设和发现的基础。因此，重要的是要保存数据，并以有用的格式在网上方便地查找和访问数据，并附上与其他研究人员、决策者、教师和普通公众相关的信息。该项目继续运行两个数据系统，即SESAR(地球样本登记系统)和EarthChem，这两个系统提供在线开放访问，可查阅作为地球和环境科学研究的一部分收集的样本的信息，以及在实验室对这些样本进行化学分析时产生的数据。EarthChem管理和管理由研究人员贡献的数百个地球化学数据集，并维护数据库，其中包含100多万个样品的3000多万个地球化学测量数据。EarthChem将确保这些数据可供任何人(教育工作者、学生、研究人员、行业团体、普通公众)使用，并可用于基本上任何目的，特别是STEM领域的研究和教育。SESAR使样本可以在网上发现和获取，从而允许更高效和有效地获取样本收集，这些样本收集在地球、环境和行星科学的广泛多样性中发挥核心作用，并可能为关键决策、法律和政策以及未来的科学提供信息。EarthChem和SESAR在数据提供者和用户之间建立了重要的国家和国际联系，以促进向社会提供信息和知识。在该项目的两年中，EarthChem和SESAR将为地球化学、岩石学和地球样品社区提供持续的数据管理服务。EarthChem还将进行必要的开发，以实现技术实施的现代化和最优化，增强用户功能，扩大可获取的数据持有量，并与广泛的用户社区和数据设施接触，以建立地球化学数据的最佳做法和互操作性标准。EarthChem将重组和重新设计其系统，以确保其数据服务根据不断变化的社区需求进行扩展，并针对效率、弹性和可持续性对运营进行优化。新的发展将通过改进人类和机器可读的界面来发现、访问、可视化和分析EarthChem数据系统中的内容，从而支持下一代数据驱动的研究模式。机器学习和其他数据科学方法的应用将有助于从数据集合中提取新知识。SESAR将继续扩大其用户群体，使其超越地球化学和地球科学。此外，SESAR的服务将转移到一个新的、独立的、多学科的样本登记基础设施，这是与生物、基因组和考古领域的网络基础设施提供商的新兴合作努力。该项目由地球信息学和地球科学部的岩石学和地球化学计划联合资助。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。

Earth scientists gather a vast amount and diversity of data by collecting specimens of geological materials including rocks, minerals, fossils, sediments, ice, river water or seawater, and analyzing these samples in the laboratory to measure their chemical and physical properties. The data generated by these analyses help scientists understand natural processes of the past, present, and even future Earth systems, and form the basis of new ideas, hypotheses, and discoveries. Thus, it is important that data are preserved and made easily findable and accessible online in a useful format and accompanied by information relevant for other researchers, decision makers, teachers, and the general public. This project continues the operation of two data systems, SESAR (System for Earth Sample Registration) and EarthChem, that provide online open access to information about samples collected as part of Earth and environmental science research, and to data generated when these samples are chemically analyzed in the lab. EarthChem manages and curates hundreds of geochemical datasets contributed by researchers and maintains databases with over 30 million geochemical measurements for more than one million samples. EarthChem will ensure that these data are available to, and consumable by, anyone (educator, student, researcher, industry groups, general public) interested in using them for essentially any purpose, especially research and education in STEM fields. SESAR makes samples discoverable and accessible online, thus allowing more efficient and effective access to sample collections that play a central role in a wide diversity of Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences and may inform critical decisions, laws and policies, and future science. EarthChem and SESAR build important national and international connections among data providers and users that facilitate the availability of information and knowledge to society. During the two years of this project, EarthChem and SESAR will provide ongoing data stewardship services for the geochemistry, petrology, and Earth samples communities. EarthChem also will undertake essential developments to modernize and optimize technical implementation, enhance user functions, expand accessible data holdings, and engage with a broad community of users and data facilities to establish best practices and interoperability standards for geochemical data. EarthChem will restructure and reengineer its systems to ensure that its data services scale to evolving community demands and that operations are optimized for efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. New developments will support next generation modes of data-driven research by improving both human and machine-readable interfaces for discovery, access, visualization, and analysis of content in EarthChem data systems. Applications of Machine Learning and other data science approaches will help extract new knowledge from the data collections. SESAR will continue to expand its user community beyond geochemistry and the Earth sciences. In addition, SESAR’s services will move to a new, independent, multi-disciplinary infrastructure for sample registration, an emerging collaborative effort with cyberinfrastructure providers in biology, genomics, and archeology.This project is jointly funded by the Geoinformatics and the Petrology and Geochemistry programs in the Division of Earth Sciences.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.