ESIP's numerous cluster and committee calls over the last 6 weeks have been full of recaps of ESIP Winter Meeting activities, literally jam-packed with new ideas shared and connections made. The in-person time provides a noticeable surge of energy and new participants that can help collaboration areas further hone their goals and shape their plans for the coming months. Many groups are already well on their way to developing sessions and activities for the ESIP Summer Meeting.
As a direct consequence of Winter Meeting sessions, two previously quiet clusters have been rebooted, including the Air Quality Cluster and Discovery Cluster. Check out more info about both of these efforts in the ESIP News section below. In addition to these reboots, a new cluster was also proposed on the heels of the Winter Meeting on Software Technology Readiness Levels. Watch out for more details coming soon.
Thursday: Air Quality; Data Stewardship; Disasters
See the full telecon calendar here. Select the meeting you'd like to attend, login instructions are included in description.
ESIP News Join the first 2020 Telecon of the ESIP Air Quality Cluster (3/5 at 1 pm ET)
At the ESIP Winter Meeting Session, Analytic Centers for Air Quality, Mike Little (NASA) and Christa Hasenkopf convened a productive session during which it was decided that there is sufficient interest in rebooting the ESIP Air Quality Cluster with the objective of further strengthening the Air Quality community and creating more collaborations between scientists and technologists. Mike Little will lead the cluster, with the support of co-chair Beth Huffer, Lingua Logica LLC/NASA Atmospheric Science Data Center. Scientists and technologists and anyone else who is interested in the topic of air quality and technology support for air quality research are invited to participate. Typical Cluster activities will include monthly telecons with guest speakers and discussion on science and technology topics and trends. Depending on interest, additional cluster activities may include:
Construction of a catalog of data, analytic tools and models relevant to AQ
Outreach to other communities of practice to form collaborations for advancing our understanding of this important science domain
Develop self-help documentation in making data and other resources more usable to scientists and engineers
If you are interested in participating in the Air Quality Cluster, join the mailing list here and mark your calendars for the next telecon:
ESIP Discovery Cluster to Work on Usage-Based Discovery
At the ESIP Winter Meeting Session, Connecting Data with Data Usage: a Graph Approach, Chris Lynnes and other participants decided to reboot the ESIP Discovery Cluster to take on the topic of Usage-based Discovery, i.e., finding data based on how the data are used. The group had a strong showing at their first telecon last thursday, including both old and new faces. This new edition of the cluster approaches the data discovery problem from a different direction, focused on the anticipated usage of the data. This naturally requires determining and documenting the relationships between datasets and types of usage, from publications to applications to policy-making. The aim is to present users working on, say, flood prediction, with all of the datasets of potential use to that application. In order to achieve full success, the cluster will need to leverage informatics capabilities with knowledge of user needs and real-life use cases. If you would like to participate, please join the Discovery Cluster mailing list here. You can also catch up (quickly) by looking at the summary of the first meeting here: http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Usage-based_Data_Discovery_-_1st_meeting.
2020 Raskin Scholarship Call for Applications (due 3/15)
The Raskin Scholarship seeks to promote collaboration, research support, and exposure for talented students and early career researchers in the Earth or computer sciences. The Scholarship, which is awarded annually, provides a $5000 award and travel support to the ESIP Summer Meeting, where the recipient will have an invited talk covering their field of interest. The award is named in honor of long-time ESIP participant, Rob Raskin, who was an Earth science information partner extraordinaire and a mentor to many aspiring Earth science data professionals. For more details on eligibility and how to apply, please visit our website.
More News OGC seeks public comment on revision to TimeseriesML standard
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) seeks public comment on version 1.3 of the TimeseriesML standard. TimeseriesML is an XML Encoding of the Timeseries Profile of Observations and Measurements, and is used for the representation of observations as ‘timeseries’ – that is, a sequence of data values that are ordered in time. TimeseriesML supports observations tagged with location, but is equally useful for applications that aren’t concerned with location. Learn more and comment by 3/19 here.
Invitation to Participate in a Study on Science Data Management
An MSIS candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) invites ESIP Community Members to take part in a study on science data management. Your participation would be completely voluntary and responses will be kept confidential. This research is being conducted by researchers at UTK. If you choose to participate, you will inform future data management education for science data. An increased understanding of jobs that contain data management should improve access and use of data to benefit all of society. If interested in participating or if you would like more information, please contact aorehek@vols.utk.edu.
Arctic Data Center Data Science Training
The Arctic Data Center will host a 5-day data science training workshop October 19 – 23, 2020 at NCEAS in Santa Barbara, California. This 5-day workshop will provide researchers with an overview of data management practices, data science tools, and concrete steps and methods for more easily documenting and uploading their data to the Arctic Data Center. Both early career and established researchers from the Arctic research community are encouraged to apply. Participants will be selected on the basis of their current research or work activities; their previous experience with open science practices, data management techniques, and analysis methods; and their current or former opportunities to access training in these areas. We will prioritize applications from individuals currently funded through the NSF Polar Programs. Participants will receive support to cover the cost of airfare and accommodations for the duration of the course. See more info and apply by April 24, 2020 here. For questions, contact training@arcticdata.io.
Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and Google Earth Engine Announce Call to Action for Projects to Monitor the Pulse of our Planet
Shared data means everything to Earth observation researchers. If we hope to solve global problems such as climate change, open data is at the heart of finding answers. Sharing is at the heart of GEO’s latest call to action. In partnership with Google, GEO will select 25 project proposals to receive licenses for Google Earth Engine, to be used to tackle significant societal challenges and improve understanding of our planet.
Google is providing these licenses, valued at US$3 million, to broaden the use of Earth observation data. In keeping with GEO's goal of promoting openly shared data, we require that the chosen projects offer the results of their work to the open science community, including code, algorithms, datasets and results. See more details and apply by March 15, 2020 here.
2020 Gateway Focus Week Applications are Now Open!
The Science Gateways Community Institute offers two Focus Weeks per year. The 2020 sessions are:
June 1-5, Columbia University, New York, NY (apply by March 27)
Nov. 30-Dec. 4, San Diego Supercomputer Center, La Jolla, CA (apply by Sept. 25)
Gateway Focus Week is a five-day intensive workshop that has been carefully designed to benefit teams who want to ensure the sustainability of their gateway projects. Teams engage in hands-on activities that help them articulate the value of their work to key stakeholders. Participating teams produce a strong development, operations, and sustainability plan with a corresponding pitch deck that includes actionable goals. By working closely across teams, participants have the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences and challenges. Teams also learn how to access consultations, engagement opportunities, and other resources from the SGCI. Apply now!
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ESIP is funded with support from NASA, NOAA, and the USGS.