Powered by standards - new data tools for the climate sciences

Abstract

The ultimate goal of much current research in earth science informatics is to enable more efficient discovery and use of environmental data. Large-scale efforts are underway at regional and global levels. For instance the European INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC) and international GEOSS initiative will both provide unprecedented catalogues of earth observation and environmental data, with links to online services providing direct access to digital data repositories. While the motivation for these emerging infrastructures is clear (e.g. understanding global change), it is less obvious how they might be implemented. Standards will play a major role and considerable effort is currently being devoted to their development by bodies like the International Organisation for Standardisation and the Open Geospatial Consortium. Internet search engines are amongst the most popular websites visited today. Using the metaphor of a web search portal, we review the potential of new geospatial standards to provide an advanced, userfriendly approach to discovery and use of climate-science data. © 2010 A. Woolf.