System and method for providing a climate data persistence service

Inventors

Schnase, John L. • Duffy, Daniel Q. • Tamkin, Glenn S. • McInerney, Mark • Nadeau, Denis • Thompson, John H. • Sinno, Scott • Strong, Savannah L. • Ripley, III, William David

Assignees

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA

Abstract

A system, method and computer-readable storage devices for providing a climate data persistence service. A system configured to provide the service can include a climate data server that performs data and metadata storage and management functions for climate data objects, a compute-storage platform that provides the resources needed to support a climate data server, provisioning software that allows climate data server instances to be deployed as virtual climate data servers in a cloud computing environment, and a service interface, wherein persistence service capabilities are invoked by software applications running on a client device. The climate data objects can be in various formats, such as International Organization for Standards (ISO) Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model Submission Information Packages, Archive Information Packages, and Dissemination Information Packages. The climate data server can enable scalable, federated storage, management, discovery, and access, and can be tailored for particular use cases.

Core Innovation

The invention is a system, method, and computer-readable storage devices configured to provide a climate data persistence service. The system includes a climate data server that performs data and metadata storage and management functions for climate data objects, a compute-storage platform that supports the climate data server, provisioning software that enables deployment of climate data server instances as virtual servers in a cloud computing environment, and a service interface whereby persistence service capabilities can be invoked by software applications running on a client device. The system supports various climate data formats including ISO OAIS Reference Model Submission Information Packages, Archive Information Packages, and Dissemination Information Packages. The climate data server enables scalable and federated storage, management, discovery, and access, and can be tailored to particular use cases through application-specific kits.

The problem addressed by the invention arises from the deficiency in current technologies, which lack effective means for storing and managing data products dynamically created by climate data analytic systems. Climate models generate valuable data including retrospective analyses, current estimates, and future climate projections. Climate data analytics as a service seeks to facilitate easier access and analysis where data are stored, producing reduced products for end users. However, an improved approach is needed to efficiently store and manage specialized collections of climate data along with dynamically created products from analytics.

The disclosed climate data persistence service is organized around a climate data server built using scalable data grid technology (specifically iRODS) running on a cloud-enabled compute-storage platform. The system includes provisioning software for deploying virtual climate data servers configured with application-specific kits such as NetCDF or GeoTIFF kits that implement collections-tailored capabilities, including OAIS-based archive functions like ingest, query, order, download, execute, and status. The service interface exposes these capabilities over a RESTful web server, enabling client applications to perform CRUD operations on climate data objects and associated metadata, supporting the full lifecycle requirements of a scientific archive.

Claims Coverage

The patent includes one independent claim covering a system with four main components and their associated inventive features.

The claim covers a system composed of a climate data server, supporting compute-storage platform, provisioning software for virtualization in the cloud, and a remotely accessible service interface. These components collectively provide a climate data persistence service handling climate data objects with defined metadata and archive management functions.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications