Workshop on Citizen Science, Royal Society, 13th September 2013

eResearch South will be hosting a 1 day workshop on the 13th September 2013 at the Royal Society, London to investigate the current state and future of Citizen Science as a research methodology. This event will bring together leading researchers from climateprediction.net, Galaxy Zoo, Old Weather and SOCIAM to discuss their success and insights alongside an interactive day where will be chart where this paradigm can go.

The event will close with a reception to celebrate 10 years of climate prediction.net with guest speakers from some of the sponsoring media organisations and the project volunteers.

Please see the e-Research South website for details and registration: http://www.eresearchsouth.ac.uk/events/current-and-future-directions-of-citizen-science.

Paper on ncWMS published in Environmental Modelling and Software

A paper describing ReSC's ncWMS software has been published in Environmental Modelling and Software as an Open Access paper.  This is the paper to use as the primary means of citing ncWMS in the literature.

DOI
10.1016/j.envsoft.2013.04.002

Citation
J.D. Blower, A.L. Gemmell, G.H. Griffiths, K. Haines, A. Santokhee, X. Yang, A Web Map Service implementation for the visualization of multidimensional gridded environmental data.  Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 47, September 2013, Pages 218–224

Abstract
We describe ncWMS, an implementation of the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Map Service (WMS) specification for multidimensional gridded environmental data. ncWMS can read data in a large number of common scientific data formats – notably the NetCDF format with the Climate and Forecast conventions – then efficiently generate map imagery in thousands of different coordinate reference systems. It is designed to require minimal configuration from the system administrator and, when used in conjunction with a suitable client tool, provides end users with an interactive means for visualizing data without the need to download large files or interpret complex metadata. It is also used as a “bridging” tool providing interoperability between the environmental science community and users of geographic information systems. ncWMS implements a number of extensions to the WMS standard in order to fulfil some common scientific requirements, including the ability to generate plots representing timeseries and vertical sections. We discuss these extensions and their impact upon present and future interoperability. We discuss the conceptual mapping between the WMS data model and the data models used by gridded data formats, highlighting areas in which the mapping is incomplete or ambiguous. We discuss the architecture of the system and particular technical innovations of note, including the algorithms used for fast data reading and image generation. ncWMS has been widely adopted within the environmental data community and we discuss some of the ways in which the software is integrated within data infrastructures and portals.

Two new job opportunities

As part of the upcoming EU-funded CHARMe project (led by the University of Reading) we are seeking two new members of staff (one researcher and one project coordinator), to work closely with the ReSC and the National Centre for Earth Observation. See the ReSC jobs page for more details.

Job Opportunity at ReSC: Geospatial Software Developer

Grade 6 - £27,578 to £35,938 per annum

Closing date: 22nd October 2012
Interview date: 5th November 2012

We are seeking to appoint an imaginative and talented individual to develop new methods and tools for visualising complex environmental datasets.

You will have strong programming skills in the Java language and experience or interest in environmental science. Experience with open geospatial standards and technologies will be advantageous.

This post will offer many opportunities for career development through collaborations with academic partners, industry and government agencies.

For full details and to apply, search for job reference RS12053 in the keywords at http://www.reading.ac.uk/jobs.

For further particulars, please click here.

Please contact the ReSC Technical Director Jon Blower with informal enquiries. Applications must be submitted through the University website.

Job opportunity at ReSC: Deputy Technical Director

Grade 7 - £37,012 to £45,486 per annum

Closing date: 27th August 2012

Interview date: 6th September 2012

We need an imaginative and talented individual to take a leading role in designing and developing new applications and services based on cutting-edge scientific research and information technology.

You will have a strong background in Information Technology or Computer Science and experience or interest in Environmental Science. You will need to be able to work individually and in small teams and to be able to communicate effectively with a range of stakeholders.

This post will offer many opportunities for career development through collaborations with academic partners, industry and government agencies.

For full details and to apply, search for job reference RS12041 in the keywords at http://www.reading.ac.uk/jobs.

For further particulars, please click here.

Please contact the ReSC Technical Director Jon Blower with informal enquiries. Applications must be submitted through the University website.

NERC Virtual Observatory International Conference

There was a ReSC presence at the recent NERC Environmental Virtual Observatory (EVO) International Conference, which included the first public demonstration of the EVO web portal (developed by ReSC and other partners). The portal allows users to view water quantity and quality data in the UK, and to run simple hydrological and macronutrient models in the cloud, and to visualise the results.

The theme of the conference was 'Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Environmental Science' and included talks by international speakers from the US, Australia, EU, UK Government, the IT industry, and the academic and research sector.

The EVO web portal was one of a number of demonstrations and was well received. The feedback from this event will be invaluable in helping to shape the future vision of EVO in general and the web portal and cloud services in particular.

ReSC involvement in the NERC Virtual Observatory

The Reading e-Science Centre is involved with creating the web portal for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Environmental Virtual Observatory pilot (EVOp).

EVOp is a proof of concept project to develop new cloud-based applications for accessing, interrogating, modelling and visualising environmental data. By developing local and national scale exemplars, EVOp is demonstrating how cloud technologies can make environmental monitoring and decision making more efficient, effective and transparent to the whole community.

The key feature of EVOp is that it will allow users to run simple hydrological models in the cloud. ReSC is involved in creating the web interface from which these flooding and water quality models will be run.

The prototype web portal will be demonstrated at the upcoming EVO international conference at the Royal Geographical Society on the 16th of May (see http://www.evo-uk.org/evo-cloud-services-portals/get-involved/evo-international-conference-london-16-may-2012/). For more information on EVOp see http://www.evo-uk.org.