The GeoData
Portal: Where it fits in the GeoGrid
Keith Clarke,
For the last few years, the US National Science Foundation has
advanced a futuristic vision of computing known as the cyberinfrastructure,
known synonomously as the "Grid." The Grid
has a set of component parts, an anatomy, and a set of functions
and behaviors, a physiology. The anatomy of the Grid consists of networks,
computers, peripheral devices, sensors and sensor webs (including GPS),
displays, and supercomputers. Other necessary elements are the formal standards
and specifications that establish linkages and manage the transactions among
components, such as protocols and transfer standards. A goal of grid computing
is to remove from the user the
details of exactly how (i.e. in terms of hardware and software) a computing
task is performed. With so much computing now geospatial and using GIS, what
role does today's GIS play in the formation of the grid?
One critical element is in providing the most basic "service", i.e.
the provision of data to users. This is now done using the web portal, which
can deliver geospatial data to users via basic Internet channels. In this
lecture, I will show how data portals fit into a larger
model of geospatial information provision that might be called either a global
spatial data infrastructure or a "digital earth." Following in the
footsteps of geoweb portals will be geoservices, powerful spatial analytical capabilities, new
visualization opportunities and new interfaces more suited to the mobile web of
the future. These new capabilities will change the way users do business with
spatial information, and require some new directions in technical capabilities
and preparation for GIS professionals.