HR: 1330h
AN: U22A-0013    [PDF]
TI: A Virtual Observatory for the Ionosphere, Thermosphere and Mesosphere Community
AU: * Nylund, S R
EM: Stuart.Nylund@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AU: Yee, J
EM: Sam.Yee@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AU: Talaat, E R
EM: Elsayed.Talaat@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AU: Lafferty, P M
EM: Paul.Lafferty@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AB: The ionosphere, thermosphere and mesosphere (ITM) community studies an area of the atmosphere that is a transition region between the atmosphere and space, where many important physical and chemical processes change dramatically temporally and spatially. The ITM region is where energetic solar radiation is absorbed, energy input from the aurora maximizes, intense electrical currents flow and upward propagating waves and tides break. As a result, the areas of studies within the ITM community span a wide spectrum of scientific subjects in geophysics and space physics. The relevant data for the community collected during the past few decades consequently come from a variety of sources including ground and space-based instruments as well as from modeling and data assimilation. As the different sub-fields mature, a system-oriented approach to understand the ITM as a whole and its relationship to the sun and the surrounding geospace environment is critical. This approach requires efficient access to all data sets (present and historical) relevant to disciplines across agencies, including NASA, NSF, NOAA and others. One of the data systems to be considered is a NASA Sun-Earth Connections Virtual Observatory - the prototype Virtual Solar Observatory. There clearly is a need for a data system to not only serve the ITM community but also to integrate cross-discipline studies with other programs such as CEDAR and GEM. A preliminary VIO concept is presented based on a set of principles: centralized browse and query/retrieval of distributed resources, access to data reader software and other tools, and integration of current data with data from previous missions and long-term data sets. Drawing upon the design of the Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO), the VIO concept is expanded to meet the needs particular to the ITM community. It is developed as an introduction to the community for discussion and community-wide input as part of a VIO definition phase. The VSO design is summarized, and the preliminary VIO design is described with its unique characteristics.
DE: 2499 General or miscellaneous
DE: 6339 System design
DE: 6344 System operation and management
DE: 6699 General or miscellaneous
SC: U
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting