ECHO : NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) ClearingHOuse

1. ECHO : NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) ClearingHOuse Robin Pfister robin.pfister@gsfc.nasa.gov Code 423, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt MD, 20771 USA Michael Burnett mburnett@blueprinttech.com Blueprint Technologies, 7799 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1000N, Falls Church, VA 22043, USA CEOS May 7-10, 2002 Frascati, Italy ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

2. Outline of Presentation • What is ECHO? • Goals & Drivers • Architecture & Technology • Issues ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

3. What is ECHO?Goals • Functionally • Support the efficient discovery and access to Earth Science data. • Enabling System • Publish APIs to user community. Open system, rather than closed. • COTS-based • Maximize COTS usage. Follow industry trends rather than try to set them. • Incremental Deliveries • Allow for insight and feedback during the development cycle. No big bang surprises. ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

4. What is ECHO?Drivers • Cost • Need to manage the cost of system development, deployment and operations. • Ease of Participation • The system should not be so hard as to prohibit providers from participating in the clearinghouse. • Extensibility • The system must continuously support new capabilities, including Data types, User Interfaces, and Services. It must be an enabling system, not a solution system. ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

5. What is ECHO?Capabilities • Clearinghouse of Earth Science Metadata • Providers control what is represented • Single Search point • Internet based interfaces • Support ordering of data • Broker distributed orders • Extend the available Earth Science resources • To the science community • From the science community ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

6. What is ECHO?A Framework • Message-based framework • Allowing providers and clients (machine to machine or human-machine) to share information and context in order to interoperate. • Catalog Service • Capable of handling very large and complex data sets • Order Entry Service • Handles receiving a single order and sending it out to multiple providers • Data Management Service • Manages privileges for accessing catalog entries and controls the ability to order them • Subscription Service • Ability to send metadata updates directly to users ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

7. ECHO’s Context Client Apps Pages Client API Clearinghouse Catalog Provider API ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

8. Framework Extension Points • Data Extensibility • New participating providers • New Collections/Data Types • Access Mechanisms • Client Extensibility • Applications • Extended Servers • UI’s (applets, active pages, etc.) • Service Extensibility • New Services • New UI’s on those services API’s • Admin Extensibility • Personalization • Billing and Accounting Clearinghouse Catalog ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

9. What is ECHO?Implementation • Java and XML used extensively • COTS: • BEA WebLogic, Oracle, Open Source • Providing SOAP access to core services • Moving towards Web Service ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

10. Current/Planned Participants Internal External ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

11. Issues/Challenges ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

12. Issue: Metadata Integrity • A system based on metadata is only as good as the metadata contents • Challenge: Developing a clean metadata clearinghouse and keeping it clean has a large impact on operations. Minimizing the impact is the challenge. • Solution: • Define conceptual data model (based on ECS) • Policy decisions made during Registration • Provide Tools to facilitate translations • Automated tools for data population that prevent Providers from violating metadata rules ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

13. Issue: API Simplicity • API’s are most effective when they are simple • Challenge: Developing a clean and simple set of API’s that meet future needs without having to predict all future needs. • Solution: • Drive API identification through Use Cases • Distill to what is needed • Don’t try to be too smart • Allow for extensibility ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

14. Issue: Visibility • Providers don’t want to expose all of their data to all users • Challenge: Provide a mechanism for controlling access to data, as specified by the data provider • Solution: • Give provider the control • Support ACL mechanisms • Users and Groups ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

15. Issue: Getting Input From Large Community • ECHO wants to represent the expected needs from a variety of groups within the Earth Science community • Challenge: Balancing practicalities of conflicting input and system goals • Solution: • Ideas for features and enhancements are generated by ECHO Providers, development team, advisory group and others. • Initiated through meetings, telecons and workshops • Input is prioritized in the ECHO Technical Committee Meetings/Telecons. (ETC is made up of ECHO providers) ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002

16. Summary • Echo is… • A metadata clearinghouse • A set of API’s • Flexible • Status • Operational (Limited) • Release 5 under development • Futures • Service Integration next big push • Moving from system to framework • Check out: • http://dangermouse.gst.com/ECHO/ ECHO Overview – CEOS, May 2002