Hi Ben,
I think this is a very nice set of use cases, and I was also very
interested in the discussion with Roy M that ensued. These use cases
give good examples of "what" a user might want to do with FES data and
"why". I think it's just as valuable to look in a bit more detail at
"how" they might want to do things. This is another dimension through
"use case space", if you like.
One could divide methods of use into "get and forget" and "get and
reuse". Let me explain further:
1) A decision-maker responding to an emergency situation needs to get
the right data as quickly as possible to help make the decision. After
having done this the data can be thrown away, or perhaps archived for
auditing purposes. Anyway, the data aren't reused. It probably doesn't
matter too much if the data have been manipulated in some way to
expedite the process.
2) A scientist performing a detailed analysis on a dataset (e.g. a
reanalysis) needs to look at the data from a whole load of directions
and perform lots of analysis tasks. In this case the user will probably
want the original data (probably in the original data files), and will
keep the data over an extended period of time. The scientist needs to
be confident that the data have not been manipulated by the server.
One could also think of these cases as being "real time use" and
"offline use" respectively. The priorities of each case are different:
in case (1) the emphasis is on getting data quickly (requiring a
"clever" server); in case (2) the emphasis is on being confident that
the data are "correct" (requiring a "dumb" server). Scientists can also
operated in "real time" mode when performing initial explorations on
data, prior to detailed analysis.
I think WCS fits in best with case (1) because case (2) can be satisfied
simply by serving files in a sensible format (i.e. CF-NetCDF) from some
kind of file server. Clearly there are some broad-brush generalizations
here, but do others basically agree with this?
Cheers, Jon
Ben Domenico wrote:
Hi all,
I will put these onto the GALEON wiki as soon as I get a chance, but,
in the meantime, I've listed below a relatively concise set of use
cases that I believe capture the requirements for many of the
different data types we deal with in the metoceans (Fluid Earth
Sciences?) community.
-- Ben