Transcript WP4 Eden storyboard - Embassy of France, London

Activities and challenges in the soils
and hydrological communities:
The Environmental Virtual
Observatory pilot
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
EVOp Team
Prof
Prof
Prof
Bridget Emmett
PI
Robert Gurney
PI
Adrian McDonald PI
Prof
Prof
Dr
Dr
Dr
Prof
Prof
Prof
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Prof
Dr
Keith Beven
Gordon Blair
John Bloomfield
Wouter Buytaert
Jim Freer
Phil Haygarth
Penny Johnes
Mark Macklin
Kit Macleod
Sim Reaney
Gwyn Rees
Marc Stutter
Doerthe Tetzlaff
Paul Quinn
WP lead
WP lead
WP lead
WP lead
WP lead
Dr
Mrs
Mrs
Lucy Ball Project Manager
Julie Delve
Bron Williams
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Yehia El-Khatib
Alastair Gemmell
Sheila Greene
Eleanor Mackay
Keith Marshall
Nick Odoni
Nicola Thomas
Claudia Vitolo
Mark Wilkinson
WP lead
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
EVOp Partners
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
Challenges in catchment science
• We are facing unprecedented
challenges in the management of soil
and water.
• Our research increasingly also has
real practical application.
• However, many scientific and
environmental challenges are very
cross-disciplinary, and require use of
multiple data, models and tools
across disciplines, organisations and
topics.
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
We are ‘rich’ in data initiatives
• We have many UK environmental
data centres
– Met Office, British Atmospheric
Data Centre, NERC’s Terrestrial
and Freshwater Data Centre
etc etc....
• And lots of initiatives and
legislation regarding when and
how data should be made
available (e.g. INSPIRE)
• And we’re struggling to comply
but it is happening if
slowly…..but..
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
What people actually want if you ask
them
Regulators
How can we reduce
monitoring for same
information?
Credible apportioning of
pollutant load between
industry, water, agriculture,
other.
Public
Will London run out of water?
What is the state of the local
river?
What are the options to
protect us from future
flooding?
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
Beyond data
•
Historical data
– Does that river flow height mean that business will be
flooded again? Should I insure it? (Business)
• Real time data sensors
– Is that water quality safe for my children to swim in it?
(Public)
• Modelling tools
– Is that land management option ‘future proofed’ for
climate change? (Policy maker)
• Decision support tools
– What are my options for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, whilst maintaining productivity? (Food industry)
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
What are the opportunities offered
by new cloud technologies?
• The key to the cloud approach is
the representation of everything
as a service, that is our data,
models, visualisation tools and
expert knowledge
• A space for:
– Exploring data
– Linking models
– Accessing knowledge
– Visualisation tools
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
No white elephants…
• Perception of a poor track record in big IT
initiatives in science or government and a
concern IT will be out of date before completion
• Poor IT literacy in every sector
• How do we break the mould?
– Integrate computer scientists with environmental
scientists, industry, policy makers in a collaborative
project
– Scrum methodology and ‘fail early and often’
– A few ‘narrow and deep’ exemplars to demonstrate
potential and identify barriers
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
The EVOp Approach…
•
•
Combine environmental scientists, computer scientists and a wide range of
end-users to ensure community buy-in and required mix of skills:
-
17 PIs/CoIs, 13 institutions
-
12 end-users on Project Advisory Group from water companies, policy, software companies,
land managers, etc.
Make sure we ask people what they really want
•
•
Go out and ask a wide group of end-users
Only one way of testing – try it out on real exemplars:
-
Exemplars at three spatial scales (local, national and global)
Addressing different issues, appealing to different audiences
Dealing with real data, models and visualisations
Demonstrating potential through series of storyboards
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
Storyboards:
Identifying the endusers and science demonstrated for each exemplar
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
Storyboards:
Ensuring each storyboard tests and demonstrates specific IT/cloud issues
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
The EVO has also included:
• Regular testing with public, government agencies, farmers,
power companies, water companies
• Legal and Security workshops, of great concern to users
• Education: Summer Schools associated with EVO run in
Venice 2011 and 2012, hopefully in 2013 onwards
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
What next?
• Turning pilot into operational prototype, driven
by science need
• Questions such as scalable architecture,
scalable automated generation of help and
semantics, engagement of multiple data
centres, setting standards
• International call for work on standards,
governance, legal and security issues,
architecture etc, via Belmont Forum
• Further prototypes across UK and beyond
driven by user requirements
• Need to manage reputational issues drives
demand by participants (eg Meteorological
Office, Ordnance Survey, British Geological
Survey, water industry)
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
The next phase: into operation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Allow robust reuse of models and data
Allow integration of science
Save time on discovery of data and models
Ensure up-to-date approaches are widely
available
Allow an efficient meeting area between
operational users and scientists
Manage legal and security (and publishing)
issues
Easy compliance with INSPIRE regulations
Continuing educational initiatives
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
EVOKES
(Environmental Virtual Observatory for Knowledge Exchange Services)
A pre-operational prototype led by users and including a scalable
cloud architecture, workflow and ontology tools, embedded and
callable models, data from multiple agencies, including real-time
data, visualisation tools, security, authentication, and reflection
facilities for both static and mobile platforms
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
EVOKES initial suggested end users
• Insurance and financial services
• Water industry
• Power industry
• Food industry
• Oil and Gas
• Transport and Logistics
• Human Health
• UNITAR and similar training?
.....in partnership with computing and space
industries, and allowing SME input
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools
If EVOKES is successful, what is the
benefit?
• Enabling environmental researchers and
others to concentrate on science
• Not only those ‘in the know’ will be able
to discover data portals, models and
information
• Stopping re-invention and repeated blind
alleys
• Improving reputation for transparency
and contributing to business and societal
needs
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools