The Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory: Exploring paradigms
for interdisciplinary data-driven science. 

Fox, P A
pfox@ucar.edu
HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
Middleton, D
SCD/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
McGuinness, D L
McGuinness Associates
20 Peter Coutts Circle, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
Cinquini, L
SCD/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
Darnell, J A
HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
Benedict, J L
McGuinness Associates
20 Peter Coutts Circle, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
Garcia, J
HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
West, P
HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States 
Solomon, S C
HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States

Virtual Observatories can provide vast stores of data concerning 
scientific observations.  As these electronic stores become 
widely used, there is potential to improve the efficiency, 
interoperability, collaborative potential, and impact of 
a wide range of interdisciplinary scientific research.  In 
order to realize this 
potential, technical challenges need to be addressed concerning 
(at least) representations and interoperability of data, access, and 
usability. In the Virtual Solar Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO) project, 
we are beginning to provide an electronic repository of 
observational data spanning the solar-terrestrial physics domain.  
We are also designing and implementing tools and infrastructure for 
accessing and using the data.  Our main contributions include the 
repository, infrastructure, and tools for the particular solar 
terrestrial physics as well as the design and infrastructure that 
may be broadened to cover more diverse science areas and 
communities of use. 

In this presentation, we describe the goals, design, current and planned
prototypes, and technical infrastructure.
We present what we have learned about the processes involved
in developing VSTO and the required semantics, how they affect
the framework architecture, choice of technologies and service interfaces.
VSTO is an NSF-funded joint effort between the High Altitude Observatory 
and the Scientific Computing Division at the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and McGuinness Associates Consulting.