http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/news/ en ccrosby@sdsc.edu Copyright 2011 2011-06-08T18:11:01-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/csig11_big_data_and_big_computing_in_the_geosciences/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/csig11_big_data_and_big_computing_in_the_geosciences/#When:18:11:01Z The 8th annual Cyberinfrastructure Summer Institute for Geoscientists (CSIG’11) will be held August 8th -12th, 2011, at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the theme for CSIG’11 is “Big Data and Big Computing”, reflecting the need in the geosciences for dealing with extremely large and heterogeneous observational data from a wide range of sensors and observing platforms, as well as simulation data produced by large-scale integrative models running on large computing platforms. The 8th annual Cyberinfrastructure Summer Institute for Geoscientists (CSIG’11) will be held August 8th -12th, 2011, at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the theme for CSIG’11 is ”Big Data and Big Computing”, reflecting the need in the geosciences for dealing with extremely large and heterogeneous observational data from a wide range of sensors and observing platforms, as well as simulation data produced by large-scale integrative models running on large computing platforms. CSIG’11 will include presentations from experts in the Geosciences involved in projects that are tackling challenges with big data and big computing. The geoscience themes include integrative 3D/4D geophysical modeling; processing and analysis of observational data from remote sensing platforms; and, management and processing of streaming data from terrestrial sensors. Topics in end-to-end data management, visualization and analysis, distributed computing, cloud computing, and high-performance computing will be covered in this context. CSIG’11 will also feature presentations on big data/big computing challenges from the perspective of agencies, such as NASA, and from industry. This year, CSIG’11 will be held the same week as the Gordon Summer Institute (GSI) at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and will share several sessions with GSI. Gordon is the National Science Foundation’s next supercomputer system scheduled to go into production by December 2011 with 1024-nodes, and is unique in its extensive use of flash memory and virtual shared-memory “supernodes”. Gordon is the follow-up to Dash, the first supercomputer to use flash memory. The CSIG’11 and GSI formats are designed to allow interaction between participants of both institutes, including joint sessions and the ability for CSIG’11 participants to attend specific GSI sessions. CSIG’11 and GSI will share a common introductory session on the first day, to provide attendees an overview of the Gordon system along with examples of science applications that can leverage and exploit that architecture. The overlapping of CSIG’11 and GSI institutes will provide ample opportunities for interaction between the two groups. In addition to the common introductory session, there will also be a joint Poster Session and Reception on Day 1 (Monday), and CSIG’11 attendees will have the opportunity to attend any GSI sessions during the week (some of which provide hands-on sessions using Dash--a precursor to the Gordon system). CSIG’11 is designed for anyone interested in the area of geoinformatics and the use of cyberinfrastructure in the geosciences. The institute is targeted towards advanced graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and researchers in the geosciences. Prospective attendees are required to complete the online application form. The deadline for application submission is June 24, 2011 NSF-funding for the institute will cover local expenses for all accepted participants (on campus room and board).  However, attendees are expected to cover their own travel to the UC San Diego campus. 2011-06-08T18:11:01-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/sdsc_researchers_co_author_co_edit_new_book_on_geoinformatics/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/sdsc_researchers_co_author_co_edit_new_book_on_geoinformatics/#When:23:20:00Z A new book that for the first time focuses on the potential to merge the latest advances in computer technologies with the earth sciences has been published, with researchers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) co-authoring chapters or serving as co-editor. First book published on Geoinformatics and Cyberinfrastructure for Earth Sciences A new book that for the first time focuses on the potential to merge the latest advances in computer technologies with the earth sciences has been published, with researchers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) co-authoring chapters or serving as co-editor. Called ‘Cyberinfrastructure for the Solid Earth Sciences’, the book is co-edited by G. Randy Keller, Professor and Edward Lamb McCollough Chair in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Oklahoma, and Chaitanya Baru, a distinguished scientist at SDSC. More information about the 388-page hardbound book, published by the British-based Cambridge University Press, can be found online. Read full press release... 2011-06-03T23:20:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/sdsc_to_host_grand_challenges_in_data_intensive_discovery_conference/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/sdsc_to_host_grand_challenges_in_data_intensive_discovery_conference/#When:05:25:00Z Oct. 26-28 Event to Explore Opportunities for Flash Memory-based ‘Gordon’ Supercomputer to Debut in 2011 The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego, will host a special conference in late October as it prepares to deploy a unique data-intensive, high- performance computing (HPC) system called Gordon in mid-2011. Called “Grand Challenges in Data-Intensive Discovery”, the multi-disciplinary conference will be held October 26-28, 2010 at SDSC, located on the UC San Diego campus. Attendees can register for the conference beginning August 2 by visiting www.sdsc.edu/gordongrandchallenge. “Science has entered a data-intensive era, driven by a deluge of data being generated by digitally based instruments, sensor networks, and simulation devices,” said Michael Norman, interim director of SDSC. “Hence, a growing part of the scientific enterprise is associated with analyzing such data, placing special demands on computer architectures because the associated calculations have frequent I/O accesses, large memory requirements, and often limited parallelism. “We believe this conference will greatly benefit those doing research in data-intensive fields,” added Norman. ”Gordon, and future systems like it, will open new opportunities across numerous areas of research, and it is important that such resources are utilized to their utmost capabilities.” The goal of the GCDID conference is to provide an opportunity for attendees to share their expertise while exchanging ideas about the computational challenges and concerns common to data-intensive problems. Specifically, the conference is structured to facilitate discussion to help: Articulate and clarify “Grand Challenges” in data-intensive research across a broad range of disciplines, including arts, astronomy, biology, computer science, earth sciences, economics, engineering, humanities, medicine, neuroscience, social sciences, and data-related technologies Identify applications and disciplines that can benefit from Gordon’s unique architecture and capabilities, including those that have not been part of the traditional HPC community Identify common technical needs across disciplines and relevant software solutions Recognize opportunities for leaders in data-intensive science to take advantage of SDSC’s available expertise in this area Speakers scheduled to address the GCDID conference, according to topic, include: Visual Arts - Lev Manovich, UC San Diego Needs and Opportunities in Observational Astronomy - Alex Szalay, Johns Hopkins University Transient Sky Surveys - Peter Nugent, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Large Data-Intensive Graph Problems - John Gilbert, UC Santa Barbara Algorithms for Massive Data Sets - Michael Mahoney, Stanford University Needs and Opportunities in Seismic Modeling and Earthquake Preparedness - Tom Jordan, University of Southern California Economics and Econometrics - James Hamilton, UC San Diego Needs and Opportunities in Fluid Dynamics Modeling and Flow Field Data Analysis - Parviz Moin, Stanford University Needs and Emerging Opportunities in Neuroscience - Mark Ellisman, UC San Diego Data-Driven Science in the Globally Networked World - Larry Smarr, UC San Diego Accelerating Data-Intensive Science with Dash and Gordon - Allan Snavely, San Diego Supercomputer Center Data Challenges in Biomedical Informatics - Lucila Ohno-Machado, UC San Diego Needs and Opportunities in Computational Biology - Rick Stevens, Argonne National Laboratory.* * to be confirmed Contributed talks, panel discussions, sharing of early user experiences, and posters will complement the plenary speakers listed above. The schedule will be posted on the conference website shortly. “With a peak speed of 245 teraflops, very large shared memory nodes, and a quarter-petabyte of flash SSD (solid state drive) memory, Gordon will vastly accelerate large database and data mining applications,” said Norman. “This system will reduce solution times and yield results for applications that now tax even the most advanced supercomputers, while helping to make sense of the avalanche of data generated by the digital devices of our era.” SDSC announced last November that it won a five-year, $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build and operate Gordon, the first high-performance supercomputer to employ a vast amount of flash memory to help speed solutions now hamstrung by slower spinning disk technology. Gordon will be a peer-reviewed, allocated resource on NSF’s TeraGrid, and be available to any U.S. researcher.  TeraGrid is the nation’s largest open-access scientific discovery infrastructure. SDSC has now deployed Dash, a smaller prototype of Gordon that gives prospective users an opportunity to explore Gordon’s unique architectural features.  Dash also gives computer scientists and systems architects a way to address some of the key challenges that must be met as part of Gordon’s deployment.  Attendees will have an opportunity to hear from early Dash users during a panel session focused on early user experience. About SDSC As an Organized Research Unit of UC San Diego, SDSC is a national leader in creating and providing cyberinfrastructure for data-intensive research, and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year as one of the National Science Foundation’s first supercomputer centers. Cyberinfrastructure refers to an accessible and integrated network of computer-based resources and expertise, focused on accelerating scientific inquiry and discovery. SDSC is a founding member of TeraGrid, the nation’s largest open-access scientific discovery infrastructure. Comment: Michael Norman, SDSC, 858 822-5450 Media Contacts: Jan Zverina, SDSC Communications 858 534-5111 or Warren R. Froelich, SDSC Communications 858 822-3622 or Related Links SDSC: www.sdsc.edu SDSC Dash User Guide: www.sdsc.edu/us/resources/dash UC San Diego: www.ucsd.edu 2010-08-31T05:25:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/geon_at_american_geophysical_union_agu_fall_meeting/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/geon_at_american_geophysical_union_agu_fall_meeting/#When:17:44:00Z GEON will share a booth with the TEAM network at the AGU meeting in San Francisco from December 13-17, 2010.  Please stay tuned for updated presentation and booth activities.  The AGU meeting site has more information and the booth location.  GEON will be in booths 344 and 346 next to the NEON booth. 2010-08-23T17:44:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/geon_at_gsa_fall_meeting/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/geon_at_gsa_fall_meeting/#When:14:14:00Z Plan to visit the GEON team at the GSA Fall meeting.  Once again, we’ll be hosting a booth (#756) in the Exhibit Hall, where we’ll be highlighting the project’s most recent developments and tools.  Team members will be giving demos and available to discuss resources available via GEON, including the OpenTopography Portal and the Open Earth Framework.  Team members will be giving demos and available to discuss resources available via GEON, including the OpenTopography Portal and the Open Earth Framework.  Stop by to see the latest OpenTopography features and data sets, including visualization of LiDAR data in Google Earth and recently released data for faults in southern California (Elsinore, Owens Valley, and Burro Flat San Andreas) and the Intermountain Seismic Belt, including Yellowstone and Teton National Parks.  Also being highlighted at the booth will be the Open Earth Framework, a data discovery, integration, and visualization system currently under development. In addition to the project’s booth activities, Christopher Crosby will present “Enhancing Access To High-Resolution LIDAR Topography - From Point Clouds To Google Earth” (Crosby, Christopher J. , Nandigam, Viswanath, Arrowsmith, Ramon , and Baru, Chaitan) on Monday, October 19th at 2:15 p.m. in Room B117/118/119 of the Oregon Convention Center. Plan to visit the GEON team at the GSA Fall meeting.  Once again, we’ll be hosting a booth (#756) in the Exhibit Hall, where we’ll be highlighting the project’s most recent developments and tools.  Team members will be giving demos and available to discuss resources available via GEON, including the OpenTopography Portal and the Open Earth Framework.  Team members will be giving demos and available to discuss resources available via GEON, including the OpenTopography Portal and the Open Earth Framework.  Stop by to see the latest OpenTopography features and data sets, including visualization of LiDAR data in Google Earth and recently released data for faults in southern California (Elsinore, Owens Valley, and Burro Flat San Andreas) and the Intermountain Seismic Belt, including Yellowstone and Teton National Parks.  Also being highlighted at the booth will be the Open Earth Framework, a data discovery, integration, and visualization system currently under development. In addition to the project’s booth activities, Christopher Crosby will present “Enhancing Access To High-Resolution LIDAR Topography - From Point Clouds To Google Earth” (Crosby, Christopher J. , Nandigam, Viswanath, Arrowsmith, Ramon , and Baru, Chaitan) on Monday, October 19th at 2:15 p.m. in Room B117/118/119 of the Oregon Convention Center. 2009-10-09T14:14:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/remotely_sensed_earth_data_visualization_tool_and_technology_summit_santa_b/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/remotely_sensed_earth_data_visualization_tool_and_technology_summit_santa_b/#When:21:00:01Z GEON team members will attend the Remotely-Sensed Earth-Data Visualization Tool and Technology Summit to be held October 27th in Santa Barbara. This Summit is being organized by the New Media Research Institute and will bring together data visualization tool makers to talk about the state of the science in remote sensing visualization tool development.  GEON team members will attend the Remotely-Sensed Earth-Data Visualization Tool and Technology Summit to be held October 27th in Santa Barbara. This Summit is being organized by the New Media Research Institute and will bring together data visualization tool makers to talk about the state of the science in remote sensing visualization tool development.  GEON’s Open Earth Framework (OEF) software will be part of this discussion, with key developers attending and demonstrating its capabilities.  Descriptions of all tools discussed at this Summit will be collected into a book, Earth Data Visualization Tools and Technologies: State of the art and future trends, which will be published by the Earth System Research Press in early 2010. The Summit will also publish its conversations and content on the Summit site (http://nmri.org/tags/summit).  Further information regarding this Summit is available at http://nmri.org/news/2009/08/11/remotely-sensed-earth-data-visualization-tool-and-technology-summit. 2009-09-10T21:00:01-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/data_management_workshop_october_29_30_2009/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/data_management_workshop_october_29_30_2009/#When:18:41:00Z A Data Management Workshop, organized by CRC Transregio 32 (Patterns in Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Systems: monitoring, modeling and data assimilation) and CRC 806 (Our Way to Europe: Culture-Environment Interaction and Human Mobility in the Late Quaternary), will be held October 29-30, 2009 at the University of Cologne - Institute of Geography.  Chaitan Baru (GEON PI, SDSC) is an invited speaker and will give a talk on GEON.  The submission deadline for papers at this workshop is October 15th, and registration is open through October 19th.  Full program details are available at http://www.tr32db.uni-koeln.de/workshop/workshop09.php.  A Data Management Workshop, organized by CRC Transregio 32 (Patterns in Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Systems: monitoring, modeling and data assimilation) and CRC 806 (Our Way to Europe: Culture-Environment Interaction and Human Mobility in the Late Quaternary), will be held October 29-30, 2009 at the University of Cologne - Institute of Geography.  Chaitan Baru (GEON PI, SDSC) is an invited speaker and will give a talk on GEON.  The submission deadline for papers at this workshop is October 15th, and registration is open through October 19th.  Full program details are available at http://www.tr32db.uni-koeln.de/workshop/workshop09.php.  2009-09-08T18:41:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/cloud_computing_and_collaborative_technologies_in_the_geosciences_workshop_/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/cloud_computing_and_collaborative_technologies_in_the_geosciences_workshop_/#When:21:38:00Z A Cloud Computing and Collaborative Technologies in the Geosciences workshop will be held September 17-18th at Indiana University in Indianapolis.  Chaitan Baru and Sriram Krishnan will represent the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California San Diego at this meeting, and Dr. Baru will lead a panel on “Challenges of adopting cloud technologies”. A Cloud Computing and Collaborative Technologies in the Geosciences workshop will be held September 17-18th at Indiana University in Indianapolis.  Chaitan Baru and Sriram Krishnan to attend representing the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California San Diego at this meeting, and Dr. Baru will lead a panel on “Challenges of adopting cloud technologies”. The goals of the workshop are to: 1. Identify the key benefits and risks to adopting collaborative and cloud computing technologies in operational and research settings. 2. Present current best practices to making effective utilization of these resources. 3. Identify the computer science research challenges that must be overcome to advance cloud computing and collaborative technologies in the geosciences. The workshop is being sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and hosted by the Indiana University Pervasive Technologies Institute Data to Insight Center and LEAD project. Full workshop details are available at http://www.dataandsearch.org/dsi/events/geoclouds.html. 2009-09-07T21:38:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/scec_annual_meeting_september_12_16th/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/scec_annual_meeting_september_12_16th/#When:21:37:00Z The 2009 SCEC Annual Meeting will be held September 12-16 in Palm Springs, California at the Hilton Palm Springs resort. This year the meeting will focus on developing the long-term research agenda for the SCEC collaboration, in preparation for the next Center proposal (due early in 2010). The 2009 SCEC Annual Meeting will be held September 12-16 in Palm Springs, California at the Hilton Palm Springs resort. This year the meeting will focus on developing the long-term research agenda for the SCEC collaboration, in preparation for the next Center proposal (due early in 2010).  It is an opportunity for the SCEC community to provide input on SCEC research priorities for the coming years. GEON team member Christopher Crosby will be attending and presenting a poster that he co-authored (with V.N. Nandigam, S. Balakrishnan, J.R. Arrowsmith, C. Baru, and D.A. Phillips) entitled “The OpenTopography Portal: Access to High-Resolution LiDAR Topography for Faults in Southern California and Beyond”. Meeting details, including the current agenda and a submitted abstract search can can be found at http://www.scec.org/meetings/2009am/. 2009-09-04T21:37:00-08:00 http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/home/news_detail/highlights_of_geons_ci_contributions_to_earthscope/ http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/site/highlights_of_geons_ci_contributions_to_earthscope/#When:22:00:00Z EarthScope and GEON: The GEON project collaborates with EarthScope on a number of cyberinfrastructure projects, including development of the EarthScope Data Portal for distribution of EarthScope data, and use of the OpenTopography Portal for dissemination of GeoEarthScope LiDAR data. GEON is also developing the OpenEarth Framework (OEF) for integration of 3D and 4D earth science data. An alpha version of OEF has been used to visualize preliminary EarthScope data sets (see below). EarthScope and GEON: The GEON project collaborates with EarthScope on a number of cyberinfrastructure projects, including development of the EarthScope Data Portal for distribution of EarthScope data, and use of the OpenTopography Portal for dissemination of GeoEarthScope LiDAR data. GEON is also developing the OpenEarth Framework (OEF) for integration of 3D and 4D earth science data. An alpha version of OEF has been used to visualize preliminary EarthScope data sets (see below). The EarthScope Data Portal: The EarthScope Data Portal (portal.earthscope.org) was developed as a collaboration between the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), UNAVCO, and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP). The software architecture is based on technologies used in the GEON Portal (portal.geongrid.org). The EarthScope Portal uses advanced cyberinfrastructure to provide a single point of access to EarthScope data from multiple data archives. The Open Earth Framework (OEF) for integration of Earth Science data GEON's Open Earth Framework (OEF) project is developing a new software architecture, toolkit, client applications, and web services to manage and visualize diverse multi-dimensional earth science data. LEFT: OpenEarth Framework-enabled exploration of new P and S wave tomographic models from Matt Fouch (Arizona State University), David James (Carnegie Institution of Washington), and Jeff Roth (ExxonMobil Exploration). Red colors are S-wave model reduced velocity regions, which particularly highlight the sheet of reduced velocities in the upper 200 km across the Snake River Plain / Yellowstone region. Green colors are P-wave model increased velocity regions, which highlight the subducting Juan de Fuca slab and the newly discovered Great Basin Drip. The OpenTopography Portal: Gateway to GeoEarthScope LiDAR data Garlock fault The OpenTopography Portal (http://www.opentopography.org/) is a GEON Project initiative to build an online system that provides integrated access to high resolution topographic data, web-based processing tools, and enables the user community to share knowledge, experiences and resources. The OpenTopography Portal incorporates the GEON LiDAR Workflow (GLW) system for LiDAR point cloud access and processing and adds mechanisms for access to standard digital elevation models (DEMs) and Google Earth-based visualizations. OpenTopography hosts a variety of high-resolution LiDAR topography including data being delivered by the GeoEarthScope Project. Once complete, all GeoEarthScope LiDAR data for active faults throughout the western United States will be available through OpenTopography. For all GeoEarthScope data sets, LiDAR point cloud data, standard DEMs, and Google Earth hillshade visualizations will be available. LiDAR data currently available via OpenTopography include: Southern San Andreas and San Jacinto faults (B4 Project), Northern San Andreas fault system (GeoEarthScope), Garlock fault (GeoEarthScope), and the Intermountain Seismic Belt (GeoEarthScope). More GeoEarthScope data will be added as it is delivered to OpenTopography. NEW DATA: Yellowstone, Tetons, Wasatch Scarp on the southern part of the Nephi strand of the Wasatch fault. Faults at the east end of the Elephant Plateau portion of the Yellowstone dataset. Released May 7th 2009: GeoEarthScope Intermountain Seismic Belt (ISB) LiDAR dataset This release includes high resolution LiDAR topography data collected in tectonically active regions of Utah and Wyoming, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the Nephi segment of the Wasatch faultDownload Google Earth file: http://www.opentopography.org/kml 2009-05-14T22:00:00-08:00