Goals of the HPDE and the HP Scientific Data Management Policy
Heliophysics (HP) research seeks to determine and model the nature and
dynamical interactions of the Sun, the heliosphere, and the plasma
environments of the planets based on data from a fleet of spacecraft
termed the "Heliophysics System Observatory." (See the NASA Science Plan 2014 and other documents, and the Heliophysics Science web page.)
Achieving the desired understanding requires easy access to data and
tools from a distributed set of active archives, each of which has its
own architecture and formats: together these data and tools form the
core of the Heliophysics Data Environment (HPDE). The NASA Heliophysics Science Data Management Policy (pdf version),
composed with considerable community input, presents an integrated view
of the HPDE. Among other things, the HP Data Policy provides a summary
of the components of the HPDE, gives a timeline for the data lifecycle,
and provides guidelines for documents such as Project Data Management
Plans. This document is guiding the implementation of a distributed,
integrated, flexible data environment to meet the current and future
needs of Heliophysics research.
Principles: Scientific involvement; Open access to useful data
The basic principles for the HP Data Environment are the involvement of
scientists in each stage of the process, and the acceptance of the goal
of openly accessible data that are independently scientifically usable.
While the HPDE is guided by a "top-down" vision provided by the Data
Policy, it is implemented from the bottom up, built from peer-reviewed
data systems driven by community needs and founded on community-based
standards. Consistent with this approach, data providers and data users
share responsibility for the quality and proper use of the data for
research.
Background and significant references
A significant impetus for the direction of the current HP Data Environment (HPDE) was the The Final Report of the LWS Science Data System Planning Team
that recommended a distributed approach growing out of current systems,
guided by science needs, with a small administrative staff. Following
that, The Right Amount of Glue: Technologies and Standards relevant to a Future Solar Terrestrial Data Environment
presented the idea that standards such as XML and related software
tools, and the behavioral standard of sharing data provide the "glue"
needed to hold together a data access and use system. An overview of
the "Virtual Observatories" that form the concrete realization of one
part of the above ideas was provided in "A Framework for Space and Solar Physics Virtual Observatories."
Central to the success of the Data Environment is a uniform set of
terminology to describe products and their sources. A number of groups
in the US and elsewhere have worked on this problem. To foster the
interoperability of the various partners in the HPDE, NASA HP has
sponsored the SPASE
(Space Physics Archive Search and Extract) collaborative, consisting of scientists and software designers from a
number of US and international institutions, to develop a Data Model
that will allow uniform descriptions of products and services. The current official version of the Data Model is available for use, and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.
Guide to the links above
The newest components of the HPDE are discipline-specific Virtual Observatories (VxOs) and post-mission Resident Archives; the News
section here provides details on their selection as well as information
on other successful proposals, relevant meetings, and other notes of
interest. The History section
provides further information on past HP data efforts and many links to
earlier documents that still provide insight. To get to the real
substance of the HPDE, namely the data from the HSO and related
services, use the Data Access
link. Many activities related to data access (e.g. "Virtual Observatories" and "Resident Archives") and to continual data improvements ("Data Upgrades") have been united within the "Heliophysics Data and Model Consortium"; click the HDMC link to see a description of the activities, and a complete lists of past and current projects. Like other NASA enterprises, Heliophysics is beginning to develop a guide to software tools relevant to HP research; the Software Tools tab above leads to current efforts at documentation. To see the current behavior of the particles and fields from the
Sun that can affect human endeavors, follow the links on the "Space Weather" page, or try the Integrated Space Weather Analysis System (iSWA), an approach outside of these pages that allows you to design your own Space Weather monitor.
Responsible NASA official:
Dr. Aaron Roberts E-mail: aaron.roberts@nasa.gov
