WP 2.7 General Portal for data access

WP 2.7 aimed at the realization of a system for discovery and access of NextData data and products. NextData data and products are available in a set of distributed thematic archives hosted by the participant organizations. The integrated information system, accessible through a dedicated portal, allows discovery and access of such data and products.

Activities

WP 2.7, structured on a single task, carried out the design and development of the information system for discovery and access of geospatial data acquired or generated in the context of NextData project. The system is conceived as a System of Systems, that is an infrastructure integrating autonomous systems and providing addedd value services of metadata and data harmonization. Such a solution allows to keep data acquisition and generation autonomous. However, thanks to the adopted solution based on a brokering architecture, the end user is abel to access to a single integrated system providing access todata independently of their physical location, in an easy and transparent way. In such a way, the system is also extensible, enabling possible and auspicable integration of other providers in the NextData information system. The system is absed on two main components: the mediation subsystem (broker) developed by CNR-IIA, and the access portal developed by CINECA. The first subsystem enables the interconnection of autonomous data sources indepndently of the communication protocol they use for data discovery and access, and independently of the adopted metadata and data format. The portal is the user interface sending requests to the mediation subsystem.

Results

At the end of the project the NextData infrastructure has been realized with the implementation, integration and deployment of the two main components: the mediation subsystem (broker) and the access portal. The two components are deployed on the high performances cloud infrastructure operated by CINECA. In the configuration adopted at the end of the project, the NextData infrastructure connects the data bases of five NextData providers: CMCC, ENEA, ICTP, INGV, CNR-ISAC. For demonstartion and test purposes, it also connects some selected data sources, including NASA Global Change Master Directory e Nasa SVS Image Server. Thanks to the System of Systems architecture, all data published in the connected data bases are automatically made available to NextData users, without any intervention by the infrastructure managers. The system is extensible, by broker configuration to connect further potential data sources. To this aim, the broker supports over 30 different communication protocols for discovery and access, including the most widespread standards for geospatial data sharing (OGC, ISO,etc.). The system provides discovery and access (download) functionalities, through both serice interfaces, and graphical interface (portal).