The electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) 2007-2008
Abstract
An Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) is planned for 2007/08 as a 50-year sequel to the highly successful International Geophysical Year. The central objective is to bring the management of geoscientific information worldwide into the 21st century through an e-Science approach and the development of virtual observatories. The challenge in 1957-58 was to acquire and make available to the world community the observational data required to build a comprehensive understanding of the Earth and its processes. That challenge remains and is yet more pressing because of the growing demands we place on our natural resources and environment. Our observational data gathering capabilities have expanded enormously during the past 50 years, particularly through space-based observations. For example, the US National Virtual Observatory will be adding 500 TB of astronomical data per year from 2004. This proliferation of data requires a modern, distributed approach to data management and dissemination. To meet this challenge, we have at our disposal the power of the Internet and grid computing infrastructures for data sharing, processing, and visualization. The eGY concept arose within the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, with support from the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, the International Union of Geological Sciences, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, as a means of providing an international focus for e-Science and virtual observatory development across all the geosciences. It provides a common thread among other global geoscientific initiatives - the 4th International Polar Year, the International Year of Planet Earth, the International Heliospheric Year, and Climate and Weather of the Sun-Earth System. Virtual observatories provide exciting prospects in the geosciences, and are under varying stages of development, for example the Virtual Seismic Network (http://equinfo.ucsd.edu/vsn/), the Virtual Solar Observatory (http://vso.nso.edu/), and the Virtual Geomagnetic Observatory (http://maggy.emgin.umich.edu/mist/). It is only a matter of time before virtual observatories are a standard feature across all the discipline areas within the geosciences, and add a new dimension to the role of the World Data Centers.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004AGUSM.U23A..03B
- Keywords:
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- 3349 Polar meteorology;
- 9310 Antarctica