2008-Feb-07 Modeling Committee Meeting Notes

Attendees:

Summary:

The initial modeling committee meeting tool place 1:30-3:00 EST using WebEx web conferencing. 

Rich Signell: The goals of the modeling committee should be to foster discoverability, accessibility and interoperability of model products in the Gulf of Maine.   The committee should try to identify tasks that are relatively easy to implement that would have a big impact in these areas.   Some ideas include:

A Model Interoperability Pilot Project:  This project would demonstrate access to models with several different grid and variable conventions, but using common client applications.   These client applications use NetCDF-Java to access remote NetCDF files that can be CF-compliant files served through OpenDAP, but can also be non-compliant files served on a regular web server.  These latter files are made compliant through the NcML mark-up language.   NcML can also aggregate sequential NetCDF files, to make numerous forecast files appear as a single NetCDF file to the client application.   This task has already begun,  and members are encouraged to try the existing Matlab and IDV demos and give feedback.

Catalog the known model datasets for the Gulf of Maine: This task would consist of creating metadata entries in DIF format and contributing them to the GCMD.   We should develop a best practice for describing model metadata within the GOMODP, and Nick Wolff, who has been active on the metadata front, will help lead this effort with Rich Signell.

Catalog software and technology skills of regional modelers into the existing GOMODP database: Jim Manning has a list of models, modelers and skills, collected during several years of meetings of New England Modelers.  It just needs to be updated and merged into the GOMDOP site.

Mike Mickelson: Do we need funding?  Perhaps GOMOOS could seek funding to work on tasks identified by this committee.

Jim Manning: A interactive float tracking would be an extremely useful client that could take advantage of the data provided by the Pilot Project model datasets.   A new client could be written in Java or Matlab to use the NetCDF-Java methods, or existing clients like NOAA's GNOME model could be adapted to use the NetCDF-Java methods.   Jim mentioned that he has obtained some funds to hold a regional modeling workshop, to be held in late May that could be used to promulgate our goals and philosophy to a larger community.

Action items:

• Will Perrie and Bash Toulany will work with Rich Signell to get WaveWatch 3 model results incorporated into the Model Interoperability Pilot Project
• Nick Wolff will suggest a best practice for creating model metadata appropriate for GOMODP.
• Jim Manning will incorporate his previous information on models, modelers and skills into the GOMDOP site.
• Committee members are encouraged to register for the GOMODP Plone web site at http://www.gomodp.org/join_form to allow you to edit, add pages and upload files in this modeling committee folder.   Maybe we can cover a few basic Plone skills in the next meeting.
• Committee members are encouraged to register at http://gomodp.whoi.edu/bin/addname where you can list your modeling and software skills to serve as a resource for others in the region.
• Rich Signell will work on scheduling the next meeting for mid-late March.