History

The Earth System Curator grew out of a white paper prepared in 2004, Future Directions for the Earth System Modeling Framework. Nearing completion of the first funding cycle for the framework, the collaborators from that effort looked forward to how modeling infrastructure could evolve, and in particular how it would interact with data services to support model intercomparison projects.

The white paper served as the seed of a proposal that was awarded in August, 2005, by the National Science Foundation Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, entitled: Earth System Curator: Spanning the Gap Between Models and Datasets. Collaborating institutions included GFDL, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Initially the Curator collaborators focused on the development of metadata schemata. Early collaborations included work with the European Numerical Model Metadata (NMM) group on how to define and represent model information, including components, models, and simulations. Partnerships were established with the Community Data Portal and Earth System Grid (ESG) projects. These groups worked with the Curator team to implement and test model metadata additions to their existing schema.

An NCAR Advanced Studies Symposium Colloquium entitled Numerical Techniques for Global Atmospheric Models presented an excellent opportunity to test Curator concepts in action. The colloquium centered on a model intercomparison project that brought together about 13 different atmospheric dynamical cores, the part of the model that solves the governing equations of fluid dynamics. Working closely with ESG developers, the Curator team developed a prototype portal that stored metadata on each of the dynamical cores, along with datasets. The core infrastructure capabilities developed for the Colloquium were merged with the main ESG development path.

Meanwhile, in Europe the Common Metadata for Climate Modelling Digital Repositories was funded, and began a vigorous effort to define comprehensive metadata for the 5th Assessment Report for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Curator team members began a close collaboration with this group, and have contributed to, reviewed, and implemented the METAFOR Common Information Model (CIM). The Curator team is participating in preparations for the 5th Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), which is a central feature of the 5th Assessment Report. Curator members are implementing key parts of the end-to-end metadata collection and archival system for this important international effort.

In addition to the IPCC thrust, Curator team members have initiated a number of smaller projects. These span many elements of infrastructure, and share an integrative approach.