[Go-essp-tech] Extending the DRS syntax to observations

[Raskin, Rob (388M)]

I have just begun working on this task and will add my initial thoughts. There are two separate issues- (i) fulfilling the needs of the existing naming structures and tools as established by the modeling community; and (ii) fulfilling the needs of the observational community. We probably should focus on (i) initially (i.e., work within the existing environment), given the time constraints involved and the need for broad consensus for new standards.

Under this assumption, it seems that the "DRS experiment" should map to something under the direct control of the scientist such as Processing Version, as both involve a specific set of algorithms applied. Also, the "DRS Model" probably should map to the Instrument, as both are the direct source of the data. That leaves no mapping for "DRS Ensemble", as that has no analog in the observational world, and probably should be removed from the required set of parameters because it is model-specific. Also Mission is without a direct DRS variable to map to, but can be readily described elsewhere in metadata.

-Rob

________________________________________
From: Cinquini, Luca (3880) [Luca.Cinquini at jpl.nasa.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 14:50
To: climate-obs; go-essp-tech at ucar.edu
Subject: Extending the DRS syntax to observations

Hi all,
apologies for cross-posting...

I'd like to start a discussion on how the DRS specification for CMIP5 model output (http://cmip-pcmdi.llnl.gov/cmip5/docs/cmip5_data_reference_syntax.pdf)
can be applied to observational datasets that will be made part of the same archive.  A proposal based on recent workshops with PCMDI is detailed on this wiki page:

http://oodt.jpl.nasa.gov/wiki/display/CLIMATE/Data+and+Metadata+Requirements+for+CMIP5+Observational+Datasets

As an example, the directory structure for the NASA AIRS dataset would look like this:

<root directory>/cmip5/observations/nasa/aqua/airs/mon/atmos/ta/l3/vYYYYMMDD/<files>

where:

"observations"=<product>, same as DRS "output1" or "output2"
"nasa"=<agency>, same as DRS "institute"
"aqua"=<mission>, replaces DRS "model"
"airs"=<instrument>, replaces DRS "experiment"
"l3"=<processing level>, replaces DRS "ensemble member"
vYYYYMMDD=the dated version, same as specified by the DRS

The values for the various fields <agency>, <mission>, <instrument> and <processing level> would need to be selected from a controlled vocabulary similar to the one established for models.

Any comment or insight on the matter is appreciated.... The idea is to try to finalize the specification relatively quickly, let's say a couple of weeks, so that we can start preparing
and publishing these observations into the CMIP5 archive.

thanks in advance,

Luca