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Services definition & Scientific tools
and architecture definition,
V1
Authors
Company
Philippe PEYLIN
LSCE
Christine Mc HUGH
CERC
Jean-Marc PECHINOT
TAS
Approval
Company
Pascal PRUNET
NOVELTIS
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CHANGE RECORDS
ISSUE DATE
§ : CHANGE RECORD
AUTHOR
1
Document Creation
Christine Mc HUGH
13/04/2020
Philippe PEYLIN
Jean-Marc PECHINOT
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Table of contents
1
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................4
2
ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS ...............................................................................................................5
3
APPLICABLE AND REFERENCE DOCUMENTS .................................................................................6
4
DESIGN METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................7
5
GENERAL PRESENTATION OF THE SYSTEM ....................................................................................7
6
ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATION ........................................................................................................9
6.1
DATA ACCESS SPECIFICATIONS ...............................................................................................................9
6.1.1 Fluxes .................................................................................................................................................9
6.1.2 Stocks..................................................................................................................................................9
6.1.3 Additional fields ...............................................................................................................................10
6.1.4 Uncertainty estimates .......................................................................................................................10
6.1.5 Format ..............................................................................................................................................10
6.2
PROCESSING SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................10
6.2.1 Temporal filtering.............................................................................................................................10
6.2.2 Spatial Averaging .............................................................................................................................12
6.3
VIEWER SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................12
6.3.1 Main sections....................................................................................................................................12
6.3.2 Data Visualisation ............................................................................................................................13
6.4
PORTAL SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................18
7
API/SDK SPECIFICATIONS ....................................................................................................................19
8
DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES ......................................................................................................20
9
PORTAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE ...............................................................................................22
10
ANNEX 1: REVIEW OF EXISTING WEBSITES ..............................................................................22
10.1
10.2
10.3
11
SERVICES COMPARISON .........................................................................................................................22
DATA COMPARISON ...............................................................................................................................23
USER QUESTIONNAIRE ..........................................................................................................................24
ANNEX 2 : RE-USABLE EXISTING SERVICES .............................................................................26
11.1
11.2
SOLUTIONS STUDY FOR CARBONES COMPONENTS .............................................................................26
INSPIRE INSTRUCTIONS: EC EXAMPLE.................................................................................................29
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Introduction
This document provides the description of the design of the CARBONES Architecture. It is based on
requirements (DA1) and discussions with scientist and expert partners of the project and a review of
existing websites for the potential technologies. The current version of the document is proposed as
a baseline for discussion with the CARBONES team and concerns the first CARBONES version (V0) to
be delivered at T0+12. This document is an updated version of the document delivered at
T0+6months (DA2). This document will continue to be updated all along the project thanks to
iterations with members of the CARBONES team.
The CARBONES system architecture is described in the following sections of this document:

Section 4 contains the design methodology

Section 5 contains the general presentation of the system

Section 6 contains the Architecture Specification, including
o
The Data Access specifications (Section 4.1)
o
The processing specifications (Section 4.2)
o
The viewer specifications (Section 4.3)
o
The Portal Specification (Section 4.4)

Section 7 contains the API specifications

Section 8 contains the portal development technologies

Section 9 contains the description of the portal environment schedule

Section 10 is an ANNEX 1 : review of existing websites for existing carbon related projects

Section 11 is an ANNEX 2 : Analysis of existing services that can be used for CARBONES.
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Abbreviations and terms
Abbreviation
Term
API
Application Programming Interface
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
CARBONES
30 years re-analysis of space and time variations of CARBON fluxES and pools
over Europe and the globe
CCDAS
Carbon Cycle Data Access System
CERC
Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants
DBMS
Data Base Management System
DoW
Description of Work
EC
European Commission
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
GENESIS
GENeric European Sustainable Information Space for environment
GIS
Geographic Information System
GMES
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
GML
Geography Mark-up Language
GUI
Graphical User Interface
HTML
Hyper Text Mark-up Language
HTTP
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
IAV
Inter-annual variability
INSPIRE
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe
IP
Internet Protocol
JRC
Joint Research Centre
LSCE
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement
NetCFF
Network Common Data Form
NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
PoV
Point of View
REST
Representational State Transfer
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Software Development Kit
SOA
Service Oriented Architecture
SOAP
Simple Object Access Protocol
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
WFS
Web Feature Service
WP
Work Package
WPS
Web Processing Service
XML
eXtensible Markup Language
DA1
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Applicable and Reference Documents
D210.1 System Requirements synthesis and justification
CARBONES-D210.1-REP-TASF-005-01-00
DA2
Services definition & Scientific tools and architecture definition D220.1 & D230.1
CARBONES-D220.1-REP-TASF-008-01-00, CARBONES-D230.1-REP-TASF-007-01-00
DA3
D520.1 Description of V0 Portal 30 March 2011,
CARBONES-D510.1-DAT-NOVELTIS-014-01-00
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Design Methodology
The design methodology for CARBONES Architecture is derived from the Open Distributed Processing
Reference Model: RM-ODP (ISO/IEC10746) described in this section.
RM-ODP defines the five viewpoints for an architecture development:
Viewpoint
Description of the RM-ODP Viewpoint
Enterprise
It is similar to a “business model”, it focuses on purpose, scope, and policies.
Information
Focuses on the semantics of the information and information processing
performed, by describing the structure and content types of supporting data.
Computational
Service-oriented viewpoint that enables distribution through functional
decomposition of the system into objects that interact at interfaces.
Engineering
Identification of component types to support distributed interaction between
the components.
Technology
Identification of component instances as physical deployed technology
solutions, including network descriptions.
Tableau 1 RM-ODP viewpoints.
The following sections of the architecture will also gather the RM-ODP viewpoints into the following :

Specifications : for Enterprise PoVáá

Engineering : for Engineering PoV

Detailed Architecture : for Computational, information and Technology PoV
5
General presentation of the system
CARBONES architecture can be represented as follows, including 4 main components :
The Data Access
The processing
The viewer
The API
The figure below illustrates the flow of data and the responsibilities of LSCE and CERC in the
development of the CARBONES system.
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LSCE
LSCE
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CERC
CERC
Carbon Cycle
Data assimilation
system (CCDAS)
Carbon fluxes
Carbon stocks
Post-processing
Maps of fluxes,
tables
Time series of fluxes/stocks
Outputs from
MAC, Geoland2
Input data from CCDAS
Visualisation /
Comparison
validation data (forest biomass,
other satellite products,...)
The various CARBONES specifications concern either the CCDAS inversion system or the portal as it is
illustrated in the following figure:
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Architecture Specification
6.1
Data Access Specifications
The Carbon Data Assimilation System will deliver fluxes and stocks of carbon, plus latent heat and
sensible fluxes over land. From these variables, addition quantities need to be calculated through
post-processing.
6.1.1 Fluxes
The specifications for fluxes to be generated by the CCDAS are as follows:

Carbon fluxes will be generated for 20 to 30 year periods (20 years for the first release V0)
over land and over ocean as separate variables at a resolution of 1 x 1 degrees (Note that the
fluxes will be derived at a coarser resolution 2.5° x 3.75° for CARBONES version 0 and
interpolated on a 1°x1° degree grid) ,

For Land surfaces, carbon fluxes will consist of several components:

o
Natural fluxes
o
Anthropogenic fluxes
o
A split of the natural fluxes into: grassland, forests, and cropland and for each
component a separation into the gross components: Photosynthesis and Respiration.
For Ocean: only the net air-sea exchange will be provided
Carbon flux units: kgC / m2 / hour.
Moreover, the following variables will be generated:

Latent heat fluxes for the same period and spatial resolution: The Latent heat flux is
important for the Climate Users to validate their model at the same time of the carbon flux
validation.

Sensible heat flux for V1 of the CCDAS.
Heat flux units: W / m2.
6.1.2


Stocks
Over Land: carbon Stocks will be produced for several reservoirs: above ground biomass,
below ground biomass, litter, Soil Organic Matter (possibly separated into slow, passive and
active reservoirs) for the same period and spatial resolution;
Leaf Area Index (LAI) will also be displayed (equivalent to a leaf carbon stock).
Carbon stock units (over land): KgC / m2
No unit for LAI.
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Additional fields
Area of each grid cell (in m2)

Land cover composition for each grid cell (in terms of proportion of each vegetation type)

Land sea mask (either 0 or 1: no fractions).
6.1.4 Uncertainty estimates
For all fluxes/stocks, in addition to the main value, the CCDAS will provide as well an estimate of the
uncertainty (Bayesian uncertainty calculated by the CCDAS (V1 of the system for the uncertainties).
6.1.5 Format
One variable for each component into a series of NetCDF files that contain all time steps and all grid
boxes: 1 file per flux variable (delivered at a 3 hourly time step) plus 1 file for the C stocks variables
will be provided.
6.2
Processing Specifications
The post-processing step is required to transform the output of the CCDAS and other sources of data
(validation data) into C-cycle relevant diagnostics (for climate users and policy makers).
Below, we describe the specifications for that step. Concepts/programs used in this step should be
documented and accessible by the other partners.
The post-processing will be performed off-line at CERC. The results of the post-processing will be
presented through the web portal. Website users will not be able to repeat the post-processing
through the web interface. Website users will be able to download the post-processing code and the
raw data, enabling them to repeat the post-processing, or modify the code to perform different postprocessing.
The processing specifications are of 2 types:

Temporal filtering applied to any time series of raw data (each grid cell data or spatially
aggregated data)

Spatial averaging.
6.2.1 Temporal filtering
Several types of “Temporal filtering” shall be applicable to all variables. Note that the temporal
filtering of the associated errors is more complex (need to account for error correlations) and will be
specified for V1 of the portal only.
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6.2.1.1 Temporal aggregation
The data will be shown at the original temporal resolution plus at a coarser resolution.
Fluxes: Compute from the original values (3-hourly) the daily, monthly and annual values. We should
also compute the mean season cycle over a given period (daily values).
Biomass stocks: Compute from the original values (monthly) the annual values.
LAI variable: Compute from the daily values the monthly values.
6.2.1.2 Temporal filtering and temporal-scale separation
Temporal filtering will be applied to daily mean fluxes and monthly mean stocks.
We should fit the data to a function (polynomial of degree 2 + 4 harmonics) and then filter the
residuals from the polynomial (or the function) in the frequency space using different low pass filter
(cuttof2, see section 6), in order to define:

Trend: the Polynomial term + filtered residuals with cutoff2=600 days

Trend+short term variations: Polynomial term + filtered residuals with cutoff2=100 days

Smooth curve (for growing season length, V1): function + filtered residuals with cutoff1=90
days
6.2.1.3 Mean vs anomalies
The user should be able to subtract the mean flux/stock over the whole period to compute
anomalies.
6.2.1.4 Special Temporal Aggregation
3 key periods (whole period, first 10 yrs, second 10 yrs) should be defined and used for the spatially
aggregated quantities.
Fluxes: Mean flux (in KgC/region/yr) over the 3 periods displayed as “Bar Graphs” for all different
components.
Biomass: Increment defined as the difference between last and first monthly values of the period
displayed as “Bar Graph” for different components.
6.2.1.5 Amplitude of the seasonal cycle
Maximum – minimum of the “Function” return from the filtering process (does not depend on the
cutoff frequencies) (for V1).
6.2.1.6 Growing season length for the mid-high latitudes
Time of the “zero crossing up” minus Time of the “zero crossing down” for the fluxes.
Computed from the function+filtered residuals (cutoff1 at 90 days) from the filtering process (for V1).
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6.2.2 Spatial Averaging
All variables (fluxes and biomass) should be aggregated onto predefined regions (V1 of the portal).
LSCE provides a NetCDF file with 2D masks describing for the 1°x1° resolution (resolution of the
output variables) all regions of interest. The masks contain 1 for the region, 0 elsewhere.

There will be 3 types of regions:
o
land only,
o
ocean only,
o
land+ocean.

When doing the aggregation, there should be a Unit conversion: flux in kgC/m2/hr changed
in GtC/hr or GtC/month or GtC/year, depending on the temporal aggregation (multiplication
by the surface of the grid boxes, given as a separate variable)

Region differences: Like for the CarbonTracker website, version V1 will compute and present
Flux-Differences between specific regions (i.e. Tropical land minus N. Extratropical land).
Note: The spatial averaging applies to Fluxes and Stocks. However, for the ocean, there are no carbon
stocks; there are thus only land regions for C stocks and latent heat flux.
The post-processing specification are described in detail in DA3.
6.3
Viewer Specifications
The portal should allow the visualisation of the different quantities calculated in the Post-processing.
The design of the portal can be inspired from the Carboscope and CarbonTracker websites. It will be
designed by CERC based on their expertise for including the features presented hereafter. CERC
should therefore make propositions on the portal design and functionalities.
6.3.1 Main sections
The portal should include the following sections:


General Overview :
o
Project objectives
o
Collaborators
o
Overview
CARBONES system description
o
What is a CCDAS?
o
Models (through a drop-down menu)
- Land C model
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- ocean C model
- atmospheric transport

o
Data to be assimilated
o
Optimization procedure
Results
o
View
- Flux time series
- C-Stocks time series
- Flux maps (fix map for V0 / possibility of interactive map V1)
- C-Stocks maps (fix map for V0 / possibility of interactive map V1)
- Atmospheric CO2 Evolution
- Products evaluation
product)
o

(V1 comparison with MAC, GEOLAND2,… similar flux
Data access
General information
o
Contact
o
Term of use
o
FAQ
o
Release history
o
Glossary
o
Related projects, link to the following websites
- CCDAS: www.ccdas.org
- CARBONTRACKER: www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker
- CARBOSCOPE: http://www.carboscope.eu/
6.3.2
Data Visualisation
6.3.2.1 Flux Time Series
The menu should contain at least the following choices:

For Regions:
o

pre-selected regions (V0)
for Flux type: There should be several choices including:
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Total CO2 fluxes (V0)
o
Natural CO2 fluxes ( V0)
o
Net ecosystem fluxes (V0)
o
Photosynthesis (V0)
o
Respiration ( V0)
o
Anthropogenic CO2 fluxes (V0)
o
Latent-heat fluxes (V0)
o
Sensible heat fluxes (V1)
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With the possibility to display several components on the same graph (V1):

o
Natural CO2 fluxes, Ocean fluxes, biomass burning fluxes, fossil fuel emissions and
total CO2 flux at a yearly time step
o
Photosynthesis and Respiration fluxes at a yearly time step.
Temporal filtering
o
Choice between:
- 3 hourly
- daily mean
- monthly mean flux
- yearly mean flux
- Trend: daily filtered fluxes (see 6.2.1.2)
- Trend + short term variations: daily filtered fluxes (see 6.2.1.2)
- mean seasonal cycle (V1)
Description:

o
daily/yearly/monthly means are simple mean calculation from the raw 3 hourly data
o
filtered fluxes are computed with the CCGVU algorithm using the “trend” curve of
the program: polynome + filtered residuals with different cutoff2 values.
Period: either several fixed periods or interactive selection:
o
10 years
o
20 years
o
the graphics can be zoomed to any particular period.
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Flux units:
o
Giga tons of Carbon per period for carbon fluxes; periods are: Year for yearly fluxes,
month for monthly, daily, and 3 hourly fluxes.
o
Watt for the latent and sensible heat fluxes.
6.3.2.2 Flux maps
The menu should contain at least the following options:




Averaging period: choice between
o
daily
o
monthly
o
and annual fluxes
Flux type: There should be several choices including:
o
Total CO2 fluxes (V0)
o
Natural CO2 fluxes ( V0)
o
Net ecosystem fluxes (V0)
o
Photosynthesis ( V0)
o
Respiration ( V0)
o
Anthropogenic CO2 fluxes (V0)
o
Latent-heat fluxes (V0)
o
Sensible heat fluxes ( V1)
Flux parameter: Choice between:
o
Fluxes
o
Anomalies
o
Filtered quantities (amplitude of the seasonal cycle, IAV index)
Vegetation type: (V1) choice between
o
All vegetation (standard)
o
Only forest
o
Only grassland
o
Only crop
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Description:
o
Anomaly = subtract the mean flux for the whole period
o
Amplitude of the seasonal cycle: computed from the fitted “function” (filtering
process)
o
IAV index: map of the inter-annual variations for each pixel defined as the standard
deviation of the annual fluxes.

Animation: Animated maps in time, using the monthly mean maps (V0). Ultimately, the user
should be able to download the animated movie (V1).

Regions: Choice between several fixed region boundaries (V0); Then “google map” features
with zooming capabilities (V1).
region boundaries:

o
Globe
o
N. Hemisphere
o
Tropics
o
S. Hemisphere
o
Europe (extended to Ural).
Flux units: KgC /m2 / time step for carbon fluxes; W/m2 for energy fluxes.
6.3.2.3 Carbon Stock Time series
Similar menu as for the Flux Time series with the following exceptions:

Regions: Only land regions

Add the possibilities to show Carbon stock increments for 3 periods (difference between last
and first time step) (V1)

o
20 years
o
First 10 years
o
Last 10 years.
Stock type: Several choices including:
o
total vegetation stock (V0)
o
above ground biomass (V0)
o
below ground biomass (V0)
o
Leaf Area Index (LAI / V0)
o
Total Soil Organic Matter (V1)
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Add the possibility to display several components on the same graph (V1):
o

Above and below ground biomass and Soil Organic Matter.
Stock parameter: Choice between
o
Stocks
o
Stock anomalies

Period: either several fixed periods are displayed or the graphics can be zoomed to any
particular period.

Stocks units: kgC/m2 for carbon stocks.
6.3.2.4 Carbon Stock Maps
Similar menu as for the Flux Maps with the following exceptions:

Averaging period: choice restricted to Monthly and Annual values, except for Leaf Area Index
(daily).

Stock type: Several choices including:

o
total vegetation stock (V0)
o
above ground biomass (V0)
o
below ground biomass (V0)
o
Leaf Area Index (LAI) /(V0)
o
Total Soil Organic Matter (V1)
Stock parameter: Choice between
o
Stocks
o
Stock anomalies
o
growth rate over whole period: defined as the values at the end minus value at
beginning divided by number of years.

Animation: Animated maps in time, with a monthly update. Ultimately, the user should be
able to download the animated movie.

Regions: like for the fluxes.

Stocks units: kgC /m2 for carbon stocks.
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6.3.2.5 Atmospheric CO2 Evolution
Concerns version V1 of the system.
CCDAS will provide 3D fields of 3 hourly CO2 concentration fields (96 long x 72 lat x 19 vertical levels)
for each time step. Cross section on the three dimensions will be defined to produce maps.
The maps of atmospheric CO2 will be specified in more detail before end of 2010.
6.3.2.6 Product Evaluation / Validation
This section will be developed for the version V1 of the system. It should include comparison to other
independent data/models.
In particular, it should contain:
6.4

CO2 atmospheric concentration evaluation at stations not used in the assimilation step (like
CarbonTracker)

Comparison of LAI/NDVI to other satellite products (MODIS, VEGETATION,…)

Comparison of land fluxes at FluxNet stations not used.

Comparison of ocean fluxes to ocean model estimates

Comparison of Biomass Carbon stocks with Forests inventories.
Portal Specifications
The portal specification are described in detail in DA3.
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API/SDK specifications
CARBONES menu shall offer an API (Application Programming Interface) function. The API shall
permit to develop, thanks to the SDK (Software Development Kit), and to interface to CARBONES
portal any new functions or services.
CARBONES shall include a library of existing functions that can be included within new functions. This
library is accessed through the portal or within the SDK.
The Applications shall be compliant with SOAP.
The API Architecture should be like the example provided below (based on ArcGIS server):
Example of Web API architecture based on ArcGIS server API

The Applications shall be developed following WPS standard
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Development technologies
This section explains the selection of engineering solutions that are being used to create an INSPIREcompliant portal for the CARBONES project. More detailed description can be found in DA3.
The analysis concentrates on two approaches: a solution based on commercial packages and an open
source solution.

The commercial vendor solution uses the ESRI ArcGIS Server product to illustrate this option.

The open source solution is based on MapServer, a platform developed in the mid-1990s at
the University of Minnesota with support from NASA. Use of MapServer requires, in
addition, the use of a number of other free, open source packages.
The following criteria have been used in the analysis:

Baseline functionality: INSPIRE-compliant discovery services, view services and download
services; web portal features such as interactive maps and interactive graphs.

Ease of implementation: including the capability to implement new services by developing an
API/SDK.

Licence cost and support costs.

Market penetration. In general, the larger the user base, the less the risks associated with
adopting the technology and of the product being retired or not supported in the near
future. A large user base generally means better support from the supplier as well as the
wider (user) community.
The post-processing calculations presented some special considerations. The development of the
scientific specification of the post-processing calculation has required iteration between LSCE,
Noveltis and CERC, and is still continuing now. This presented a risk to the project timelines. To
mitigate this risk, the solution for the V0 post-processing is based on a commercial package (IDL) and
proprietary code (CCGVU). This mitigates the timeline risk for several reasons: these packages have
been proven in practise in similar projects; and LSCE, Noveltis and CERC had staff members available
with experience with IDL. We may study the use of open-source replacements for the V1 portal (see
the future development section below).
From our research we can be confident both the commercial and open source solutions can provide
the functionality required for the project.
With little separating the two options in terms of functionality, there is little justification for the extra
cost of the ESRI solution (a minimum of £14,275 over the 3 years of the CARBONES project, with an
ongoing annual support cost of £1,600 after the end of the project).
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CARBONES will be developed using open source technology. This decision has been based on an
assessment of the relative merits of open source technology versus commercial technologies.
The open-source technologies listed in the table below have been identified as suitable for use in the
portal. This list demonstrates that the project is feasible with open source software: the specific
choice of individual technologies remains open and may change during the project.
One of the strengths of the project architecture is that the components communicate using
standardised communication protocols, making it possible to change the implementation of
individual components to different technologies with minimum effect on the system as a whole. In
particular, the use of OGC standards such as CS-W, WCS and WMS would make it possible to change
to a different GIS server package (for instance a commercial package such as ArcGIS Server) either
during the project, or after the project is completed. The technology analysis indicates that this will
not be necessary, but the system architecture minimises risks by leaving the possibility open.
Functionality
Technology Recommendation
Discovery services and metadata (CS-W)
GeoNetwork
Download service (WCS)
MapServer
View service (WMS)
MapServer
Server operating system
Linux
Web server
Apache / Apache Tomcat
Programming language
Java
Content Management System
Alfresco
Interactive maps in the portal
OpenLayers JavaScript API
Interactive graphs and charts in the portal
JFreeChart
Post-processing
Final selection regarding post-processing has not
yet been made. Commercial technologies may be
used for post-processing.
GENESIS (GENeric European Sustainable Information Space for Environment), an EU FP7 project, will
provide INSPIRE-compliant web services, portal components and toolkits. CARBONES will use
GENESIS products, where appropriate and according to availability and ease of implementation, to
provide CARBONES functionality. The GENESIS products will be assessed for suitability in CARBONES
when the GENESIS project finishes in August 2011.
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Portal Development Schedule
The first version of the web portal (V0) shall be delivered one year after the Project Kick Off.
The second version of the web portal (V1) shall be delivered at 30 months after the project kick-off.
10 ANNEX 1: Review of existing websites
This section aims at reviewing and comparing competitors to CARBONES and highlights their
characteristics and differences with our system.
They are available at the following addresses:
CarbonTracker USA: www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker
CarbonTracker Europe: www.carbontracker.eu
CarboScope: www.carboscope.eu
Vulcan: www.science.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan
AirText : http://www.airtext.info/
10.1 Services comparison
The following table compares the proposed services in CARBONES with the available services in other
exiting websites.
Viewer
type of SERVICE
CARBONES
CARBOSCOPE
CARBONTRACKER
AIRTEXT
GIS
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No (but 3D mole
fraction to download)
No
?
No
No
No
3D visual
Superimposed curves
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Yes
Yes
Yes
Area selection
only
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
No
Natural/Anthropogenic fluxes
distinction
Yes
No
Yes
No
Surface distinction (grassland,
forest, cropland)
Yes
No
No
No
Photosynthesis/Respiration
distinction
Yes
No
No
No
Animation running over time
GoogleMap-like displayer
2D Static Map (pictures)
Data access
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and
time
selection tool
CARBONES-D220.1-REP-TASF-008-02-00
10.2 Data comparison
The following table compares the data that will be provided by CARBONES and the data already
available in other competitors websites.
Type of DATA
Fluxes map
Fluxes time series
Carbon Weather (atmospheric
concentrations)
Carbon Stocks time series
Carbon Stocks map
Carbon concentration time
series
CARBONES
CARBOSCOPE
CARBONTRACKER
AIRTEXT
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
?
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
?
No
Yes
No
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10.3 User Questionnaire
The following questionnaire has been submitted to users:
10.3.1.1 What features do you like in CarbonTracker?
Overall presentation; associated explanations with all graphics; display of the data (atmospheric
conc.) used in the assimilation system; capabilities to have all components of the fluxes (fossil,
natural, biomass burning) in one graph...
10.3.1.2 What features do you like in CarboScope?
Different time-filtering options; different regions for the maps.
10.3.1.3 What features do you like in Vulcan?
Google map type of viewing, video (Youtube) to describe the products.
10.3.1.4 Are there any features that you feel are missing from these websites?
Inter-active selection of Yrange and X range for the Time series; interactive selection of a region to
make the total; Possible selection of your own time filtering (based for example on a low pass filter
of the residuals with different possible thresholds).
10.3.1.5 Are there any features from these websites that you think could be improved?
If so, please provide details.
10.3.1.6 Please rank the following proposed outputs for Carbones portal in order of importance
(High (H)/Medium (M)/Low (L)).
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Importance
(H=High
M=Medium
L=Low)
Comments
Carbon flux maps (using interactive
google-like map displayer)
H for V1 (M for V0)
Option to choose different base
layers of the map – in order that flux
maps can be compared against
satellite imagery, physical mapping
or political maps
M
This might be done for V1 only
Separation of Carbon fluxes into
constituent components for land
(natural and anthropogenic)
H
The different variables will be provided.
Separation of Carbon fluxes into
constituent components for natural
fluxes (grassland, forest, cropland –
further split into photosynthesis and
respiration)
M
Flux growth rate maps
H
This is the result of the “time filtering” process.
Seasonal cycles
H
Results of a Time-filtering process
Leaf Area Index
H
Will be provided as a separate variable
Products/Outputs
The variables will be provided for V1. For V0 we might provide only total
photosynthesis and total respiration for land
Importance
(H=High
M=Medium
L=Low)
Comments
Latent heat fluxes
M
Will be provided as a variable
Sensible heat fluxes
L
This quantity is still not well modelled by ORCHIDEE (maybe in V1)
Carbon stocks for several reservoirs:
above ground biomass, below
ground biomass, litter, soil organic
matter
M
This is stated in the DoW. If for version V0 the output of ORCHIDEE are still of poor
quality we might not display the biomass data, but this should change in V1 after
assimilation of observed biomass data.
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11 ANNEX 2 : Re-usable existing services
11.1 Solutions study for CARBONES components
The table below analyses the existing software, systems and services that may be re-used for
CARBONES functionalities.
Proposed
services for
CARBONES
Specific
purpose
ArcGIS/ESRI
ENVI IDL
LifeRay
Geospatial
Carbon Cycle
data
Environmental
Complete
processing
Portal builder
Service (user- solution for GIS software using
using portlets
friendly
control
IDL
interface)
development
language
ArcGIS server 10
GIS creation
GIS
GIS
management
Other (Open
GENESIS functions
Source
Software)
Operational Air
Quality pilot
Solution based on MapServer
GeoServer (EO
Data Access
Service and GIS
OpenLayers
Data Access
(for maps)
Service)
GIS distribution
Javascript
viewer
Viewer
3D visu
ArcGIS
server ENVI explorer
3D globe service
Superimposed ArcGIS
curves
server
Area and time
period selection
tool
Geodata
visualisation
Geodata
visualisation
Geodata
visualisation
Animation
2D Static Map
image
ArcIMS
Various
Geodata
visualisation
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2D figures
ArcGIS
server
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image
Geodata
visualisation
Liferay
portal
Free data access
UI GIS data access
service
Data download
process (ftp or
Data Access http)
Data selection
service
(Dropdown
menus)
Discovery
services
Data
services
Generic
Services
ArcCatalog
access ArcReader
GIS
catalogue GeoNetwork,
service
MapFish
services catalogue
service
Non-geolocalized SIMDAT
Data
Access
Service
Archive
Access
service
Transformation
services
Coordinate
GDAL
Operation Service,
Format conversion
Service
Geo Processing
Service
Data
Extraction
service
Grid
Mapping
service
Statistical service
Thematic
processing service
Reporting
Publishing
services
Reporting
Publishing service
User services
ArcPublisher
User management
service
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Annotation
services
Metadata
Extraction Service
Portrayal
services
Map
service GeoNetwork,
Diagram service SIMDAT,
MapFish,
OpenLayers,
Security services
Authorisation
Service
Authentication
service
Communication
services
Communication
service
Workflow
engine (invoke
spatial
data
services)
ENVI
automated
workflows
Model
fluxes
and in-situ data
comparison tool
ENVI explorer
Carbon
fluxes
and
pools
changes
attribution tool
Liferay's
Workflow Service
workflow
administration
tools
Thematic
processing service
Thematic
processing service
ENVI
Data
Analysis tool
C
Thematic Regional
Services fluxes sensitivity
climate
(Processing) to
change
Thematic
processing service
Trend detection
tool
Thematic
processing service
Model
fluxes
and future core
services
comparison tool
Thematic
processing service
OpenSSO
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API/SDK
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GIS
ENVI
LifeRay's API 1)LifeRay's
API Available API
Cartographic
costumizer : supports SOAP, supports
SOAP, for
:
Web API using IDL extention, REST,
RSS, REST,
RSS, GeoNetwork
Microsoft
customized
proprietary
proprietary API's (javadoc)
Silverlight,
menus,
C++ API's
(GENESIS Portal GeoServer
Flex,
or and Java Code
based on Liferay) (REST)
JavaScript
integration
2)Legacy
OpenLayers
Interconnection (javascript)
toolbox
Free access if Master License licence
for Open Source
non commercial Agreement
unlimited
use
(MLA) + ESRI number
of
Licensing
maintenance
users (TBD)
issues
program costs
(TBD)
Maturity
31/03/2011
Open
Source Open Source
except for Report
publishing service,
Portal/Workflow
engine
and
GeoData
Visualisation
component
Very
mature Fully
Mature
(but Is
already
and
functional,
workflow tools operational.
All
comprehensive Soon
are new)
standards
compatible
compliant.
with
ArcGIS
server. But it
is not a web
service
in
itself.
11.2 INSPIRE instructions: EC example
The European Commission has provided an example of portal allowing discovery and viewing of
spatial data sets and services. The INSPIRE Geoportal has been developed by the Joint Research
Centre (JRC) which is fully part of the EC, using the MapFish Open Source framework.
The two client components currently implemented offer discovery and view functionalities including:
- User input functionality (specification of queries)
- Presentation of results.
Download, Transformation and Invoke services will be soon implemented by JRC.
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This example implies that the use of Open Source components is a solution to be considered for the
CARBONES portal development.
The interface is available on the following URL:
http://www.inspire-geoportal.eu
The INSPIRE Geoportal viewer service