Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

Prof
Prof
Prof
Bridget Emmett PI
Robert Gurney PI
Adrian McDonald PI
Dr
Mrs
Mrs
Lucy Ball Project Manager
Julie Delve
Bron Williams
Prof
Prof
Dr
Dr
Dr
Prof
Prof
Prof
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Prof
Dr
Keith Beven
Gordon Blair
WP lead
WP lead
John Bloomfield
Wouter Buytaert WP lead
Jim Freer
Phil Haygarth
Penny Johnes
Mark Macklin
Kit Macleod
WP lead
WP lead
Sim Reaney
Gwyn Rees
Marc Stutter
Doerthe Tetzlaff WP lead
Paul Quinn
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Dr
Yehia El-Khatib
Alastair Gemmell
Sheila Greene
Eleanor Mackay
Keith Marshall
Nick Odoni
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
PDRA
Nicola Thomas PDRA
Claudia Vitolo PDRA
Mark Wilkinson PDRA
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• We are facing unprecedented challenges in the management of soil and water.
• Our research increasingly also has real practical application.
• However, many scientific and environmental challenges are very cross-disciplinary, and require use of multiple data , models and tools across disciplines, organisations and topics.
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• We have many UK environmental data centres
– Met Office, British Atmospheric
Data Centre, NERC’s Terrestrial and Freshwater Data Centre etc etc....
• And lots of initiatives and legislation regarding when and how data should be made available (e.g. INSPIRE)
• And we’re struggling to comply but it is happening if slowly…..but..
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

Regulators
How can we reduce monitoring for same information?
Credible apportioning of pollutant load between industry, water, agriculture, other.
Public
Will London run out of water?
What is the state of the local river?
What are the options to protect us from future flooding?
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Historical data
– Does that river flow height mean that business will be flooded again? Should I insure it? (Business)
• Real time data sensors
– Is that water quality safe for my children to swim in it?
(Public)
• Modelling tools
– Is that land management option ‘future proofed’ for climate change? (Policy maker)
• Decision support tools
– What are my options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, whilst maintaining productivity? (Food industry)
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• The key to the cloud approach is the representation of everything as a service, that is our data, models, visualisation tools and expert knowledge
• A space for:
– Exploring data
– Linking models
– Accessing knowledge
– Visualisation tools
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Perception of a poor track record in big IT initiatives in science or government and a concern IT will be out of date before completion
• Poor IT literacy in every sector
• How do we break the mould?
– Integrate computer scientists with environmental scientists, industry, policy makers in a collaborative project
– Scrum methodology and ‘fail early and often’
– A few ‘narrow and deep’ exemplars to demonstrate potential and identify barriers
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

The EVOp Approach …
• Combine environmental scientists, computer scientists and a wide range of end-users to ensure community buy-in and required mix of skills:
17 PIs/CoIs, 13 institutions
12 end-users on Project Advisory Group from water companies, policy, software companies, land managers, etc.
• Make sure we ask people what they really want
• Go out and ask a wide group of end-users
• Only one way of testing – try it out on real exemplars:
- Exemplars at three spatial scales (local, national and global)
- Addressing different issues, appealing to different audiences
- Dealing with real data, models and visualisations
- Demonstrating potential through series of storyboards
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

Identifying the endusers and science demonstrated for each exemplar
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

Ensuring each storyboard tests and demonstrates specific IT/cloud issues
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Regular testing with public, government agencies, farmers, power companies, water companies
• Legal and Security workshops, of great concern to users
• Education: Summer Schools associated with EVO run in
Venice 2011 and 2012, hopefully in 2013 onwards
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Turning pilot into operational prototype, driven by science need
• Questions such as scalable architecture, scalable automated generation of help and semantics, engagement of multiple data centres, setting standards
• International call for work on standards, governance, legal and security issues, architecture etc, via Belmont Forum
• Further prototypes across UK and beyond driven by user requirements
• Need to manage reputational issues drives demand by participants (eg Meteorological
Office, Ordnance Survey, British Geological
Survey, water industry)
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Allow robust reuse of models and data
• Allow integration of science
• Save time on discovery of data and models
• Ensure up-to-date approaches are widely available
• Allow an efficient meeting area between operational users and scientists
• Manage legal and security (and publishing) issues
• Easy compliance with INSPIRE regulations
• Continuing educational initiatives
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

(Environmental Virtual Observatory for Knowledge Exchange Services)
A pre-operational prototype led by users and including a scalable cloud architecture, workflow and ontology tools, embedded and callable models, data from multiple agencies, including real-time data, visualisation tools, security, authentication, and reflection facilities for both static and mobile platforms
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Insurance and financial services
• Water industry
• Power industry
• Food industry
• Oil and Gas
• Transport and Logistics
• Human Health
• UNITAR and similar training?
.....in partnership with computing and space industries, and allowing SME input
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools

• Enabling environmental researchers and others to concentrate on science
• Not only those ‘in the know’ will be able to discover data portals, models and information
• Stopping re-invention and repeated blind alleys
• Improving reputation for transparency and contributing to business and societal needs
Realising the potential of environmental data, models and tools