Title: OlyMPUS: An Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics
Presenting Author: Beth Huffer
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center
Co-Author(s): Jonathan Gleason

Abstract:
The Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics (OlyMPUS) will extend the prototype Ontology-Driven Interactive Search Environment for Earth Sciences (ODISEES) developed at NASAs Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) to enable users to find and download data variables that satisfy their precise criteria. The ODISEES-OlyMPUS end-to-end system will support both data consumers and data providers, enabling the latter to register their data sets and provision them with the semantically rich metadata that drives ODISEES data discovery and access service for data consumers. A core function of NASAs Earth Science Division is research and analysis that uses the full spectrum of data products available in NASA archives. Scientists need to perform comprehensive analyses that identify correlations and non-obvious relationships across all types of Earth System phenomena. Comprehensive analytics are hindered, however, by the fact that many data products and climate model products are disparate and hard to synthesize. Variations in how data are collected, processed, averaged, gridded, and stored, create challenges for data interoperability and synthesis, which are exacerbated by the sheer volume of available data. A coordinated approach to data delivery will greatly improve prospects for interoperability and synthesis, better enabling scientists to take advantage of the full range of global data from satellites and aircraft, as well as outputs from numerical models. By helping data providers make their data more accessible and helping data consumers to quickly discover and download variables from multiple, heterogeneous data sets, the ODISEES-OlyMPUS system will further the Advanced Information Systems Technology programs objectives by increasing the accessibility of science data; enabling new information products; and supporting access to tools for data fusion, data mining, and data federation.