4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
[MGI30-09] Activities of IUGONET project for sharing and utilization of upper atmospheric data
Keywords:upper atmosphere, data sharing, metadata, analysis tool, standardization
In Japan, the inter-university collaborative project “Inter-university Upper atmosphere Global Observation NETwork (IUGONET)” has engaged in activities such as the creation of metadata, the release of actual data, and the development of visualization and analysis tools to enhance the upper atmospheric science. The IUGONET metadata is an extension of Space Physics Data Search and Extract (SPASE), which is an international standard metadata for the heliophysics data, and ensures the interoperability with various databases in the United States and Europe. In collaboration with Japanese universities and projects, we have created metadata for more than 1,200 datasets so far. As for the actual data, it is recommended to store and publish in machine-readable file formats such as Common Data Format (CDF), Network Common Data Form (NetCDF), and Flexible Image Transport System (FITS), which are widely used for the upper atmosphere data. We have supported the release of actual data by providing the format conversion tool and know-how we have developed. To facilitate the use of data, we have developed two tools, i.e., a metadata database “IUGONET Type-A” and an analysis software “UDAS”. IUGONET Type-A enables to search and visualize a variety of the upper atmosphere data on the web. UDAS is a plug-in software for Space Physics Environment Data Analysis Software (SPEDAS), which is an integrated analysis tool developed mainly in the United States. SPEDAS allows users to comprehensively analyze satellite and ground-based observation data acquired by multiple missions. In addition, we hold data analysis workshops regularly to explain how to use these tools and data and to efficiently produce research results.
Our future plan includes the establishment of the system for minting digital object identifiers (DOIs) for datasets using the IUGONET metadata, and the development of analysis tool based on Python. Since data citation is recently becoming common, the DOI minting service from the IUGONET metadata is important. Furthermore, since the Python version of SPEDAS, "PySPEDAS," has been developed mainly in the U.S, we plan to develop a plug-in software for it. In particular, this free software is expected to be used by researchers in Asia, Oceania, and Africa, where the IUGONET participating institutions have been conducting the ground-based network observations. Thus, it will be useful for the international collaborative research and capacity building in these regions.