Collaborative Research: ELEMENTS: The LROSE Science Gateway LIDAR/RADAR Analysis In The Cloud

Remote sensing observations from weather radars and lidars consist of a tremendous amount of raw data. Analysis of this data is often time-consuming, slowing the translation of data to scientific insights. The research team, under prior NSF funding, developed the Lidar Radar Open Software Environment (LROSE) which consists of freely available tools to help analyze and visualize data.

This award will take the next step by making LROSE available online, eliminating the need for a complicated installation on local computers and taking advantage of data sets on the cloud. The impact of this project will be on all areas of science that make use of lidar and radar data, such as for severe weather and air quality. The online approach will also make it possible for educators to set up exercises and teaching aids for students in a classroom, along with the relevant data and documentation for learning activities.

This project builds upon the Lidar Radar Open Software Environment, which is a software toolbox for analyzing radar and lidar data, by developing a fully functional science gateway for LROSE. The research team will integrate LROSE into a web portal environment, thereby allowing ready accessibility to computational resources via web browser interfaces and allowing users to move data directly within the cloud.

The intent of this CSSI Elements award is to facilitate access to analysis and data processing tools, reducing barriers to effective science and expanding the user base. The project has two major development components: 1) the underlying infrastructure, including the gateway, the data handling layer and data visualization capabilities, and 2) the scientific software modules that allow users to perform experiments using the data.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.