Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

1. Metadata Paul Hamer November, 2009 Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

2. Metadata Guidelines document available from NNEW: Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

3. Metadata Definition What is Metadata? “Data from most systems can be divided into two categories, data and metadata, where metadata are loosely defined as 'data about data'.” - NextGen Network-Enabled Weather Metadata Guidelines for the 4-D Weather Data Cube “Any information that describes what a consumer wants or information the consumer needs in order to obtain what they want.” - Paraphrased from wikipedia Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

4. Metadata use in NNEW Role of Metadata in data discovery and access. Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

5. Metadata Categories • Structural - How data assets are physically composed and relationships between specific parts of the data asset; • Discovery - Key attributes and concepts of a data asset used for discovery; • Data Access - Data needed to acquire a dataset; • Security - Information through which systems will be able to control access to assets; • Data Lineage - Allow for identification of the author, publisher, and sources contributing to the data, allowing users and applications to assess the derivation of the data; • Other - Vocabularies, taxonomic structures used for organizing data assets, interface specifications, mapping tables, etc. Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

6. Metadata Standards Data Model Component Agility Data Model Component Agility Standards Governance Body Standards Governance Body Standards Governance Body Individual Organizations Individual Organizations Individual Organizations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (envisioned) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (envisioned) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (envisioned) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (envisioned) Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

7. Explicit Metadata use in NNEW Key metadata documents required for data discovery and access. Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

8. Explicit Metadata use in NNEW • The following are currently required by NNEW: • OASIS ebXML for generic content management; • ISO 19115 and 19119 for geospatial and service (ISO 19139); • OGC standards and schema; • AIXM/WXXM schema; • Unidata NetCDF CF conventions; • The following are expected to be required by NNEW: • GRIB Edition 2; Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

9. Implicit Metadata use in NNEW • To populate NNEW the following Decoder Metadata are required: • WMO TDCF's GRIB and BUFR; • Station Identification Tables; • Original Data Interface Control Documentation; Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

10. Some Metadata Issues/Questions Metadata ownership and governance. Is representation of metadata in one standard enough? Ontologies. Tools for gathering metadata? Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

11. Metadata Questions? Probably more than can be answered in the time available. :-) Global Systems Division (GSD) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)