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Funded PhD available at School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, for 2006 entry: Title: Enhancing Spatial Data Provision with the Semantic Grid Contact: Dr. Femke Reitsma, ph: +44 0131 650 9138, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (contact no later than March 22nd) Background: The quantity and quality of spatial data is continually increasing as our ability to observe the world grows through advances in technology, such as the development of new satellites and sensor networks. This is particularly evident in the realms of Earth Systems Science, where petabytes of satellite imagery are captured, stored, and ready for distribution. As the volume of data grows, increasingly sophisticated methods of data retrieval are needed as a basis for knowledge discovery and information integration. Unfortunately, the proliferation of data and metadata portals for environmental data has not provided a general solution to retrieving spatial data. Engaging any one of these distribution facilities, let alone the multitude of available services through web portals, requires a substantial amount of time for familiarization with the methods of data extraction presented (for human or computational agent interaction). Attempts at providing a one-stop shop have yet to prove their effectiveness in data delivery. The Semantic Web provides an opportunity for enhancing knowledge discovery, automated retrieval, and use of spatial data. By enabling the specification of the semantics of information in a formal logic based language, the Semantic Web supports the use and discovery of information and knowledge in new and interesting ways through logical reasoning such as inference. The integration of the Semantic Web and GRID computing extends these advantages even further by supporting larger scale applications and allowing for interoperable infrastructure, which is necessary for the volume of data produced in Earth Systems Science. Objectives: The overall objective is to investigate the representation of the semantics of spatial data, and to develop a web-based search tool for spatial data that utilises recent developments in Semantic Web, GRID, and Semantic GRID research. This objective is supported by the School of Geosciences, the School of Informatics, the National e-Science Centre (NeSC), and EDINA, a national datacentre offering spatial information and services. Specific objectives are to: • determine the best approach to representing spatial information in a semantic environment, • evaluate spatial metadata and data standards and their semantic _expression_ (e.g. ISO 19115, GML), • create an ontology based management core that captures the semantics of spatial data, and • develop an online prototype that allows users to utilise the currently latent semantics of spatial metadata and data in a GRID environment -- Dr. Femke Reitsma Lecturer MSc GIS Director Institute of Geography School of Geosciences The University of Edinburgh Drummond Street Edinburgh EH8 9XP Scotland, UK Ph: +44 0131 650 9138 Fax: +44 0131 650 2524 http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/freitsma/ |
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