AIC Seminar Series

SWEET is an effort to improve discovery of Earth science data and information resources. The project consists of a collection of ontologies and an associated search tool that eliminates the need for exact keyword matches. The ontologies are stored in a Postgres DBMS and are converted on demand into OWL XML format. The ontologies include both orthogonal concepts (physical property, substance, space, time, etc.) and integrative concepts (e.g. phenomena) which span multiple ontology spaces. A numerical ontology was built to provide an underlying base for the space, time, and physical property ontologies. We also developed a tool that can query external databases (such as gazetteers) in response to a request, and then incorporate the new knowledge within the ontologies. SWEET enables a common semantic framework for defining, classifying, discovering, sharing, and accessing Earth science knowledge. This semantic framework is being incorporated into other NASA-led initiatives that benefit from semantic interoperability, including the: Earth Science Markup Language (ESML), Earth Science Modeling Framework (ESMF), and Earth Science Information Partner’s Federation Interactive Network for Discovery (ESIP-FIND).

Rob Raskin is a Senior Technical Staff Member in the Earth Science Data Systems Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is Principal Investigator of the NASA-funded SWEET project and is Manager of Data Access Services at JPL’s Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC). He is Chair of the Information Technology & Interoperability Committee of the Earth Science Information Partner (ESIP) Federation. Prior to coming to JPL, he was a Visiting Fellow at the National Center for Geographic Information & Analysis at UC-Santa Barbara. He holds a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Michigan.

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