FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

What is OOS Tethys?
What does OOSTethys do?
Why is it called OOSTethys?
What cookbooks are available from OOSTethys?
Are OOSTethys & OOS Tech related?
What is the OGC?
Are OOSTethys & OGC related?
Is OOSTethys an OGC Interoperability Experiment?
What will OOSTethys do for my organization?
When’s the next OOS Tech?
Is OOSTethys DMAC-compliant?
Will OOSTethys improve upon OpenIOOS?
Does OOS Tethys support the RAs?
Is OOSTethys related to the NOAA/CSC Catalog work?
Can I see current OOSTethys mimutes?

Q: What is OOSTethys?
A: We are an open source software project that facilitates the integration of ocean observing systems. We put our efforts in dramatically reducing the time service providers spend installing, adopting and updating new technologies and standard services. We maintain an end-to-end semantic, interoperable, real-time sensor network as a testbed for advancing components of observing systems of systems.

Q: What does OOSTethys do?
A: For data providers (e.g., RAs and/or their RCOOS partners) who are just getting started in the “system of systems” concept and want to become interoperable, OOSTethys will provide a community-developed set of software tools and guidance documents (i.e., cook books) that show data providers how to get started using standards-based data-exchange capabilities, in particular, it shows them how to get started using “web services for interoperable ocean science,” which was the title OOS Tech 2005. OOSTethys is also a forum for the more tech-savvy developers (from MMI & SCOOP and some of the other regional OOSs) who are experts in the standards for web services. The experts develop the (open source) reference implementations for others to use.

Q: Why is it called OOSTethys?
OOSTethys is the name given to the combination of two formerly disparate interoperability demos: OpenIOOS and MMI.  The OpenIOOS interoperability demo was associated with nascent RAs (originated with SEACOOS & GoMOOS) and was supported and coordinated through the SCOOP program at SURA, with support from ONR & NOAA/CSC. The mostly NSF-funded MMI interoperability demo, which is one component of the Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project had the name Tethys (which was already taken on sourcefourge.net) so we chose OOSTethys as the name of the merged entity.

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Q: What cookbooks are available from OOSTethys?
A: Cookbooks are available in PERL, JAVA and PYTHON click here to download them.

Q: Are OOSTethys & OOS Tech related?
A: Yes. As an outcome of OOS Tech 2005 – “Web services for interoperable ocean science” – a group of OOS techies (including Luis Bermudez at that time from MMI/MBARI, now at SURA) created a follow-on activity to explore the use of web services in the context of ideas discussed at OOS Tech 2005. This followed previous successes with OpenIOOS.org and their implementation with OGC standards.

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Q: What is the OGC?
A: OGC is the Open Geospatial Consortium (www.opengeospatial.org).  The OGC(R) is an international consensus standards consortium of  more than 340 companies, government agencies, research  organizations, and universities participating in a consensus  process to develop publicly available geospatial standards.  OpenGIS(R) Standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.

Q: Are OOSTethys & OGC related?
A: Yes. We believe that standards enable innovation. Therefore, we base our work on standards and collaborate with standard organizations. We are initiators of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment, that is helping advance the OGC Sensor Web Enablement. OpenIOOS activities leveraged other OGC specifications (WMS & WFS). The relatively new SWE and its related specifications (O&M & SOS) offered a new and complementary and OGC-compliant path toward interoperability.

Q: Is OOSTethys an OGC Interoperability Experiment?
A: The OGC has processes for engaging testing and application of its specifications in such a way that the activities can be informed by OGC members, and so that the specification-development activities can be informed by folks using the specs in real-world applications. Unidata has been running an interoperability experiment called GALEON that is investigating application of WCS for the meteorology community (OpenDAP is evidently providing a data-access protocol underneath the WCS.) In March 2007, OOSTethys began work on the OGC Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment. Click here for more information.

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Q: What will OOSTethys do for my organization?
A: OOSTethys is creating reference software implementations and guidance (targeted at marine applications) that implement OGC specifications. These implementations should dramatically reduce the time service providers spend installing, adopting and updating new technologies and standard services.

Q: Is OOSTethys DMAC-compliant?
A: Yes.  Starting in 2005, the OceanUS DMAC Steering Team started endorsing OGC specifications in their “concrete guidance.” Moreover, with SWE involvement, the enhanced focus on metadata is entirely complementary to most other elements of the DMAC concrete guidance.

Q: Will OOSTethys improve upon OpenIOOS?
A: Yes. OpenIOOS historically has utilized web services for image and data exchange, but largely without leveraging any of the advantages of having standardized metadata. WFS and WMS alone don’t provide any guidance for that. SWE does, and so OOSTethys extends the Service Oriented Architecture to include things like metadata repositories, registration and standard-mediation services. This will greatly facilitate data-search, -integration and lots of other capabilities.
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Q: Does OOSTethys support the Regional Associations (RA)s?
A: OOSTethys is creating reference software implementations and guidance (targeted at marine applications) that implement OGC specifications. These implementations should dramatically reduce the time service providers spend installing, adopting and updating new technologies and standard services.

Q: Is OOSTethys related to the NOAA/CSC Catalog work?
A: Yes. The CSC Catalog group (which has a lot of overlap with folks involved in OOSTethys) and now known as the IOOS Registry, is a database that tracks the operational status and distribution of in-situ ocean observatories among the nonfederal participants in the integrated ocean observing system (IOOS).  It's records are also based on OGC standards and are designed to catalog resources and not to share observation data or detailed sensor information. The required information can be implemented (and have been implemented) in the OOSTethys reference implementation.  Read more at this PDF file.

Q: Can I see current OOSTethys Minutes?
A: Yes, absolutely. You can visit the minutes here.