Data Provider

The Data Provider is responsible for collecting data from instruments (in situ sensors or samplers), manipulating the data (e.g., time series averaging, quality control processing), or running a numerical model (which itself produces “data”). The Data Provider is also responsible for storing his own data and registering the details of the services that it has made available. Services are defined in a service-contract, negotiated between cooperative entities with similar data and data sharing requirements. In the case of OOSTethys this is define by OGC Sensor Observations Services (SOS) specifications.

Semantic Mediator

A semantic mediator allows a vocabulary producer to register its vocabulary and has query capabilities to get the terms register and the relation between the terms. For example the relation "upward_sea_water_velocity" in the CF vocabulary could be found to be narrower than "Ocean Currents" from the GCMD vocabulary. Therefore, when a user searches for "Ocean Currents", data sets containing "upward_sea_water_velocity" will be retrieved. Also data providers registering their vocabulary and mappings to CF, will get additional mappings to other vocabularies.

Registry

Registries manage information about Data Providers. A Registry allows a Data Provider to register, and facilitates other components of the architecture in performing queries of its contents. A registry might be a metadata catalogue service, a clearinghouse, a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registry, a list of OPeNDAP Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) or a THREDDS catalogue. Ideally, a registry could engage in permanently discovering Data Providers, the same way as search engines crawl the World Wide Web (Web) registering the URLs and their content in their registry. A registry uses a mediator to help discover data. Currently we are using UAH developed registry services but CWS (Catalog Services for the Web) are being explored.

Detailed description and usage of these services are described in this PDF document.

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Data Aggregator

The Data Aggregator (sometimes called the Data Provider) will collect data and services from any Data Provider. The Data Aggregator is responsible for storing its own data and registering the details of the services that it has available. Services are defined in a service-contract, negotiated between cooperative entities with similar data and data sharing requirements. In the case of OOSTethys this is define by OGC Sensor Observations Services (SOS) specifications.

A Data Aggregator has the same description a Data Provider, in a sense, a special case of a Data Provider.

Interfaces are as described for the Data Provider in this page.

Data Archiver

The Archiver is a data storage site that acquires data from Data Providers and Data Aggregators. An Archiver may not hold all records from all Data Providers, if data are maintained in a distributed archival method. Data Providers may serve as Archivers. Archivers will establish a policy for data retention, and a manner to ensure data provanence. The Archiver will receive information on services from one or more Registries.

It is responsible for archiving the data received and registering the details and making available this data as a service of that data. Services are defined in a service-contract, negotiated between cooperative entities with similar data and data sharing requirements. In the case of OOSTethys this is define by OGC Sensor Observations Services (SOS) specifications. In this manner, the Archiver would not support real-time data requests, though the responses could be near real-time.

Data Consumer, Data Analyzer and viewer

The Data Consumer is a tool, or a modeling scientist, who (or which) requests data with a getObservation request without, in this definition, making that data available via a getCapabilities service response. Examples, include GoogleMap, OpenIOOS visualization, and an individual (e.g., a grad student).