Glossary
This is the Curator Concept Glossary. Here we are defining a list of concepts which will form the underlying data model of the Earth System Curator. The sources of each term are listed in parenthesis after the term according to the key below. When entering definitions or other comments, please list your name in square brackets after the comment. Also, instead of deleting text, it is preferable to simply add corrective text underneath the existing text. This will leave us with a complete history of how the concepts were developed.
Source Key
- CDB = curatorDB created by Sergey
- ESMFCD = ESMF Component Database
Agency (ESMFCD)
- A goverment entity that oversees and funds Institutions. [Rocky]
AveragePeriod (CDB)
- A standard unit of time used for averaging variables. [Rocky]
ComponentMedia (CDB)
- A particular earth system phenomenon or process [Rocky]
- Includes ocean, atmopshere, ice, land [Rocky]
ComponentModel (CDB, ESMFCD)
- A program that simulates a single earth system process (ComponentMedia). [Rocky]
CoupledModel (CDB)
- A model that encapsulates one or more submodels. The submodels may be ComponentModels or other CoupledModels. [Rocky]
ComponentType (ESMFCD)
- An enumeration describing the earth system process of a component: Ocean, Atmosphere, Land, Ice, Data Assimilation, Static Ice [Rocky]
DataField (CDB)
- The resulting data values of a particular variable for a particular realization. [Rocky]
- It is possible that the metadata for a DataFields exists, but the underlying storage is corrupt. In this case we wish to provide an explanation of why the data is unavailable. [Rocky]
DataFile (CDB)
- A logical storage place for a group of DataFields from the same realization. [Rocky]
- DataFiles have a particular format, such as NetCDF or GRIB. [Rocky]
- DataFiles have a particular metadata convention, such as CF. [Rocky]
- Other metadata includes: size in bytes, storage location, filename, checksum, and modification time. [Rocky]
DataPortalPartition (CDB)
- A particular section of the DataPortal where DataFiles are stored. [Rocky]
- Includes a path and a hostname. [Rocky]
Experiment (CDB)
- The process of running simulations to test a particular scenario. [Rocky]
- Experiments are related to a single Project. [Rocky]
- A single experiment run is called a Realization. [Rocky]
Field (ESMFCD)
- Another name for Variable? [Rocky]
InterfaceItem(ESMFCD)
- A single point of communication exposed by a Model [Rocky]
- Represents a single Field (or Variable) [Rocky]
InterfaceType (ESMFCD)
- An enumeration describing the data flow direction of an InterfaceItem: Import or Export. [Rocky]
Institution (CDB, ESMFCD)
- Any stakeholder entity within the Curator. [Rocky]
Model (CDB)
- A generic class for speaking of any kind of climate simulation, including both ComponentModels and CoupledModels. [Rocky]
Platform (ESMFCD)
- A particular computer architecture, operating system, and operating system version. [Rocky]
PostProcessing (CDB)
- A series of steps that modifies DataFields after an experiment run. [Rocky]
PostProcessingUnit (CDB)
- A single post processing step. [Rocky]
- Types of post processing include averaging, and rewriting output using CMOR. [Rocky]
Project (CDB)
Realization (CDB)
- An single experiment run with a given set of initial conditions. [Rocky]
Resource (ESMFCD)
Scenario (CDB)
Status (CDB)
- Describes the state of a single Realization. [Rocky]
- Includes a timestamp attribute to allow for a complete history of statuses. [Rocky]
Subgroup (ESMFCD)
- A smaller group within an Institution. [Rocky]
User (CDB)
- A human that utilizes the system in some manner. [Rocky]
UserGroup (CDB)
- A group of users. [Rocky]
- This could be used to indicate multiple users collaborating on a single task. [Rocky]
Variable (CDB)
- A single quantity studied during a climate simluation. [Rocky]
- A variable is related to at least one ComponentMedias. [Rocky]
- Variable names are described by the CF metadata standard. [Rocky]
- A variable may have a custom name given by the model developer (inner_name). [Rocky]
- A variable may have a custom name for each project. [Rocky]
VariableBundle (CDB)
- A grouping of variables with the same dimensionality and same ComponentMedia (?). [Rocky]
- The IPCC PCMDI data tables are an example of a VariableBundle. [Rocky]
A grouping of fields on the same grid. [Cecelia]
A group of variables for presentation level (PCMDI tables) [Sergey]
VariableList (CDB)
- A set of variables. [Rocky]
- Currently this is used for grouping variables that undergo the same post processing step. [Rocky]
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