OGC Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure Pilot 2022: Call for Participation (CFP)

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is releasing this Call for Participation (CFP) to solicit proposals for the OGC Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure Pilot 2022 (FMSDI-22).

We currently experience a rapidly changing environment in the Arctic with climate change being an important factor. Coastlines change, sea currents are affected that lead to changing climate on both land and sea and have consequences on marine food chains. Formerly frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean have started to be released, whereas changing ice patterns make large areas of the Arctic accessible and navigable during long periods of the year. Thus, impacts of climate change on the Arctic environment present both challenges and potential opportunities for coastal communities, ecosystems, and economic activities. With more and more data becoming available, the question is: what can we do with all of these data? Do we better understand the status quo, or changes over time? Is it the right data that we find? What do we have and what are we missing? Do the interfaces to these data work? And, do we have the right tools?

Expressed more specifically, we can ask what analytical predictive information products can we extract from the available data? What is the role of EO Frameworks to share multi-temporal, multi-spectral analysis as information products? How can these data streams feed into and streamline regulatory processes?

The goal of this pilot is to explore the current data basis, the accessibility to these data, processing capacities, analytical components, and visualization options that help us to better understand the opportunities and challenges described above. The pilot explores the data integration and analysis layer, but shall demonstrate information products for senior decision makers in particular.

It has been widely recognized that standards play an essential role for data integration and processing. FAIR principles as in Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable are key to integrate data from multiple sources and owners into analytical environments. This pilot shall explore how we can combine geospatial data at standardized interfaces with tabular data and live spatial data feeds. These data feeds, e.g. ocean monitoring buoys or weather sensors represent a key dimension of a Digital Arctic. Lots of data in the marine environment have been produced with navigation as the primary goal. Is that data fit for other purposes, such as search & rescue, environment, economics? What are the new purposes and use cases we can build with the data we have available?

This pilot builds on the results from the first Arctic Spatial Data Pilot conducted in 2017 without repeating it. Instead, new use cases and scenarios shall be developed. What is the delta between what we can do today compared to 2017? What new data is available? What role do new technologies play, such as OGC Web APIs and new cataloging mechanisms such as the Spatial Temporal Asset Catalog, STAC? How to sustain catalog(s) after the completion of the Fed. Marine SDI Pilot (i.e., after the life of this initiative). Is there a role for evergreen cataloging methodologies?

This pilot addresses all these questions, challenges, and opportunities using three main pillars. As illustrated in Figure 1, the first pillar is "Demonstration". Here, participants demonstrate Arctic scenarios that integrate data from various sources with emphasis on the land-sea interface. The second pillar explores the value of existing and emerging OGC standards, and the third pillar looks at related standards from the International Hydrographic Organization, IHO.

In summary, together with our sponsoring organizations and international bodies such as IHO and UNGGIM, OGC wants to explore the current status of distributed land and marine data services for the Arctic marine and coastal environment. Participants are invited to develop demonstration scenarios that show how data can be discovered, accessed, used and reused, shared, processed, analyzed, and visualized. All scenarios shall be located in the Arctic. Each scenario shall demonstrate what is currently possible and what gaps are experienced with the resources that can be discovered on the Internet. In the context of the scenario developments, the following questions shall be answered by each participant:

Initially, participants are free to define and execute their own (sub-) scenario. During the course of the pilot, all participants will work together to integrate these individual scenarios into one overarching scenario. Imagine this scenario as a super-scenario with multiple, loosely coupled sub-scenario parts. Ideas and requirements for all scenarios are described below.

All experiences made during the development and implementation phase of the scenario(s) will be captured in a single Engineering Report. OGC staff will edit and serve as primary author of this document. All participants are contributing their text material that includes sub-scenario documentation as well as experiences made and lessons learned during all phases of scenario development. Eventually, all participants together will demonstrate a federation model for Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures as part of the overarching scenario.

The scenario(s) data will be served and processed by a variety of services that may or may not be part of a Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure. This brings up the question how to establish a federated model of these infrastructures or parts thereof. How can we integrate individual data services and Web portals? What common baseline exists or should be developed?

Based on all experiences and lessons learned, recommendations for future enhancements shall be developed. The demonstration scenarios shall put special emphasis on OGC and IHO S-100 standards. How mature are these? What modifications might be required to further enhance these standards? Are there any best practices that can be identified and described?

A Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) is a specific type of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) with focus and the marine environment. It is not only a collection of hydrographic products, but an infrastructure that promotes interoperability of data at all levels (e.g., national, regional, international). Like all SDIs, it tries to enhance discoverability, accessibility, and interoperability of marine data. By doing so, it supports a wider, non-traditional user-base of marine data, far beyond what is typically used for navigation.

The Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure 2022 Pilot will focus on a couple of aspects all contributing to an overarching scenario that helps better understand both the challenges and potential opportunities for coastal communities, ecosystems, and economic activities in the Arctic region. Bidders are invited to describe ideas for an overarching scenario in their proposals. The final scenario will be mutually agreed by all participants during the execution phase of the pilot.

The sub-scenarios, i.e., those scenarios that are developed by each participant individually, can address any aspect of the changing Arctic landscape. Potential activities may include:

Each deliverable defines a sub-scenario package. This package includes the definition and implementation of the sub-scenario; the role it plays as part of the overarching scenario, and the documentation of all results, experiences made, and lessons learned as stated above. The documentation is delivered as a contribution to the initiative results Engineering Report.

Each participant is free to choose the type of software used for data integration, analysis, and visualization. No software will be delivered. Instead, delivery is provided in the form of live demonstrations of the scenario during video conferences that will be recorded and used for future outreach activities.

In total, this pilot is expected to fund a total of six organizations. Each participant shall demonstrate a sub-scenario and contribute a dedicated component to the overarching scenario. This is, each participant either provides a client and loads this client with data and analytics as provided by other participants, or a service component to make data available in a standards-compliant format.

Bidders proposing a client implementation shall use this client to include data used in other sub-scenarios or identified by other participants. The clients serve as integration points for all elements that are part of the overarching scenario.

Bidders proposing a server component shall support loading data to the service instance to make it available in a format supported by the client instances. Alternatively, the server instances may proxy existing, non-standard compliant data services to provide a standards-based API.

In summary, each bidder shall demonstrate a complete sub-scenario and contribute either a client or server instance to the overarching scenario. Bidders are invited to include either a client or server instance or both in their proposals. Each participant demonstrates their sub-scenario with their own client. The dedicated client applications D100-102 will be used in the umbrella scenario.

D100 - Client instance: Sub-scenario package and dedicated client instance to be used in both the sub-scenario as well as the overarching scenario. The client instance will be delivered in the form of a live demonstration that illustrates all elements of the different scenarios. Ideally, the client shall make use of the server instances D103-105.

D101 - Client instance: Similar to D100.

D102 - Client instance: Similar to D100.

D103 - Server instance: Sub-scenario package and dedicated server instance to be used in both the sub-scenario as well as the overarching scenario. The server instance will be delivered by making it available to clients D100-102 during the demonstration scenario(s). The server shall provide a OGC compliant API that supports discovery and access to marine or land data in an Arctic scenario.

D104 - Server instance: Similar to D103.

D105 - Server instance: Similar to D103.