usage statistics. 15 Jim liked to say: “You
have nothing to fear but success or failure” and, of course, he never intended
to fail at anything.
Beyond astronomy
It became clear from our SkyServer
experience that virtual observatories
are sure to emerge on every scale of
the physical world, from high-energy
physics to nanotech, molecular biology, environmental observatories,
planet Earth, even the entire universe.
Many of the unknown issues related to
managing huge amounts of data are
common to all disciplines and revolve
around our human, as well as our digital, inability to deal with increasing
amounts of data. 7
As a result we’ve been considering
the broader implications of our SkyServer work. The SDSS marked a transition to a new kind of science. Science
itself has evolved over the centuries,
from empirical to analytic, then to
computational-X, where X represents
many (if not all) scientific disciplines.
With the emergence of large experiments like SDSS, where even data collection is via computer, a paradigm
shift is under way. We are entering an
era where there is so much data that
the brute-force application of computational hardware is not enough to
collect and analyze it all. We need to
approach even the design of our experiments differently, taking an algorithmic perspective. Data management
and enormous databases are inevitable
in this new world, where business is e-business and science is e-science. 16
SDSS data represents a wonderful
opportunity to explore and experiment
with how scientists adopt to new tools
and new technologies. In the same
spirit, Jim experimented with how tools
and technologies carry over to other disciplines. For example, he consciously
started (beginning in 2005) to develop
relationships with molecular biologists
and genomics researchers. I went along
for some of his visits to the Whitehead
Institute for Biomedical Research at
MIT ( www.wi.mit.edu) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (www. ncbi.nlm.hih.gov/) and was
amazed to find how similar many of
the bioinformatics challenges were to
those in astronomy. It was great to see
Jim go native in biology with the same
figure 5: charts of sensor measurements generated from the on Line analytical
Processing data-cube for sensor deployment at Johns hopkins university.
Surface Temperature (degC)
Surface Temperature (degC)
16
162
degC degCdegC
128
16
48
1042
– 4 08
– 4
0
– 4
Surface Temperature (degC)
— Surface Temperature/value52
— Surface Temperature/value58
— Surface Temperature/value6 520
— Surface Temperature/value58
— Surface Temperature/value60
— Surface Temperature/value52
— Surface Temperature/value58
— Surface Temperature/value60
(a)
(a)
(a)
8.0
degC degCdegC
86..0
4 6.0
842.. .00 0
0 62..0 0
0 4.0
2.0
0.0
2006-012 -09062-00 1-60-901-09
2006-012-100062-00 1-61-001-10
2006-012 -101062-00 1-61- 101-11
2006-012 -102062-00 1-61-201-12
2006-012-103062-00 1-61-301-13
2006-012 -104062-00 1-61-401-14
2006-012-105062-00 1-61-501-15
2006-012 -106062-00 1-61-601-16
2006-012 -107062-010-61-701-17
2006-012-108062-00 1-61-801-18
2006-012 -109062-010-61-901-19
2006-012-200062-00 1-62-001-20
date time
date time
2006-022-04062-00 2-60-402-04
2006-022-02062-00 2-60-202-02
2006-022-01062-00 2-60-102-01
2006-012 -300062-00 1-63-01-30
2006-012 -204062-00 1-62-401-24
2006-012 -301062-00 1-63- 101-31
2006-012 -209062-010-62-901-29
2006-012-208062-00 1-62-801-28
2006-012 -206062-00 1-62-601-26
2006-012 -205062-00 1-62-501-25
2006-012-203062-00 1-62-301-23
2006-012 -202062-00 1-62-201-22
2006-012 -207062-010-62-701-27
— Soil Temperature/value52
date time — Soil Temperature/value58 Soil Temperature (degC) — Soil Temperature/value6 50 2 (b)
— Soil Temperature/value58 Soil Temperature (degC) — Soil Temperature/value60 (b)
— Soil Temperature/value52
— Soil Temperature/value58 Soil Temperature (degC) — Soil Temperature/value60 (b)
2006-012-100062-00 1-61-001-10
2006-012 -101062-00 1-61- 101-11
2006-012 -102062-00 1-61-201-12
2006-022-04062-020-60-402-04
2006-022-02062-00 2-60-202-02
2006-022-01062-00 2-60-102-01
2006-012 -300062-010-63-01-30
2006-012 -209062-010-62-901-29
2006-012-204062-00 1-62-401-24
2006-012-200062-00 1-62-001-20
2006-012-301062-00 1-63- 101-31
2006-012 -208062-00 1-62-801-28
2006-012 -207062-00 1-62-701-27
2006-012 -206062-010-62-601-26
2006-012-205062-00 1-62-501-25
2006-012-203062-00 1-62-301-23
2006-012 -202062-00 1-62-201-22
2006-012 -109062-010-61-901-19
2006-012-104062-00 1-61-401-14
2006-012 -108062-00 1-61-801-18
2006-012 -107062-00 1-61-701-17
2006-012 -106062-010-61-601-16
2006-012-105062-00 1-61-501-15
2006-012-103062-00 1-61-301-13
2006-012 -09062-00 1-60-901-09
date time
date time
— Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value51
date time — Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value56
— Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value58 1 — W Soeia l t WhaetrePrrPerceipsistuat rieon10/5c8m/value56 (c)
— Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value58 — — W Soeia l t WhaetrePrrPerceipsistuat rieon10/5c8 (c) m/value51
— Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value56
— Soil Water Pressure 10cm/value58 — Weather Precipitation/58 (c)
Soil Water Pressure
and Precipitation (mm)
Soil Water Pressure
and Precipitation (mm)
20
kPascalksPaskcPaalscals
210
10
–2100
––12100 0
––320
–310
– 20
– 30
Soil Water Pressure
and Precipitation (mm)
2006-012-100062-00 1-61-001-10
2006-012 -101062-00 1-61- 101-11
2006-012 -09062-00 1-60-901-09
2006-012-104062-00 1-61-401-14
2006-012-105062-00 1-61-501-15
2006-012 -106062-010-61-601-16
2006-012 -108062-00 1-61-801-18
2006-012 -109062-00 1-61-901-19
2006-012-200062-00 1-62-001-20
2006-012 -202062-00 1-62-201-22
2006-012 -203062-00 1-62-301-23
2006-012-204062-00 1-62-401-24
2006-012-205062-00 1-62-501-25
2006-012 -103062-00 1-61-301-13
date time
date time
date time
2006-012 -208062-00 1-62-801-28
2006-012 -209062-00 1-62-901-29
2006-012 -300062-00 1-63-01-30
2006-012 -207062-00 1-62-701-27
2006-022-02062-00 2-60-202-02
2006-022-03062-00 2-60-302-03
