Data Grid discovery and Semantic Web technologies for the earth sciences

This paper describes scientific data discovery for the earth sciences in the context of data Grids and Grid computing. Requirements and use cases illustrate current challenges due to size, distribution, and minimal annotation of data. Semantics and the characterization of provenance in large data archives are discussed. The targeted community of users is also discussed. Solutions implemented by the Earth System Grid and the National Environment Research Council Data Grid include a prototype ontology, metadata schemas, search mechanisms, and discovery architectures. The use of Semantic Web technologies has facilitated the development of meaningful annotations of data content and opened the door to data discovery in federated systems.