The Reading e-Science Centre

Jon Blower

Reading e-Science CentreEnvironmental Systems Science Centre

University of ReadingUnited Kingdom

Background

• Formed in Nov 2003 as “Centre of Excellence” for environmental e-Science– Joint venture between ESSC and School of

Systems Engineering– 50% NERC, 50% EPSRC funding hence joint

mission to promote e-Science in environmental sciences and locally at Reading

• Since Nov 2005, 100% NERC funded– Hence must focus on NERC activities– Although still active locally

Key activities• Produce software tools for environmental e-Science

– Mapping server and interactive website– Secure environmental data server– Linking of NERC clusters at ESSC, Proudman Oceanographic Labs

and British Antarctic Survey• Engage with industry and govt agencies

– Strong links with British Maritime Technology and Met Office– Research Fellow sponsored by Schlumberger

• Encourage uptake of Web Service standards in the community– For greater interoperability

• Encourage development and use of local e-Science infrastructure– E.g. Campus Grid– ESSC are key users of current Grid (Kevin Hodges)

Using the Campus Grid: example from ESSC

• TRACK program identifies and tracks storms in numerical model output– Identifies pressure lows and

vorticity highs• Use Condor to run TRACK over

very large numbers of datasets– Datasets are downloaded from

the Internet on-demand• Then produce statistics and

diagnostics using the results– Tells us about the predictability of

storms– Also how storms respond to

climate change• Bengtsson et al, 2006 “Storm

tracks and climate change” (Journal of Climate)

Lizzie Froude, Kevin Hodges, Lennart Bengtsson

Access Grid at ESSC

• Internet-based videoconferencing using multicast

• Uses InSORS software• Enables distributed

meetings between multiple participants

• Can share powerpoint slides and other apps

• Free to use!– Email us to book

accessgrid-resc@rdg.ac.uk