20011204: Data formats for McIDAS

>From:  Richard Ullman <address@hidden>
>Organization:  ESDIS Information Architect
>Keywords:  200112041551.fB4FplN14542

>I'm trying to understand how (or whether) further standardization of data
>formats or metadata  for upcoming NASA Earth Observing missions might
>improve data interoperability.  In the next few years, NASA will extend
>the systematic measurement of several kinds of data.  Among them are ocean
>vector winds, precipitation, and atmospheric constituents.  

This sounds like a much needed project.

>I've spent several hours this morning reading your web pages.  There are many 
>references to the term "ADDE Server", but I don't quite understand what it is.
>does it represent an interface standard.  Is it specific to the McIDAS
>analysis system?

ADDE stands for Abstract Data Distribution Environment.  It is the name
given to the client-server arcitecture of McIDAS.  It does represent
an interface "standard", but in a limited context.  ADDE was development
for McIDAS and was solely used by McIDAS until the Unidata Metapps project
(development of display/analysis applications for geoscientific data in
Java) added it to the list of ways in which it can read data (it also
can read from disk files directly in a variety of formats, and from DODS
servers).  There is no reason that other applications couldn't be
instrumented to access data via ADDE, but so far, none (other than
Metapps, that is) have done so.

>Separately, do you have any thoughts about the prospect for or need for
>convergence between the NetCDF and HDF data format libraries?

This is question is broad enough to require more than a toss off
answer and probably someone else's response.  A more appropriate
contact would be Russ Rew <address@hidden>, the head
of our Systems and Development group.

>-Rich
>
>-- 
>_________________________________________________________________
> Richard E. Ullman                   phone:  301-614-5228  
> ESDIS Information Architect     
> Code 423, NASA/GSFC                 email: address@hidden
> Greenbelt, Maryland 20771       
>_________________________________________________________________

From: Richard Ullman <address@hidden>
To: Tom Yoksas <address@hidden>
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 14:43:56 -0500
Subject: Re: 20011204: Data formats for McIDAS


Thank you.