NFDI4Earth Pilots

The development of the NFDI4Earth is driven by the researchers’ needs and requirements for research data management according to the FAIR principles. NFDI4Earth uses Earth System Science Pilots to engage the community. These pilots stem from different domains of the ESS community,  manifest the researchers’ needs and are the community’s contribution to an agile development of the NFDI4Earth. Pilots typically run for one year and are collected from an open call.

The third Pilot Call is now officially closed. We received 24 outstanding proposals, each demonstrating exceptional quality and innovation.
After a thorough and careful selection process, the Pilot projects have been chosen. We extend our thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal. The high quality of submissions this year made the selection process particularly challenging. ​The selected pilots will be introduced on this website soon.

If you have any questions, please contact the coordination office of pilot projects   nfdi4earth-pilots@tu-dresden.de. For contact persons of specific pilots see descriptions below.

3rd Cohort of Pilots 2025

In the third round 6 pilots out of 24 submissions were selected and are running between January 2025 - December 2025.

CAMELS-DE PLUS

Domain: Hydrology
Contact: Dr. Mirko Mälicke, KIT      
Duration: January 2025 - December 2025 

Enhance and update the CAMELS-DE benchmark dataset by developing a community standard for structuring and describing containerized scientific tools to improve reusability and provenance.

Keywords: Hydrology, Meteorology, Data curation, Metadata, Reusabilty

proposal
GeoLabel

Domain: Remote sensing 
Contact: Prof. Dr. Teja Kattenborn, Universität Freiburg      teja.kattenborn@geosense.uni-freiburg.de
Duration: January 2025 - December 2025

GeoLabel aims to develop a WebGIS-based annotation tool designed to streamline and enhance georeferenced labeling for geospatial data. This tool will support geospatial raster formats like Zarr and GeoTIFF and provide high accessibility, project and user management, standardized metadata, crowd-sourcing compatibility, geospatial data import, annotation tools, AI-assisted labeling, label analysis, and export capabilities. GeoLabel will serve researchers, data curators, citizen scientists, and public authorities, advancing data analytics, research data management, and the broader NFDI4Earth efforts by facilitating efficient and standardized geospatial data labeling workflows.

Keywords: Image annotation, GIS, Geospatial data, Machine learning, Remote sensing



proposal
The seamless interoperability of geospatial freshwater tools (GeoFresh 3)

Domain: Water Research, Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems
Contact:  Dr. Sami Domisch, IGB Berlin     sami.domisch@igb-berlin.de
Duration: March 2025 - February 2026

The complex spatial structure and longitudinal connectivity of freshwater habitat mirrors the complicated geospatial processing of such data, where focusing on a given stream segment or lake requires expanding the spatial window of analysis also to hydrologically connected habitats. After developing the Hydrography90m dataset, the GeoFRESH platform, the hydrographr R-package and the integration of lakes into the hydrography, the pilot project focuses on advancing and maturing these services and tools for research communities. This will be achieved by a seamless integration of standardized, high-resolution and scalable data and tools for analysis workflows anywhere in the world, and by addressing beginners and experienced users alike from biological and Earth System sciences.

Keywords: Freshwater, Earth System, Interoperability, Visualization, Analysis Platform


 

proposal
4D-WORKS

Domain: Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Contact: Prof. Dr. Katharina Anders, TU München    k.anders@tum.de
Duration: January 2025 - December 2025

4D-WORKS will develop a curation workflow and best practice metadata for 3D time series data acquired through laser scanning or photogrammetry, addressing the current lack of standards and improving data interoperability and reusability. The result will provide a foundation for metadata standards and strongly facilitate access and (re)usability of 3D time series for prospective users, where the developed metadata-rich workflows are fundamental for efficient and flexible use in domain-specific tasks.

Keywords: Data curation, Metadata, Time series, Interoperability, Reusability


proposal
An Adaptable Quality Evaluation Tool for Geochemical Data

Domain: Geochemistry, Earth sciences
Contact: Prof. Dr. Matthias Willbold, Uni Göttingen    matthias.willbold@uni-goettingen.de
Duration: January 2025 - December 2025

This project aims to develop an adaptable tool that allows users of the GEOROC geochemical database to evaluate and quantify the quality of stored data according to their specific applications.

Keywords: Data evaluation, GEOROC, Geochemistry, Database, Accessibility, ​Accessibility, Interoperability


proposal
EarthLinks – Easy Access to EOD for Social Scientists

Domain: Social science, Earth system science
Contact: Dr. Denis Abel, ​GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne    Dennis.Abel@gesis.org
Duration: April 2025 - December 2025

EarthLinks bridges the gap between Earth Observation Data (EOD) and social science research by creating an open-source, user-friendly tool for integrating time- and space-sensitive datasets. The R Shiny-based application simplifies data linking and analysis without requiring programming skills, empowering researchers to explore new interdisciplinary avenues. By adhering to FAIR principles and providing comprehensive tutorials, EarthLinks fosters collaboration between social sciences and Earth system sciences, opening pathways to innovative research on environmental and societal dynamics.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Earth observation data, ​Accessibility, Interoperability


proposal

2nd Cohort of Pilots 2023-2024

In the second round 7 pilots out of 29 submissions were selected and are running between September 2023 - September 2024.

BPMN4Earth

Domain: Mineralogy, Petrology, Geochemistry, Physical Geography
Contact: Gunnar Pruß, GFZ Potsdam    gunnar.pruss@gfz-potsdam.de
Duration: January 2024 - December 2024

BPMN4Earth provides facilitating comprehensive and reproducible laboratory workflows through metadata-enriched workflow descriptions. Therefore it tackles a key gap in RDM, the lack of a standardized, both human- and machine-readable format for documenting laboratory and field workflows. The project proposes using the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard to create reusable and automatable workflow models that improve transparency, reproducibility, and metadata quality in scientific processes. The team developed a proof-of-concept command line tool and successfully tested it on workflows in field and laboratory settings. The approach was positively evaluated and is being adopted in local lab infrastructure, with integration planned into larger initiatives such as the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration. The example of a complete geochronology workflow using Beryllium-10—from field sampling to interpretation—illustrates how BPMN can standardize and document complex, interdisciplinary workflows.

Outcome:

Project Report: TBA

Keywords: PID, Workflow automation, Metadata, Laboratory

Proposal
CAPICE

Domain: Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate
Contact: Angelika Humbert, AWI Bremerhaven    Angelika.Humbert@awi.de
Duration: January 2024 - December 2024

CAPICE aims to optimize simulations on distributed HPC systems for efficient modeling of ice sheet dynamics. Scientific modeling often requires more than just executing model simulations, it also involves data acquisition, preprocessing, and coordination across diverse computing infrastructures. CAPICE demonstrates a solution to streamline these steps by introducing a message broker architecture. In the example case, the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) is executed on one platform using input data sourced from another, without requiring the user to manually access or operate either. The setup automates data transfer, job execution, and preprocessing steps. This approach simplifies distributed modeling workflows and offers a promising blueprint for other domain models facing similar infrastructure fragmentation.


Outcome:
Software (Example): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14538166
Backend Module: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14538123
Project Report: TBA
Tool descrtiption: https://nfdi4earth.pages.rwth-aachen.de/livinghandbook/livinghandbook/Pilot_CAPICE/

Keywords: Deep learning, HPC, Earth observation, Earh modeling data, Reusability

proposal
Connecting rivers and lakes FAIRly (GeoFRESH)

Domain: Water Research, Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems
Contact: Thomas Tomiczek, IGB Berlin    thomas.tomiczek@igb-berlin.de
Duration: Oktober 2023 - September 2024

GeoFRESH is an important tool for FAIR data management in freshwater research, offering globally standardized stream network queries. With this pilot, GeoFRESH extended its capabilities to integrate both rivers and lakes into a unified analytical framework. Freshwater geospatial analysis is often complicated by the branching structure of river networks and the separate representation of lakes and reservoirs. These elements are frequently stored in different datasets, making their joint analysis difficult. This pilot addressed the challenge by integrating lake data into the Hydrography90m stream network using the hydrographr R-package. The tools developed enable automated detection of lake-stream intersections, contributing catchments, and ensure compatibility with high-resolution datasets such as NASA SWOT. All functionalities are accessible through the GeoFRESH platform, providing a foundation for fully integrated freshwater analyses in coherent and reusable workflows.

Outcome: 

Data curation platform: https://geofresh.org/
R-Package: https://github.com/glowabio/hydrographr
Project Report:  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14290114

Keywords: Freshwater, Earth System, Interoperability, Visualization, Analysis Platform

Proposal
GeoComBi

Domain: Oceanography
Contact: Tim Nattkemper, Universität Bielefeld    tim.nattkemper@uni-bielefeld.de
Duration: Oktober 2023 - September 2024

GeoComBi seeks to enhance video and image annotation workflows by incorporating geospatial context information display for BIIGLE. 

BIIGLE is an open-source image and video annotation platform widely used in Earth and marine sciences, with over 4,000 registered users. In the GeoComBi pilot, researchers extended BIIGLE 2.0 to support spatially contextualised annotation of georeferenced drone and underwater imagery. Two key features were developed: a map view to visualise the spatial distribution of uploaded images and a mosaic background view that enables annotations within their broader geospatial context. These enhancements significantly improve the usability of BIIGLE for spatial analysis, allowing researchers to better interpret annotation data in relation to geographic features. The pilot establishes a foundation for future extensions, such as interfaces to data servers and improved interaction with spatial layers, contributing to more FAIR-compliant imaging workflows in environmental and geoscientific research.https://biigle.de/

Outcome:

Data curation platform:  https://biigle.de/
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15877738

Keywords: Image annotation, Geospatial data, Oceanography, Context fusion

proposal
Graph based visual search engine

Domain: Computer Science, Computer Graphics and Visualisation
Contact: Pawandeep Kaur-Betz, DLR Braunschweig    pawandeep.kaur-betz@dlr.de
Duration: September 2023 - August 2024

The FAIR data principles advocate for making scientific and research datasets findable. Yet, the sheer volume and diversity of these datasets present significant challenges. Despite advancements in data search technologies, techniques for presenting search results are still traditional and inadequate, often returning extraneous results. To address these issues, we developed a knowledge graph-based visual search application called VESA (Visualization Enabled Search Application). 

At its core, it uses a knowledge graph to seamlessly connect metadata from two different repositories, enabling users to search from a common platform. The backend of VESA is built and configured for the Earth System Scientists (ESS) connecting part of the PANGAEA and DLR Earth Observation data repositories. Its frontend uses various chart widgets to present search results in four different perspectives: a map-based view (to visualize the location where the datasets were observed or collected), a list-based view (to show results relevant to a selected topic, e.g. temperature), a line chart (to visualize the year and month when the datasets were observed or collected) and a chord diagram (to show collaboration links between researchers of a community). This approach enhances the discovery process and uncovers intricate connections, facilitating deeper insights into the datasets explored and more informed decision-making. For instance, the exploration of the dataset and its filtering through different widgets, can assist in knowing the quality of the metadata content.

Outcomes:
Interactive Website:  https://vesa.webapps.nfdi4earth.de/  
Software repository: https://git.rwth-aachen.de/nfdi4earth/pilotsincubatorlab/pilots/graph-based-visual-search-engine
Project Report: ​  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14216195

Keywords: Visualisation, Findability, Accessibility

proposal
Propagating complex uncertainties in data cubes

Domain: Atmospheric Science, Oceanography, Palaeoenvironmental Geoscience
Contact: Nils Weitzel, Universität Tübingen    nils.weitzel@uni-tuebingen.de
Duration: September 2023 - August 2024

This Pilot fosters the integration of measurements and methods dealing with uncertainties of paleoclimatic proxy data into a data cube architecture. In comparison of large datasets from numerical simulations with environmental measurements uncertanty structures are a main challange. Addressing this challenge, the pilot developed a data cube architecture designed to integrate point-based measurements with Monte Carlo methods for rigorous uncertainty quantification. The resulting Python package, cupsm, enables metadata-rich, lazy-loading objects for both simulations and proxy data, supporting parallel operations and uncertainty propagation through modular operators. This framework was demonstrated using transient climate simulations from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present day, matched against a curated database of sea surface temperature reconstructions. The solution not only improves the interoperability and reusability of data analysis workflows in paleoclimatology but also serves as a practical foundation for evaluating model intercomparison projects. By operationalising complex uncertainty structures, cupsm provides a robust prototype for broader application in other domains of Earth system science.


Outcomes:
Python Package (Cupsm): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14624116 
Software documentation: https://cupsm.readthedocs.io
Project Report: ​ https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14627370

Keywords: Data Cubes, Earth Observation, Paleoclimatology, ​​Earth System Models, Data Cube, Machine Learning

proposal
SoilPulse

Domain: Geography, Water Research, Soil Sciences
Contact: Conrad Jackisch, TU Freiberg    Conrad.Jackisch@tbt.tu-freiberg.de
Duration: Oktober 2023 - September 2024

The Pilot SoilPulse addressed a critical gap in Earth system science by focusing on the standardisation of metadata for soil-process data. Despite the essential role of soil data in climate, agricultural, and ecological research, such datasets often lack consistent, FAIR-compliant metadata, making them difficult to share, interpret, or reuse across disciplines. To tackle this issue, the pilot developed a prototype metadata generator tool, supported by automated checks for data interoperability and reusability. These efforts were informed by community consultation and tested through practical use cases. The result is a framework that makes soil data more findable and better aligned with broader data infrastructures, such as NFDI4Earth. While full adoption and standardisation remain future challenges, SoilPulse has laid an important foundation. It demonstrates how collaborative tooling and community-driven standards can improve the accessibility and integration of soil data in cross-domain environmental research.

Outcomes:
Workflow documentation: https://metadatagenerator.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13911635

Keywords: Metadata, Interoperability, Soil data

proposal
Bathy4All: Workflows for Multibeam Processing and Visualization

Domain: Geophysics, Geodesy 
Contact: Vikram Unnithan, Jacobs University Bremen     v.unnithan@jacobs-university.de
Duration:  ​01.08.22 - 30.06.23

Bathymetry data is used in a wide spectrum ocean research ranging from anthropogenic impacts, natural hazards, benthic habitats and ecosystems to maritime transport and security. Over the past decade, most German research vessels have been equipped with multibeam echosounders, which provide accurate seafloor topography and in some cases information within the water column.
The pilot will increase accessibility and thus reusability of bathymetry data. In a first step, a common processing algorithm will be integrated into open-source software to make the workflow that led to the provided data more transparent. Furthermore, the visualization and processing of water column data will be explored, which can possibly provide insights on fish and phytoplankton. In order to enable easy access and reuse available bathymetry data will be combined in a Data Cube.  

Keywords: ​Bathymetry, Marine Sciences, Accessibility, Reusability, DataCube
Updates:

proposal
Data Cube Visualisation

Domain: Geography
Contact: Maximilian Söchting, Universität Leipzig    maximilian.soechting@uni-leipzig.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Many subsystems of the Earth are constantly monitored in space and time with a large number of different data streams (e.g. gridded climate data, biophysical parameters of the land surface, or of aquatic bodies etc.). Since the spatial and temporal resolution of these data sets continuously rises with the development of improved sensors, global and local insights into these data sets become more difficult to obtain. In order to facilitate research processes and easily gain insights from large data cubes, we want to explore different approaches to interactively visualize data cubes generated from socioeconomic and multivariate remote sensing data sources. We are aiming to extend our existing client-server software architecture for interactive exploration and visualization of data cubes. New features that will be developed as part of this pilot include 3D volume visualization and further features from the domain of visual analytics.

Outcomes:
Visualisation tool: https://www.lexcube.org/
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7822389

Keywords: Data Cubes, Visualisation, Earth Observation, Socioeconomic Data

proposal
Developing Tools and FAIR Principles for the MetBase Database

Domain: Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Crystallography
Contact: Dominik Hezel, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main   dominik.hezel@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

The study of geo- and cosmochemical material provide important insights to the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets, early solar system evolution as well as understanding the formation and evolution of the early Earth. MetBase is the largest cosmochemcial database, currently hosted in Germany and of high relevance for the community. However, metadata and FAIR implementation remain rudimentary, and the database needs to be modernized for efficient use and new scientific approaches. To alleviate joint analysis and interoperability, the MetBase data will be harmonized and merged with the US-American AstroMaterials database. In a further step the existing analysis interface will be enhanced by integrating new tools and enable access to various geo- and cosmochemical data bases, such as MetBase, GeoRoc, and the like.

Outcomes:
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8297837

Keywords: Cosmochemistry, Meteorites, Metadata, Interoperability, Reusability, Visualization, Analysis Platform

proposal
Enhancing Earth System Model Evaluation with Data Cube enabled Machine Learning  

Domain: Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Climate Research
Contact: Rémi Kazeroni, German Aerospace Center (DLR)    Remi.Kazeroni@dlr.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

The evaluation of Earth System Models (ESMs) using observations is crucial to improve models and assure reliable climate projections. The ESM Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) is a community-driven diagnostics and performance metrics tool for routine evaluation of ESMs, supporting the activities within the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and at individual modelling centers. The aim of this pilot is to enhance the ESMValTool with Machine Learning (ML) techniques, which offer great potential to overcome some of the existing limitations in Earth System Science. To efficiently handle the large volume of input data required for ML the ESMValTool will be adapted to interoperate with Data Cubes. Once this is achieved an exemplary ML algorithm, the PCMCI causal discovery algorithm, will be integrated into the tool.

Outcomes:
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7826038

Keywords: ​Earth System Models, Data Cube, Machine Learning, Interoperability, Model Data Integration

proposal
German Marine Seismic Data Access

Domain: Geophysics and Geodesy
Contact: Janine Berndt, GEOMAR Kiel   jberndt@geomar.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Reflection seismic data are the most important source of information for marine subsurface structure and thus facilitate research on submarine slope stability, mega-thrust faults, or distribution and formation of natural resources in the subsurface. The major challenges of data management of reflection seismic data are the large size of datasets and the lack of standardization in processing and storage. The aim of the pilot is twofold: 1) Develop a systematic procedure for data acquisition with a unified metadata standard and extensively documented processing, verified with a test cruise 2) Develop a strategy to rescue and standardize legacy data that run the risk of being lost. Both aspects foster the reusability of reflection seismic data within the German research community.

Outcomes:
Final Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7875451
Mid Term Progress Presentation https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7350942 (November 2022)

Keywords: Seismics, Measurement Harmonization, Reusability, Interoperability, Metadata, Data Rescue, Legacy Data

proposal
GeoFRESH: Getting freshwater spatio-temporal data on track

Domain: Water Research
Contact: Sami Domisch, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)    domisch@igb-berlin.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Freshwater water bodies are highly connected with each other and with their terrestrial catchments. In the light of climate and land use changes as well as feedback mechanisms between earth systems, the integration of earth system data into freshwater research is long-overdue to assess those interdependencies. However, freshwater-specific characteristics like spatial connectivity and fragmentation as well as legacy effects require a specialized workflow. Within the pilot a prototype for a new online platform, called GeoFRESH will be developed that will provide the integration, processing, management and visualization of various standardized spatiotemporal freshwater-related earth system data. The platform will be built around IGBs Geonode using RShiny and include a newly created global high-resolution hydrographic network dataset.

Outcomes:
GeoFRESH platform: http://geofresh.org/
hydrographR R-package: https://github.com/glowabio/hydrographr
Final Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7888389

Keywords: ​​​Freshwater, Earth System, Interoperability, Visualization, Analysis Platform

proposal
Interoperability and Reusability of Geoscientific Lab Data  

Domain: Geophysics and Geodesy
Contact: Sven Nordsiek, Leibniz-Institut für Angewandte Geophysik (LIAG) Hannover   Sven.Nordsiek@leibniz-liag.de
Duration: ​01.05.22 - 31.03.23

Geoscientific research has become a highly complex and interdisciplinary task that often produces huge amounts of manifold data, associated data types and related documentations accordingly. Interoperability and reusability are often severely limited, due to non-existing standards – especially within the field of petrophysics. This pilot develops a data map, i.e., a structured overview of existing instruments, methods, parameters etc. and their interconnections. This semantic map aims to resolve intra- and interdisciplinary ambiguities. Initially it will cover petrophysics and then be expanded to other disciplines like geochemistry, mineralogy, hydrology and many others. Based on the data map a database model will be created, which in turn could be used to develop automated tools for metadata generation and incorporation of new methods and parameters. Such a tool can be used as upstream layer before data is published to ensure compliance to metadata standards.

Outcomes:
Final Project Report and database model: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8063264

Keywords: ​​Petrophysics, Metadata, Interoperability, Reusability, Interdisciplinary, Lab, Measurements

Button
Linking Environmental Data into European Scale Research Infrastructures

Domain: Ecology, Biogeochemistry
Contact: Jan Bumberger, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)    jan.bumberger@ufz.de
Duration:  01.01.23 - 31.12.23

Long-Term Monitoring data are needed to analyze the effects of climate change on ecosystem processes and biodiversity. The eLTER initiative strives for harmonization of measurements at its sites to overcome interoperability issues when combining observations for large-scale assessments.  This pilot will set up a data node that standardizes and connects observation data with the European Open Science Cloud EOSC. It is targeted towards data from UFZ but is expected to be transferable to other German eLTER observation site operators. Furthermore, new methods for automated data curation and quality assessment will be explored. This pilot concerns the abiotic data gathered at the biogeochemical observation sites, whereas an analog use case study in NFDI4Biodiversity covers biotic observations.

Keywords: ​​Sensor Data, Measurement Harmonization, Accessibility, Interoperability
Updates:

proposal
NFDI for Seamless Earth System Model-Data Integration

Domain: Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Climate Research
Contact: Naixin Fan, Technische Universität Dresden   fan.naixin@tu-dresden.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Global Earth observation (EO) data is invaluable to evaluate, parametrize and enhance Earth System Models (ESMs). However, the integration of EO data with ESMs currently lacks a formal infrastructure but involves the use of different file formats and various software tools in different programming languages. This pilot envisions a seamless model data integration for EO data that builds on existing tools and develops the missing connections. In a first step the requirements for the framework and existing implementations will be assessed in exchange with fellow researchers. Based on these insights a model-data interface toolbox and a calibration toolbox will be developed as a prototype. The pilot will focus on the land components of ESMs, so called dynamic global vegetation models, however, the framework is expected to be transferable to other models or model parts.

Outcomes:
Final Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8033473

Keywords: Earth System Models, Earth Observation, DataCube, Interoperability, Model Data Integration

proposal
OcMOD: Observations closer to Model Data

Domain: Atmospheric Science and Climate Research
Contact: Martin Schupfner, German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ)   schupfner@dkrz.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 30.09.23

The output of climate models is usually validated with reference data from observations. Model data and commonly used observational data must be obtained from different sources. Model data stem from research institutions, observational data often from public authorities. To proceed with further analysis all data must be standardized and brought to the same format. The objective of this pilot is to bring observational data closer to the model output and to increase number of users by making data from public authorities more easily accessible. The pilot will exemplarily integrate the German Weather Service (DWD) reanalysis dataset COSMO-REA6 to the infrastructure of Earth System Grid Federation ESGF. The developed workflow will be documented and serve as a blueprint for further integration of datasets from DWD or other public authorities.

Keywords: ​​​Climate Models, Earth System Models, Authority Data, Interoperability, Model Data Integration
Updates: Mid Term Progress Presentation https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7360809 (November 2022)

proposal
PAMbase: A Repository of Soundscape Recordings to Study Earth’s Phonosphere  

Domain: Landscape Ecology
Contact: Kevin Darras, Technische Universität Dresden    kevin.darras@tu-dresden.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Acoustic environmental data are used to monitor biodiversity, calving of glaciers, or noise pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Developments in automated sound recording and analysis technologies provide unprecedented possibilities for studying acoustic environments. However, a centralized data hub to store and manage the increasing amount of data is so far missing. The pilot develops a prototype repository for passive acoustic monitoring data called PAMbase. Crucial aspects in the development are a unified standard for metadata and indexing as well as solutions for data storage. PAMbase will feature a user-friendly front-end for uploading, searching, and exploring sound files, potentially including citizen science data. Furthermore, tools for automated sound detection and signal classification will be explored.

Outcomes:
Platform: https://ecosound-web.de/ecosound_web/
Platform documentation: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.26369.2
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7785327

Keywords: Ecology, Biodiversity, Accessibility, Repository, Analysis Platform

proposal
Reusability of Data with Complex Semantic Structure

Domain: Geology and Paleontology
Contact: Lukas Jonkers, MARUM Universität Bremen    ljonkers@marum.de
Duration: ​01.08.22 - 31.03.23

Data on the occurrence and abundance of fossils provide invaluable insights into past climate and biodiversity change. However, lack of common taxonomic standards and associated vocabularies, limit reusability of fossil data and thus global assessments. Inconsistent and variable taxonomy are a common challenge faced in biodiversity research using species occurrence data. The pilot aims to resolve those semantic barriers for the example of planktonic foraminifera. This includes a community-driven process to develop metadata standards and ontologies that can accommodate varying research needs as well as future changes in taxonomy. This approach can on the one hand be used to create a pipeline for submissions of new data. On the other hand, it enables the reuse of legacy data by translation to the newly developed standard.

Outcomes:
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8124211
Code data harmonization on PANGAEA: https://github.com/lukasjonkers/harmonisePFTaxonomy

Keywords: ​​Interoperability, Ontology, Metadata, Taxonomy, Data Rescue, Legacy Data

proposal
Statistical Learning to assess factors underlying environmental changes

Domain: Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Climate Research
Contact: Daniel Pabon, ​Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena    dpabon@bgc-jena.mpg.de
Duration: ​01.06.22 - 31.05.23

The earth system currently experiences profound environmental changes, for example in the climate, in biogeochemical flows or in biodiversity. However, assessing the drivers underlying these changes is a challenging task, both technically and scientifically. This pilot will implement different methods for driver attribution in the programming language Julia in the data cube environment based on the zarr format. Gridded environmental observational data is increasingly stored in data cubes enabling a straightforward analysis of multiple variables across different dimensions. The technical implementation is accompanied by an example analysis that explores the impact of land cover change on different climate variables. In the implementation and testing phase simulated data will be used, afterwards the analysis will be performed using the global multivariate dataset of the Earth System Data Lab.

Outcomes:
Tutorials (Jupyter Notebooks): https://github.com/dpabon/YAXArraysToolboxNotebooks/tree/v0.0.2
Julia Package: https://github.com/dpabon/YAXArraysToolbox.jl
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7995187

Keywords: DataCube, Driver Attribution, Deep Learning, Julia, Earth System

proposal
World Settlement Footprint (WSF)

Domain: Geography
Contact: Jan Karl Haug, German Aerospace Centre (DLR)    jan-karl.haug@dlr.de
Duration: ​01.04.22 - 31.03.23

Urbanization is the cause and consequence of most environmental and societal changes on Earth. The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) has developed a suite of global maps, the World Settlement Footprint (WSF), that contain the distribution and evolution of human settlements. The pilot makes the data and its future updates available for the research community via the EOC Geoservice. The WSF data suite will be equipped with STAC-compliant metadata to ensure easy use and interoperability of the data, enabling for example the integration into Data Cubes. Alongside Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR) they will promote common standards for human settlement data to ease joint analysis of WSF and IÖR-Monitor data.

Outcomes:
Datasets: 1) https://doi.org/10.15489/twg5xsnquw84 , 2) https://doi.org/10.15489/rlyibn8gjc58
Project Report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7897531

Keywords: Earth Observation, Urban Data, Accessibility, Interoperability

proposal

Our team at RSC4Earth, Universität Leipzig

Kolja Nenoff
Miguel Mahecha
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