CERES is the California Resource Agency's project to increase access to environmental data in the state, primarily but not limited to data produced by state agencies. Since much of this data is georeferenced, and an even larger proportion of CERES data sets have well-defined geographic footprints, there is obvious potential for the technologies being developed by ADL, and for ADL to collaborate in providing operational access to CERES data.
Accordingly, discussions were initiated in late 1994 regarding potential collaboration. It was clear that several other parties had common interests in collaboration, so an exploratory meeting of representatives of ADL, CERES, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (National Biological Service) was held in 1995. It was agreed that collaboration be pursued along several interrelated directions: acquisition of a terabyte file store at SDSC, to increase the storage capacity available to CERES; improvement of bandwidth between SDSC and UCSB; and mounting of sample CERES data by ADL on a trial basis. These efforts would help to overcome some of the immediate impediments to a closer collaboration. At the same time, a Memorandum of Understanding would be formulated by the parties, setting the broad parameters of collaboration.
By mid 1996 ADL had mounted and was providing access to the data of the Sierra Nevada Environment Project (SNEP), both via file-based ftp and through the ADL interface. Bandwidth between SDSC and UCSB had been expanded, and the file store had been installed at SDSC, allowing them to 'clone' ADL. Unfortunately, it had proven much more difficult to formulate an MOU under the legal constraints affecting the various parties. Accordingly, a simple bilateral MOU between UCSB/ADL and the California Resources Agency was proposed, and is currently under review. This MOU will establish ADL as the center for research into access technologies for the geospatial data of the agency, and provide for effective transfer of the technology being developed by ADL under the DLI.