GeoBliki's Blog

Securing transactional RESTFul OGC Web Services is a challenge but can be done using a hybrid OpenID/OAuth protocol (see OGC OWS-6 interoperability demonstration).

To increase the security assurance level beyond level-1, you need to use more than one authentication factor such as: something you know (password) and something you have (keyfob).  Our openid server is currently being upgraded to support Verisign Identity Protection (VIP) and VIP Access using Mobile Credentials (free for end-users).

If you register a credential in your profile, a security code can now be used in addition to a password to gain access to the SensorWeb services.  A security code can also be used to delegate user authority to consumer applications such as workflows to access services on your behalf.  Credentials will become mandatory to gain access to satellites and UAV tasking request over the web.  There will still be an air gap between users and assets but, at least, user identity will be known with very high confidence.

Our goal is to demonstrate that it can be done simply, cheaply and RESTfully.

September 17, 2009, in the Wall Street Journal, Andy Pasztor writes:

"PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s No. 2 official on Wednesday vowed to provide taxpayers "better value" by focusing on environmental goals and promoting science education"

Problem is: How do we demonstrate value for "free" data?  For a particular program, one could build a model to demonstrate that value could be generated (see NOAA Portfolio Analysis).  This could end up being very costly. The other issue is:  how accurate or realistic would those models be?

A better way is to provide an environment that can enable the emergence of sustainable ecosystems powered by an american concept: A "Free" Market approach to value. Let the user communities place value on the NASA data they want to aquire or assets they want to task, and even compete for that data or assets if necessary.

What better demonstration of "Value"?  What a better way to get communities involved and point to us what they "value"?

The idea is to create a NASA virtual currency or NASA dollars that could be used to access data or task NASA assets when needed.  Users would need to demonstrate value creation and would receive equivalent NASA purchasing power as they see fit at no "real" cost to the users.  The useage of this virtual currency would be a great indicator of value as perceived by the user community.  When some users or some community can justify increased creation value, they would receive more NASA dollars.  If you cannot justify value creation, you would simply become second class citizen.  No need for an enforcer.  Let the Free market decide. 

This could also help with Basic Science Research.  Let’s have scientists justify value for their research too.  They would be getting hints on user needs after all.  This could be done various ways: from measuring their scientific paper publications and counting the references to those papers to measuring a "Return On Investment" based on science applications and direct technology infusion that eventually will lead to market growth.

This would be a major technology break-through driven by pure economics.  Isn’t this the American Way after all :).  Not that easy but not rocket science either.  I am sure that several universities would love to provide guidance to this new frontier for NASA.

Here is an idea for a name for the new currency (since it does not cost anything): 

Leveraging another Google feat with the newly minted PubSubHubBub protocol or PSHB, interested users can now get real-time notifications when new products from EO-1 are available.  Rather than polling our server at: http://geobpms.geobliki.com/products.atom, consumers can subscribe for that feed at: http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/subscribe.

They can enter their own callback to receive changes as it happens.

This capability is also now built-in Feedburner, Google Alerts and Google Reader.  More on TechCrunch

The same feed is available on FeedBurner: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Eo-1Level2ProductFeed

But why would you subscribe to it there?  unless you are a human!

Feel free to use Google Reader and add that feed to your favorites.

Pat.

Geobliki is getting ready to take on the Chesapeake bay!

Looking forward to seeing you there :)

 Following the announcement of a Web Coverage Processing Standard by the Open Geospatial Consortium on Mar 25, 2009, NASA is currently looking at implementing the capability on the ground and onboard a satellite.  This would allow end-users to dynamically upload classifiers to the satellite for real-time onboard processing.  This capability exists on EO-1 but the development of classifiers is manual, expensive and time-consuming.

Here is a link to a screencapture describing our current efforts.

Additional information on the WCPS can be found here.  

Many thanks to Peter Baumann, Jacobs University Bremen for his support and hard work developing this specification.

An open source version of the WCPS is available here.