simulation data models

From: Gerard <gerard.lemson-at-mpe.mpg.de>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:14:48 +0100


Dear colleagues

The theory interest group has been working on a project to create a data model describing the results of numerical simulations. The concrete focus of this model is that it should assist the simple numerical access protocol (SNAP, another theory IG project) in a similar way as the spectral data model assists the simple spectral access protocol. As defined in Victoria, SNAP is supposed to deal with systems existing and evolving in 3 dimensional space. A scale is not prescribed, the simulations can range from full cosmological simulations down to formation of planets and everything in between.

The first goal of the modeling exercise was to create a so called analysis model, which describes the domain we're interested in, without too much emphasis on the final use and implementations. We have a skeleton available, based on the patterns in the domain model I proposed with Pat Dowler some years ago (see the DM pages).

To test this model out it would be good to have some concrete data models that people have used in their work. These may be explicit, such as models for a database storing simulation (meta-)data, some may be implicit, as in a description of attributes and data in HDF(5) files.

We would like to get a hold of examples of such models, with the aim of investigating whether they can be described using the elements in the current model and to find out whether new features should be added.

So my request is that if you own or know of the existence of such data models, and these are or can be made public, please mail me about this, so that we can take those models into account in this exercise.

Thanks in advance

Gerard Lemson Received on 2007-01-26Z10:14:45