[CF-metadata] Future development of CF

[Bryan Lawrence]

On Tuesday 11 March 2003 19:55, Jonathan Gregory wrote:
> One further point. I don't think we should try to limit the scope of the
> standard at this point. In the abstract it says
> "This standard is intended for use with climate and forecast data, for
> atmosphere, surface and ocean, and was designed with model-generated data
> particularly in mind."

I very much support the position that 
  a) CF should be applied as widely as possible, and 
  b) the CF *convention* needs to have a defined methodology for modification 
that folk can access and understand (otherwise it isn't a *standard*, de 
facto or otherwise).

I believe a) because as far as I can see there really isn't anything else 
filling the "how do we populate metadata *standards*" with information that 
is machine *understandable* (as opposed to machine readable) space as 
effectively as CF does.

It may be that the GIS world has suitable technologies, but I'm unfamiliar 
with them at the moment (but that will obviously have to change). I also have 
to say I'm more ignorant about ESML than I care to admit ...

Anyway, given the push into multi-disciplinarity required to do modern climate 
science, I think we will be forced to build tools that are of far wider 
applicability than hitherto. These will have to grow out of some discipline 
specific heritage, and for my money CF is the right progenitor.

This means in practice that as well as the disciplines listed in the CF 
document, we will be atttempting to use CF with HDF satellite data, with 
hydrological data and potentially with land-surface data (although that is 
down the track). It is clear that there is potential for us to have problems 
with CF as we expand into those disciplines, so it would be helpful if we 
could address them in a methodical way, hence b) above.

Yes, methodology introduces an overhead between concept and action, but in 
practice once CF becomes widespread, such an overhead is a good thing ... you 
do want inertia in these circumstances (but the way things have been done up 
to now has got us to a good place to start).

Bryan

-- 
Bryan Lawrence, Head NCAS/British Atmospheric Data Centre
web: www.badc.nerc.ac.uk  phone: +44 1235 445012
CLRC: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, OX110QX, UK