Project Overview
Researchers today are generating vast amounts of data, much of which is needed and used by scientists in different disciplines. In order to use this data effectively, researchers need innovative data scheduling, management and storage tools.
A CCT-led research team is working to create advanced cyberinfrastructure for data archival, processing and visualization, which is called PetaShare. The team will develop a prototype for PetaShare, with plans to expand the completed system to universities and research institutions worldwide.
The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative is a major driver of the PetaShare project, since high-speed, fiber optic networks can help transfer large amounts of data faster than traditional networks, enabling advanced data transfer and sharing processes.
With PetaShare, researchers from different universities at locations all around the world can collaborate on research more effectively and access data from multiple disciplines simultaneously. This kind of system could be effective for areas such as hurricane modeling, where scientists would need multiple data sets to cull information on water level, storm surge, sediment deposit, wind speed and numerous other elements to create a unified model.
CCT Project leaders
CCT and LSU Department of Computer Science Assistant Professor Tevfik Kosar is leading a team of five Louisiana universities to develop PetaShare. There are 25 senior researchers from 10 different disciplines actively involved in the PetaShare project. The researchers work in diverse fields such as coastal and environmental modeling, bio-informatics, numerical relativity, general physics, medical imaging, computational fluid dynamics and engineering.
The Campus Connection
Key LSU Contributors on this project:
• Gabrielle Allen, CCT/Department of Computer Science
• Edward Seidel, CCT Director/Department of Physics
• Robert R. Twilley, Director of Shell Coastal Environmental Modeling Laboratory, Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Coastal Louisiana Ecosystem Assessment and Restoration/Department of Oceanography and Coastal Studies
• William Wischusen, Louisiana Biomedical Research Network Director/ Department of Biological Sciences
Funding/Grants
The PetaShare team received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create advanced cyberinfrastructure for data archival, processing and visualization. The PetaShare project is funded for four years, and Kosar and his research group recently completed their first year.
Partners
Louisiana Tech University
University of New Orleans
Tulane University
University of Louisiana-Lafayette
http://www.petashare.org
