The Space Physics Interactive Data Resource (SPIDR) is designed to allow a solar terrestrial physics customer to intelligently access and manage historical space physics data for integration with environment models and space weather forecasts.
SPIDR is a distributed network of synchronous databases and 100% Java middle-ware servers accessed via the World Wide Web. By enabling easy data mirroring and eliminating the network bottlenecks associated with transcontinental links, the distributed system architecture is a key factor for low latency in multimedia data visualization and fast data delivery.
The key concepts in the SPIDR architecture are the data basket (a collection of different space weather parameters selected from different databases for the same time interval) and space weather event. The data basket allows the user to manipulate and deliver the data in various standard formats for easy integration into existing tools. The "event" system is designed to allow the user to specify desired spatial, temporal, and parameter conditions in fuzzy linguistic and/or numeric terms and then to mine the archives and receive a ranked list of space weather events best matching the desired conditions in the historical archive.
Once an event is discovered or identified, the client can request dynamical temporal and spatial visualization using a set of communicating Java applets, browse the archive of Sun and Earth satellite images, and request delivery of the data formatted for inclusion in model runs.
Each SPIDR node has a database management interface, which allows data updates performed either by a local user or by another SPIDR server from the Net. The servers communicate with each other for scheduled mirroring of the data and software.
The space weather historical archives implemented are geomagnetic field variation and indices, sunspot numbers, ionosphere, interplanetary magnetic field and sun wind parameters, cosmic rays events and sun flares, GOES, SOHO and YHOKOH satellites data.