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Modeling in the Cloud Workgroup Charter
The Air Quality Modeling in the Cloud Workgroup will function as a forum for members of the air quality modeling community to discuss developing and executing modeling projects using on-demand, centralized computing and data servers (i.e., “the cloud”). The workgroup will serve to build and share knowledge in the community on accessing cloud computing services, porting modeling capabilities to the cloud, data transfers, data security, and other key issues for managing and operating air quality modeling projects on the cloud.
The objective of the workgroup is to advance the state of knowledge within the air quality modeling community on using the cloud to support regulatory and research modeling applications. The workgroup is not intended for general modeling software support, but will address issues with installing and running models on the cloud.
The workgroup will engage in the following activities:
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Develop an understanding of the different high performance computing (HPC) cloud service providers
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Share knowledge and experiences using the cloud for meteorology, emissions, regional air quality modeling, and dispersion modeling; data analysis and visualization of air quality data will be in the domain of the workgroup
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Build resources for transferring knowledge on using the cloud for modeling
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Gather information on the needs and priorities within the air quality modeling community for using the cloud for modeling
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Create a forum for regular exchanges on cloud computing
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Facilitate development of shared resources, such as data sets and modeling packages
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Build knowledge and resources for enabling data transfers to/from the cloud; collect and develop best-practices for data management
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Develop best-practices for cost analyses using tools available from the cloud providers
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Build knowledge on how to understand data and platform security issues
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Gather training resources, tutorials, examples, and best practices for using the cloud for air quality modeling
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Track topics to cover on workgroup calls
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Form subgroups as needed to address specific topics related to modeling in the cloud
The Air Quality Modeling in the Cloud Workgroup membership will include people in the U.S. air quality modeling community who are interested in using the cloud for modeling. Members may include federal, regional, state, local, and tribal air quality planning agency staff, consultants, or university researchers or faculty.
The membership and expectations for the workgroup members are as follows:
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Steve Fine (U.S. EPA) and Zac Adelman (LADCO) will initiate and co-lead the workgroup. The leadership positions will be reviewed annually on July 1 by the workgroup members to provide opportunities for others in the community to serve as co-leads of the workgroup. If one of the co-leads steps down, a replacement volunteer will be sought from the active workgroup members.
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The workgroup co-leads will send a draft agenda for the workgroup calls at least one-week in advance of the call; workgroup members should provide input to the draft agenda, as needed to highlight priorities and key issues in their respective programs.
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The co-leads will facilitate discussion on technical and management issues related to modeling in the cloud.
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All workgroup members shall identify technical information, or key limitations in the use of the cloud for modeling that arise in the workgroup discussions. The workgroup members shall be responsible for communicating these issues within their respective air programs.
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Members shall attend workgroup calls prepared to fully participate by having read all materials attached to the agenda. The members should be aware of the status of each agenda item in their respective programs and be ready to discuss the items.
The Air Quality Modeling in the Cloud Workgroup is responsible for communicating on and sharing knowledge of using the cloud for air quality modeling. The members of the workgroup should have the knowledge and latitude to discuss technical and management issues related to using cloud computing in their respective organizations.
The Air Quality Modeling in the Cloud Workgroup will meet monthly by either conference call or webinar to be organized by the workgroup co-leads. An agenda for each call will be drafted and sent by the co-leads at least one-week in advance of the monthly calls. Additional meetings, including in-person meetings or workshops may be proposed by the workgroup members and facilitated by the workgroup co-leads.
The workgroup will operate under the following guidelines:
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Members will treat each other with respect. Workgroup discussions will be most effective when there is psychological safety (see Google's Project Aristotle) and candor among the members.
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Members will share relevant and important information from their respective programs to support technical discussions.
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Share agendas, notes, and issue briefs with their management teams and colleagues.
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Review the workgroup charter annually, revise if necessary.
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Identify and if needed form focus groups to address particular issues in the community
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The co-leads shall distribute by email an agenda one week prior to each workgroup call.
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A standard format will be used by the co-leads to record the proceedings of all meetings,
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Meeting notes will be forwarded to all members.
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The workgroup co-leads shall establish collaboration tools for sharing information and files among the members. The following collaboration tools will be used by the workgroup:
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GitHub will be the primary collaboration tool used by the workgroup
- The GitHub wiki will be used to collect call notes, meeting minutes, and share member notes on cloud computing activities.
- The GitHub repository will be used to share source code and scripts
- The GitHub Issues will serve as a discussion platform
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A document sharing platform, such as Google Drive, will be used to share large files, documents, and images.