NEESgrid 3.0 Released
released 08.10.04
Contact
Trish Barker
NCSA Public Information Specialist
tlbarker@ncsa.uiuc.edu
217.265.8013
CHAMPAIGN, IL —
The NEES System Integration team today announced the release of NEESgrid 3.0, the final version of the software that allows earthquake researchers to integrate physical experimentation and model-based simulation, computational analysis, and improved testing and validation of increasingly complex and comprehensive analytical and numerical models.
NEESgrid, the pioneering cyberinfrastructure that connects earthquake engineering researchers throughout the United States and the world, is the result of an intensive collaboration effort led by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Building on the idea of integrating physical and computational simulations, the NEESgrid software brings together various components for sharing knowledge, enabling researchers to breach traditional disciplinary and geographical barriers to deliver innovative solutions to problems of seismic safety.
The NEESgrid core features include passive and active telepresence services that allow remote observation and control of the experiment; streaming data services that enable data transfer from the local acquisition system to the remote users and to repositories; and data and metadata management services that allow storing and retrieving data from the NEESgrid repository. The user access to this collaborative environment is provided by a Web-based customizable user interface that integrates a suite of tools for experiment planning, execution, analysis, and publication. The system uses core grid services for sign-on, security, and managing resources.
In addition to enhancements to all NEESgrid core, telepresence, and data/metadata and acquisition services, NEESgrid 3.0 incorporates the following new features:
- OpenSEES, a framework for developing earthquake simulation applications. OpenSees contains models and analysis methods for the simulation of structural and geotechnical systems.
- FEDEASLab, a MATLAB toolbox for nonlinear structural simulations under static or transient conditions that enhances the integration of simulation capabilities with experimental investigations.
- The new E-NoteBook, developed as part of the Scientific Annotation Middleware project funded within the Department of Energy National Collaboratories program. NEESgrid users can associate notes with NEES projects and data in the NEES repository and search their combined notes and data through the user interface.
- A simulation portal, which provides NEESgrid users access to the OpenSEES simulation software, computational resources available on NEESgrid, and ability to interact with simulation models and results in the NEESgrid repository and which is integrated into the CompreHensive collaborative Framework (CHEF).
- Integration of DataTurbine into the NEESgrid release. Developed by Creare, Inc., DataTurbine provides high-quality multi-channel streaming data and replaces the NEES Streaming Data Service of previous releases.
"This has been a truly amazing experience working with the earthquake engineering community to design, build, and deploy a system that is already transforming how earthquake engineering is done," said Randy Butler, head of the Networking, Security and Middleware Directorate at NCSA and deputy director for NEESgrid. "This system enables a new level of collaboration, supporting remote access to data, remote viewing and control of experiments, multi-site experiments, and the ability to link experimental data with simulations."
The NEESgrid 3.0 software and the referent documentation are available for download at http://www.neesgrid.org/software/.
The accomplishments of the NEESgrid project are the result of a sustained group effort and intense collaboration among a large number of stakeholders. In addition to NCSA, NEESgrid partners include Argonne National Laboratory, the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, the School of Information at the University of Michigan, the civil engineering departments at the University of Southern California, Stanford University, Washington University at Saint Louis, the University of California at Berkeley; the Center for Computation Sciences at Mississippi State University, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Creare, Inc.
"This project was a tremendous group effort," said Cristina Beldica, NEESgrid project manager. "So many people from different sites and different disciplines came together and worked with enthusiasm and dedication to make this project a success. We all learned from each other and worked together."
NEESgrid is the system integration component of the George E. Brown, Jr., Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program funded by the National Science Foundation. For more information, see http://www.neesgrid.org/.
NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) is a national high-performance computing center that develops and deploys cutting-edge computing, networking and information technologies. Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, NCSA is funded by the National Science Foundation. Additional support comes from the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, private sector partners and other federal agencies. For more information, see http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/.
