OEDataRep: the new version of the Osservatorio Etneo Open Data Repository

Abstract

The use of a generalist, non field­specific Open Data based Repository, started at the INGV Osservatorio Etneo of Catania (INGV­OE) following the introduction of a first prototype, called DataRep in late 2021. During this experimental period, DataRep was used as the institutional data repository of the INGV­OE, testing its functionalities, usage procedures and the interaction with the national INGV metadata catalog (“Data Registry”) through its associated Metadata Editor software. Due to the heterogeneous nature of data types managed at INGV­OE, mainly structured as temporal data (also known as time­series) or catalogs of events (e.g. earthquakes, eruptions), there has been an increasing interest in making the data repository interact with another key software developed and distributed by the INGV­OE: the TSDSystem (TimeSeries Database System) framework. Among other features, the TSDSystem facilitates the collection of time­series from several sources, supporting their standardization within a unique and coherent database structure, and allowing the retrieval of data in a convenient way by easily providing joint requests of multiple time­series at once that may be displayed on the same time axis. From the interoperability of the three software involved ­ the Metadata Editor, the data repository and the TSDSystem ­ users may uniquely interact with the web graphical user interface of the Metadata Editor in order to describe the metadata associated with a future publication and upload them together with the related files to the data repository. The latter will then act as a client of the services exposed by the TSDSystem. Following this workflow, datasets that include time­series data published to the repository, will also be put atomically into the TSDSystem database.
Likewise, the same time­series data will be retrieved from the TSDSystem and displayed by the repository web interface. The integration of the three software platforms is at the core of a new version of the DataRep repository that is now being phased out in favor of a new implementation called OEDataRep, the acronym of Osservatorio Etneo Open Data Repository. This new version involved a complete overhaul of the data repository software that has considerably improved both the underlying infrastructure and the graphical user experience.