About

The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) consortium is an international community of scientists, specialists, information engineers and system designers who are endeavouring to create a standards and services to enable the open exchange of Heliophysics data.

Consortium Participants

Many people from a wide range of organizations have participated in the SPASE consortium. The origanizations include:

  • Augsburg College
  • California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
  • Centre de Donnèes de la Physique des Plasmas (CDPP)
  • Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)
  • Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) - STP/Ehime
  • Japan's Inter-university Upper atmosphere Global Observation NETwork (IUGONET)
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
  • John Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL)
  • George Mason University
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) HQ
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • NOAA's National Geophysics Data Center (NGDC)
  • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)
  • Stanford University
  • Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

History

1998 - ISTP
The SPASE effort has its root in the data handling session of the ISTP workshop held at RAL in 1998, when on Sept 26 a resolution was passed calling on the "larger data centers" to "do something" to make data more accessible.
2001 - AISRP
Early in 2001 a breadboard interoperability test bed was implemented between NSSDC and CDPP/CNES, and later that year, in response to an AO from NASA AISRP ROSS (Applied Information Systems Research Program, Research Opportunities in Space Science), a proposal entitled "A Space Physics Archive Search Engine (SPASE)" was submitted jointly by NSSDC, SwRI, RAL and CDPP.
2002 - Grassroots
While this proposal was not funded a volunteer effort continued and attracted broader participation. It was recognized that a data model was needed to establish an "interlingua" to share resources across the entire space physics domain. The goals of this effort were defined in late 2002 and the new moniker of Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) was adopted.
2003 - Open Community - NASA LWS
In 2003 the effort was organized as an international consortium with an open invitation for anyone in the community to participate. U.S. participants in SPASE were funded by NASA in July 2005 which helped accelerate the effort.
2005 - Release 1.0
In release of the SPASE data model. November 22, 2005.
2006 - Release 1.1.0
In response to community feedback, the data model was improved. In that same year NASA solicited proposals to establish thematic virtual observatories for the heliophysics community and SPASE was adopted as the metadata standard to enable interoperability. Released August 31, 2006.
2007 - Release 1.2.0
Based on feedback from the community and from the selected virtual observatories the data model was further refined and version 1.2.0 was released in May 22, 2007.
2009 - Release 2.0.0
After a period of use in NASA's VxOs the model was streamlined and enhanced to support a wider range of resources. Released April 15, 2009.
2010 - Release 2.1.0
Additions were made to support a wider range of phenomenom types and particle attributes. Some grammar changes were made, most important was changing "Qualifier" to "Component" which more accurately represented the concept. Released March 18, 2010
2011 - Release 2.2.0
Added "Excel" as an allowed format, improved Render Hints, updated definitions, and added support for referencing resources in cloud storage. Additional terms were included to improved the ability describe solar data. Released January 6, 2011.
2011 - Release 2.2.1
Added "core", "halo", "strahl" and "superhalo" to the dictionary and to "Qualifier". Released August 18, 2011.
2014 - Simulation Extensions 1.0.0
Release the IMPEx developed Simulation Extensions. Released May 19, 2014.
2015 - Release 2.2.3
Fully integrated support for extensions. Released May 31, 2015.
2018 - Release 2.3.0
Support for DOI and HAPI. Released May 31, 2018.
2018 - Release 2.3.1
Support for wider range of wave and particle data types. Released November 11, 2019.
2020 - Release 2.3.2
Support for Instrument groups and wider range of roles for contacts. Released October 15, 2020.