Communication, Meetings, and Resources#

ESDS has a few primary communication platforms, community meetings, and learning resources if you’d like to be involved in the ESDS community:

Communication Platforms#

Email List#

If you would like to join the ESDS Email List to be informed of community updates, we recommend you do so by joining the ESDS Google Group using this link to the ESDS Group page, then click “Join Group.”

Zulip#

Zulip is an asynchronous messaging platform, run in-house at UCAR, which can be used for both private messages and messages separated by topic. When posting in a specific “channel”, the user must add a topic, which makes it easier to track various conversations and refer back to communications at a later time. Channels include “ESDS”, “dask”, “python-questions”, “xarray”, “jupyterlab-hub”, and more. You can join with this Zulip invite link.

ESDS GitHub Repository#

This repository and webpage is a space where we can post progress on this initiative, publish blog posts related to various workflows, document “best practices,” in addition to serving as a resource/discussion spot via comments on pages and posts. Please feel free to create new ‘issues’ or make PRs to contribute to this repository.

Community Meetings#

ESDS Forum#

Every other Monday from 2-3pm MT, we hold the ESDS Forum over Google Meet, which provides a venue for discussion, coordination and showcasing work in progress. Examples include:

  • Workflow demos

  • Overview of packages and analysis tools

  • Focused discussions on new efforts

  • Feedback on computing and analysis resources

This is a great place to discuss progress on your project, and get feedback from the community!

If you are interested in giving a talk or leading a discussion, please fill out this ESDS Forum sign-up spreadsheet.

See the ESDS Forum Meeting Notes for an overview of previous discussions.

Analysis Workflow Special Interest Group (AWSIG)#

The AWSIG provides a communication forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences related to the operational aspects of CISL supported analysis resources and services (e.g. Casper, JupyterHub, GLADE, VirtualGL, etc.). This working group complements the more modeling/simulation focused NSF NCAR HPC User Group (NHUG).

The AWSIG Seeks to:

  • Connect the users & providers of CISL’s analysis resources at regular intervals,

  • Provide advice and feedback to CISL on the current state and future delivery of CISL analysis resources and services,

  • Promote the effective use of NSF NCAR computing facilities by sharing experiences,

  • Collaborate to enhance productivity when using CISL resources,

  • Suggest new research and technology directions in scientific computing,

  • Voice user concerns.

Organization#

The AWSIG holds ~bi-monthly meetings during the ESDS Forum time slot. The CISL consulting group (CSG) will coordinate meetings with assistance as needed from the ESDS leadership. Meetings will consist of free format discussions, and informational presentations from CISL technical staff and NSF NCAR and UCAR scientific staff.

CSG will rely on both ESDS leadership and the community to propose topics of interest, and even to present emerging tools, best practices, etc. A successful SIG will be driven by interested stakeholders, as well as from the resource providers in CISL. CSG will have items to directly contribute, but also do a lot of listening and then implementing feedback.

Membership & Participation#

The AWSIG is open to all users of NSF NCAR’s HPC resources. Representatives from CISL’s Consulting Group and relevant resource providers will be in attendance. We desire that representatives from each scientific lab attend as well.

ESDS Activities Calendar#

You can add events to your calendar by clicking on an individual event and saving it to your Google Calendar.

Learning Resources#

Office Hours#

Have a question about Python/data analysis issues? Looking to get feedback on some project? Set up an “office hours” appointment!

Several ESDS members are prepared to answer your Python questions via 1-on-1 appointments. You can now select the ESDS member with the specialization best equipped for your question, find a time that works for you, and generate an appointment. Please also provide how you’d like to meet (in-person or virtual) and a brief description of your question.

If your question is about an error message you are raising in your workflow, help us help you by being ready to provide a copy of your dataset and code so we can reproduce your error. Depending on your question, we may be able to walk you through a solution or send you documentation/resources that address your question.

NOTE: Office hours are designed for NSF NCAR and UCAR staff.

Project Pythia#

Want to learn more about using Python, GitHub, or Jupyter Notebooks for Earth system data science? Project Pythia is a home for Python-centered learning resources that are open-source, community-owned, geoscience-focused, and high-quality. Check out Project Pythia tutorials, examples, and other training materials here. Project Pythia shares several contributors with the ESDS community and is a resource we highly recommend.