Publications

Hadizadeh, M., Lorenz, C., Barthlott, S., Fösig, R., Loewe, K., Rebmann, C., Ertl, B., Ulrich, R., and Bach, F.: FAIR Environmental Data through a STAC-Driven Inter-Institutional Data Catalog Infrastructure – Status quo of the Cat4KIT-project, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19155, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19155, 2024.

Lorenz, C., Hadizadeh, M., Barthlott, S., Fösig, R.,  Çayoğlu, U., Ulrich, R., and Bach, F.: CAT4KIT: A cross-institutional data catalog framework for the FAIRification of environmental research data, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15367, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15367, 2023.

Mostafa Hadizadeh, Christof Lorenz, Sabine Barthlott, Romy Fösig, Uğur Çayoğlu, Robert Ulrich, Felix Bach: Cat4KIT: A Cross-institutional Data Catalog Framework for the FAIRification of Environmental Research Data, in Heuveline, Vincent, Bisheh, Nina and Kling, Philipp (eds.): E-Science-Tage 2023: Empower Your Research - Preserve Your Data, Heidelberg: heiBOOKS, 2023, pp. 149-160. https://doi.org/10.11588/heibooks.1288.c18072

Description

The Cat4KIT project developed an inter-institutional research data catalog framework across the four IMKs, serving as a central entry point for FAIR and publicly available research data. Built on STAC, it connects existing data services through a modular, flexible software stack. With strong links to the Helmholtz DataHub and NFDI(4Earth), Cat4KIT integrates into higher-level infrastructures, supporting a federated research data ecosystem across KIT and beyond.

Solutions for four data services have been identified, developed, optimized and finally linked together:

• Data server: provides data via standardized and programmable interfaces, allowing access to and integration of remote data.
• Metadata harvester: Regularly searches catalogs or repositories of data servers and stores this information in a standardized format.
• Catalog service: Publishes catalogs and thus enables links to higher-level data infrastructures.
• Portal service: Front end or data portal for searching and filtering data catalogs and for the user-friendly presentation of (meta) data.

The individual services have been implemented as interacting but independent and generalized modules. This ensures independent further development and integration of sub-modules so that the services can be used as flexibly as possible in different infrastructures and environments at KIT.

In order to avoid redundant developments and keep the entry hurdle as low as possible, Cat4KIT is based on existing infrastructures (e.g. LSDF, object storage, GPFS, etc.) and repositories (e.g. RADAR4KIT, THREDDS data server, etc.) at the participating institutions as well as on available open source solutions and is intended to network these optimally. A particular focus in the development was on the use of standardized interfaces and protocols so that the data generated at KIT can be integrated via Cat4KIT into higher-level repositories such as the Infrastructure for spatial information in Europe (INSPIRE) of the European Commission.

The generic development of the Cat4KIT modules enables new communities and repositories to make use of the integrated catalog and portal service or the provision of data via modern interfaces such as OPeNDAP. This allows the portfolio of user groups to be expanded and the benefits of modern research data management to be passed on.