The SPASE Data Model:  Standard Metadata for Space Science Data Description

James Thieman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) project is a NASA-funded effort to create a data model for the Space and Solar Physics Virtual Observatory data environment that can be used as a common basis for locating and retrieving data of interest for the science community.  Common terminology that maps to much of the disparate metadata being used by data providers in this community enables unified searches across the archives and ready comparison of the results to determine time overlaps, data commonalities, applicability for research purposes, etc.  The SPASE Data Model Version 1.0.2 is presently available and updates to it will continue on a regular basis.  The Data Model has been created through more than a year's collaborative efforts by representatives of major international space data archives.  The  model now needs to be tested by the community through description of a wide variety of data holdings and feedback about the utility of the Model in enabling these descriptions.   The latest version of the Data Model can be obtained by clicking on the Link marked "Current Draft" at the following web site: http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/spase/.  Use of this model in conjunction with present and planned Virtual Observatories will be described.  

Keywords: Data, Model, Metadata, Space Science, Stewardship, Dictionary