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30 January 2004

Editorial: Doing Science with the Web

by Forrest M. Mims III

Back in 1991 a government scientist badly needed some ozone data I had. I offered to send the data as an ftp file, but he did not know how to retrieve an ftp file. In fact, I had only just learned how to send such a file. When I suggesed that the scientist ask a high school student to help out, that didn't go over very well. In the end, I faxed the data. Sometimes I recall that incident while scrolling through reams of data and charts on various web sites. Currently I'm working on a paper that compares ground measurements of the atmosphere's water vapor and aerosols with the same measurements made by NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. By placing my ground data and the satellite data in the same spreadsheet, it's relatively easy to compare and analyze the data. Satallite data may be subject to changes when algorithms are improved. For example, ozone retrievals from the Goddard Space Flight Center's EarthProbe TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) satellite are now in version 7. Previously, considerable time was required to download the new version of the data to replace the old data. Now that the data are on the web, the task of upgrading the data is relatively simple.  The web has enormously expanded my science capabilities, and it can do the same for you. The E-Bulletin helps point the way with Ralph Coppola's "Wandering" column and various articles. To this end, this installment of the E-Bulletin features a very useful article by Reginald Smith on "Resources for Analyzing Data from Interplanetary Space Missions." How amazing that anyone with access to the web and a bit of determination can actually retrieve many kinds of data from satellites and interplanetary space missions. It's entirtely possible that students and amateur scientists may make discoveries by analyzing space data that were never fully studied because of the lack of funds or because other data seemed more important at the time. If you're interested in space science, you will find Reginald's article of special interest. Even if your interests lie closer to home, I hope you will browse his article to see how far we have come. The World Wide Web has transformed the way science is done, and there's no turning back.