GRIDA3 (Shared Resources Manager for Environmental Data Analysis and Applications) is an interdisciplinary project funded by the Italian Research Ministry (Prog. n. 1433/2006 MIUR FAR D.Lvo 297/99). Designed to provide a holistic description of environmental problems and practical answers to questions of central importance, the project will result in an advanced problem-solving tool for the integration, through a computing portal, of human know-how, simulation software, instrumentation and resources for data communication, storage, visualization, and computation. The project will supply a Grid infrastructure for collaborative work, built for the sharing of data and applications located at multiple sites across federated domains, public and private.

The extent and the complexity of environmental problems and their consequences on the ecosystem, human health and economic development make an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach necessary to increase the technical knowledge and public awareness, to support the management of natural resources and to develop a systematic change in land uses. To cite some of the environmental challenges addressed by the project, consider the constant increase of contaminated sites, the non-rational use of natural resources, and the hydro-geological risk related to meteorological extreme events and climate variability. To tackle these complex problems in environmental science and engineering the Grid approach is emerging worldwide as a formidable tool allowing to provision a computational task with administratively-distant resources. Thus, Grid computing reflects a conceptual framework rather than a physical resource.

The project started in July 1st, 2006 and will last 3 years. The kick-off meeting of the project took place on November 28, 2006, at Polaris, the Scientific and Technological Park of Sardinia based in Pula (Cagliari, Italy). The event was the opportunity to illustrate the base elements for the project, roles and other project planning activities. The gathering included, in addition to the members of the project team, researchers and potential clients, all with a position of responsibility in the construction of the environmental policy in Sardinia.

Within this philosophy of sharing and collaboration, a prototype of integrated decision support system, Datacrossing, has been recently implemented at CRS4. The system is a suite of partly in-house developed modules composed of GIS technologies, mesh generators, hydrological and pre/post processing codes within a data-Grid environment to predict the impact of point/non-point source pollution and quantify the uncertainty due to the model application. The Grid infrastructure has been designed using iRODS technologies in order to access data and resources across a distributed computing environment.

Partners: CRS4, NICE and the University of Cagliari (CINSA, DIGITA, DISTER, and DIT)