Transforming ICESat-2 research through collaboration and learning

Abstract: Writing code is a given for many modern students; research progress cannot happen without some form of data manipulation, and for those of us in the earth sciences, the data volumes may be large (>= terabyte) and may require specialized software to manipulate. This data volume challenge is a relatively new one, instigated by ever-higher data resolutions and our ability to not only measure but also store and transmit massive amounts of data. However, our need for managing and processing such large data volumes has not kept pace with our tools and expertise, and it's easy to fall back to old habits of downloading data and coding in relative isolation. Despite these challenges, a team of researchers, data scientists, and software engineers - brought together by the ICESat-2 mission - are demonstrating how collaboration and intentional opportunities for learning can transform research and make open science and cloud computing a reality. This talk will highlight two components of this paradigm: the icepyx community and software library and hackweeks. Hackweeks are a short-format training model developed by practitioners at the University of Washington's eScience Institute. The model emphasizes creating a positive learning environment in which to provide interactive tutorials and peer learning through project work. Learners of all levels collaborate to share their expertise while building technical and open science skills. From the first ICESat-2-themed Hackweek emerged icepyx, a community and software library aimed at improving ICESat-2 data access and computational workflows. As a community, icepyx provides opportunities for researchers to practice collaborative development in a beginner-friendly environment, which can increase the likelihood they will contribute their research software to a shared repository. As software, icepyx is used for over 40% of all ICESat-2 data downloads from NASA's NSIDC data archive center and is working to provide cloud-optimized data access for ICESat-2 data products. As part of a broader ecosystem of tools and people, hackweeks and icepyx are part of a collaborative, educational paradigm redefining the ways in which we enable successful scientific research. Presentation at the 12 Sept 2024 GESTAR II (Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research) Seminar Series at UMBC.