From 488067ed59a45d3564a373e7ec079598f98e3a2d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: John Swinbank <swinbank@astron.nl>
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 09:20:54 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Tweak wording
---
proceedings/X0-010.tex | 28 ++++++++++++----------------
1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
diff --git a/proceedings/X0-010.tex b/proceedings/X0-010.tex
index 5025ddc..fef27f2 100644
--- a/proceedings/X0-010.tex
+++ b/proceedings/X0-010.tex
@@ -71,14 +71,13 @@ This paper provides a brief overview of ESAP's aims, its architecture, and its c
\section{ESCAPE and ESAP}
%\ssindex{organisations!European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)}
-The ESCAPE Project\footnote{\url{https://www.projectescape.eu}} brings together the astronomy, astroparticle, and particle physics communities to address fundamental challenges in data-driven research, driven by the goals and needs of major European research infrastructures, or ESFRIs.
+The ESCAPE Project\footnote{\url{https://www.projectescape.eu}} brings together the astronomy, astroparticle, and particle physics communities to address fundamental challenges in data-driven research, inspired by the goals and needs of major European research infrastructures, or ESFRIs.
%\ssindex{FAIR}
%\ssindex{projects!EOSC}
ESCAPE aims to produce versatile solutions to support the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud by fostering a multi-disciplinary environment, including open data management according to FAIR principles.
-
Our goal is to enable interoperability between facilities, encourage cross-fertilization, and develop joint multiwavelength and multimessenger data processing and analysis capabilities.
-We are addressing this by developing a range of services, including data infrastructure, a software repository, virtual observatory integration, and a citizen science programme.
+We are addressing this goal by developing a range of services, including data infrastructure, a software repository, virtual observatory integration, and a citizen science programme.
%\ssindex{science portal}
ESAP, the ESFRI Science Analysis Platform, is under development by ESCAPE's Work Package 5, to facilitate access to the full range of ESCAPE services.
@@ -89,24 +88,21 @@ ESAP aims to provide a comfortable and consistent gateway to the full range of p
\articlefigure{esap-interfaces.eps}{fig:esap-interfaces}{ESAP provides a single, consistent, interface and point of access to a variety services drawn from a range of providers.
Links to the other work packages within ESCAPE are indicated.}
-ESAP will help users engage with the services provided by the other ESCAPE work packages --- and with services sourced from elsewhere -- by:
+ESAP will help users engage with the services provided by the other ESCAPE work packages --- and with services sourced from elsewhere -- by providing:
\begin{itemize}
-\item{Providing a flexible interface for querying and retrieving data from a variety of archives and data repositories;}
-
-\item{Enabling users to explore the software repositories to identify and select analysis tools and workflows which are appropriate to their needs;}
-
-\item{Helping users to identify interactive data analysis and batch computing facilities which are accessible to them;}
-
-\item{Facilitating the staging of data, software, and workflows to compute facilities, providing access to those facilities for end users, and subsequently retrieving the results of processing.}
+\item{Data discovery and retrieval from a range of archives and data repositories;}
+\item{Exploration of, and discovery of relevant tools within, the ESCAPE software repository;}
+\item{Access to a range of compute and analysis services provided both by project partners and by other facilities;}
+\item{Orchestration of data, services, and software to help users create and access research environments that meet their particular needs.}
\end{itemize}
This model is shown schematically in Figure \ref{fig:esap-interfaces}, which illustrates the range of services which ESAP can help the user access.
Our aim is to meet the needs of the widest possible range of scientists, using a variety of different research infrastructures.
To make this possible, we do not envision ESAP as being operated as a single integrated platform to which all researchers must adapt.
-Instead, ESAP provides a ``toolkit'', from various communities and research infrastructures can assemble a customized analysis platform geared to their specific needs.
+Instead, ESAP provides a ``toolkit'', from which various communities and research infrastructures can assemble a customized analysis platform tailored to their specific needs.
We envision instances of ESAP being deployed at a variety of scales, from providing services to just a few users within a small project, to supporting major pieces of infrastructure.
\section{Architecture}
@@ -123,12 +119,12 @@ This is shown schematically in Figure \ref{fig:esap-arch}.
The API Gateway communicates with external services using REST APIs.
New service integrations can easily be added by writing ``plug-in'' modules which extend the Gateway's capabilities.
-The ESCAPE team is writing a number of service integration plugins, which are supplied with ESAP; we hope that the wider community will contribute many more.
+The ESCAPE team is writing a number of service integration plugins which will be supplied with ESAP; we hope that the wider community will contribute many more.
Internally, ESAP uses the model of a ``shopping basket'' to help users manage their data and workflows.
-As they interact with external services, they can select data or other products of interest, and add them to their basket.
+As they interact with external services, they can select data or other products of interest and add them to their basket.
They can edit the contents of their basket from within the ESAP interface itself, and take the contents of their basket with them as they move to analysis services.
-While the basket is designed to be flexible in terms of the types of data it stores, it is normally used to store references to bulk data products, rather than the products themselves, to minimize data transport issues between services
+While the basket is designed to be flexible in terms of the types of data it stores, it is normally used to store references to bulk data products, rather than the products themselves; this enables us to minimize unnecessary bulk data transport between services.
\section{Capabilities}
@@ -139,7 +135,7 @@ Some highlights of current capabilities include:
%\ssindex{protocols!SAMP}
%\ssindex{instruments!individual!APERTIF}
-\item{Access to a variety of bespoke archives, including Apertif and Zooniverse;\footnote{\url{http://www.apertif.nl/}; \url{https://www.zooniverse.org/}}}
+\item{Access to a variety of bespoke archives, including Apertif and Zooniverse\footnote{\url{http://www.apertif.nl/}; \url{https://www.zooniverse.org/}};}
\item{Powerful tools for searching the Virtual Observatory through IVOA-compliant interfaces, and for integrating with VO tools through SAMP, the Simple Application Messaging Protocol;}
\item{The capability to search and discover data on the Rucio\footnote{\url{https://rucio.cern.ch}}-based ESCAPE data lake;}
\item{The ability to locate software in the ESCAPE project software repository, and to stage that software to BinderHub\footnote{\url{https://binderhub.readthedocs.io/}}-based interactive data analysis services;}
--
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