Interoperable workflows for Geographic Information Systems

A workflow is considered to be a combination of data and (software) operations. Workflow modelling and its representation have been a topic of research in generic IT and in geo-information systems. Examples of a workflow modelers are Apache Taverna https://incubator.apache.org/projects/taverna.html  and ESRI’s Model Builder. Despite their claim to be interoperable with other systems, workflow modelers are often tightly coupled to the data and operations of the system at hand. In Open Source software, it is common to have different software used in one workflow, which creates the need for a generic representation of the workflow for people to understand and for computers to operate.              

Tasks

In this project, you will analyze different workflow mechanisms in existing software, including ArcGIS and QGIS, and existing workflow repositories such as https://www.myexperiment.org/, https://esciencelab.org.uk/, and https://esciencelab.org.uk/products/workflowhub/. With the help of use cases, you will create actual workflows and different representations. You will develop a method to create abstract forms of each workflow to facilitate sharing across (1) humans and (2) computers. You will reuse existing workflow representation languages (see Campagna et al. 2014), including https://www.commonwl.org/ and linked data representations (see Roos et al. 2010). You will come up with recommendations for their optimal use in Geographic Information Systems. Use cases can be selected by you, but if needed, they can be provided by the supervisor based on existing project work in rangeland management and/or water management scenarios.