Advancing Atmospheric Science Education: Customized PyAOS JupyterHubs via the Unidata Science Gateway
Unidata is a diverse community of education and research institutions with the common goal of sharing geoscience data and the tools to access and visualize that data. For more than 30 years, the Unidata Program Center has been providing data, software tools, and support to enhance Earth-system education and research. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Unidata is one of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)'s Community Programs (UCP).The Unidata Science Gateway is an online space where the academic and research communities can collaborate, share resources, and learn from each other in a classroom, workshop, or virtual setting. The Gateway combines Unidata technologies with the NSF Jetstream2 cloud computing platform and open-source software to create an environment where community members can access, analyze, and visualize real-time and case study Earth system science data easily and efficiently.
Atmospheric science education is witnessing a rapid evolution with the integration of computational tools and resources. Central to this change over the last decade is Jupyter notebook technology, which provides students an avenue for interactive computing, data analysis, and visualization accessible via a web browser. Multiuser JupyterHub servers allow the deployment of pre-configured notebooks in classroom or workshop settings, typically taking advantage of cloud computing resources. This strategy allows specialists to handle configuration and provisioning of resources, removing the need for students and instructors to access specialized equipment or software, and broadening opportunities for institutions with limited computational infrastructure. Furthermore, it ensures a standardized environment for educators, streamlining the learning experience and emphasizing scientific exploration over cumbersome software installations.
Beginning in 2018, through the Unidata Science Gateway, Unidata has facilitated specialized "Python for Atmosphere and Ocean Science" (PyAOS) JupyterHub environments for semester-long courses and workshops, aligning with educators' instructional requirements. Unidata staff engage with instructors, ensuring the availability of necessary scientific software libraries and optimal computational resources including adequate CPU and RAM requirements for students to fulfill pedagogical goals. Recent enhancements to Science Gateway offerings include ample shared storage for voluminous datasets and seamless synchronization with instructor-initiated GitHub repositories where classroom notebooks are developed and stored. Unidata has served over 1,300 students at 18 universities in this manner. In our latest advancements, we have ventured into harnessing the Dask parallel computing library and have integrated GPU cluster functionalities, broadening the scope into the artificial intelligence and machine learning domain.
In this poster, we provide a panoramic view of our journey from past to present, underscoring our vision to help craft a future-ready curriculum for the next era of atmospheric science education via the Unidata Science Gateway.
