COMBINING KNOWLEDGE IN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS WITH GEOSCIENCES TO EXPLORE AN EMERGING SET OF RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Research on Intelligent Systems for Geosciences (IS-GEO) is an emerging area of interest for advanced research that crosses topical expertise from the Geosciences with Computer Sciences. In March 2015, a workshop focused on IS-GEO topics was organized to facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions between these two research communities. The goal was to synthesize a vision and understand the needs for intelligent systems research to provide new capabilities to advance geosciences. The workshop covered requirements from all components of geoscience, including Earth, ocean, polar, and atmospheric sciences. The workshop included participation from many areas of intelligent systems research, including as information integration, machine learning, knowledge representation, social computing, visualization, and intelligent user interfaces. The workshop was informed by existing cyberinfrastructure efforts that support the geoscience community.

Incorporating intelligent systems capabilities into Geosciences research endeavors will enable the next generation of science that aids all aspects of the discipline. Future capabilities include streamlining data collection, sensing in extreme environments, processing and merging large or heterogeneous data types to identify intriguing patterns, and implementing automated workflows that streamline tasks for 21st century investigations. Further, it was broadly anticipated that intensive computing and technology are becoming ever more central to scientific endeavors. Workshop participants agreed that IS-GEO collaborations will open new approaches and instigate transitions in the most basic knowledge of geoscience processes through improvements in the process, tools, and approaches to understanding the Earth. This presentation will summarize key findings from the IS-GEO workshop and highlight how future applications and theoretical advances at the intersection between Geosciences and Intelligent Systems will enable novel forms of reasoning and learning.