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NASA NTRS2011

Report on the Global Data Assembly Center (GDAC) to the 12th GHRSST Science Team Meeting

In 2010/2011 the Global Data Assembly Center (GDAC) at NASA's Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) continued its role as the primary clearinghouse and access node for operational Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) datastreams, as well as its collaborative role with the NOAA Long Term Stewardship and Reanalysis Facility (LTSRF) for archiving. Here we report on our data management activities and infrastructure improvements since the last science team meeting in June 2010.These include the implementation of all GHRSST datastreams in the new PO.DAAC Data Management and Archive System (DMAS) for more reliable and timely data access. GHRSST dataset metadata are now stored in a new database that has made the maintenance and quality improvement of metadata fields more straightforward. A content management system for a revised suite of PO.DAAC web pages allows dynamic access to a subset of these metadata fields for enhanced dataset description as well as discovery through a faceted search mechanism from the perspective of the user. From the discovery and metadata standpoint the GDAC has also implemented the NASA version of the OpenSearch protocol for searching for GHRSST granules and developed a web service to generate ISO 19115-2 compliant metadata records. Furthermore, the GDAC has continued to implement a new suite of tools and services for GHRSST datastreams including a Level 2 subsetter known as Dataminer, a revised POET Level 3/4 subsetter and visualization tool, a Google Earth interface to selected daily global Level 2 and Level 4 data, and experimented with a THREDDS catalog of GHRSST data collections. Finally we will summarize the expanding user and data statistics, and other metrics that we have collected over the last year demonstrating the broad user community and applications that the GHRSST project continues to serve via the GDAC distribution mechanisms. This report also serves by extension to summarize the activities of the GHRSST Data Assembly and Systems Technical Advisory Group (DAS-TAG).

sea surface temperature (SST)↗
NASA NTRS2009

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining needs of the user community including use of the American Customer Satisfaction Index and a broad metrics program.

Mitchell, Andrew E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Community Coordinated Modeling Center: Addressing Needs of Operational Space Weather Forecasting

Models are key elements of space weather forecasting. The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC, http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov) hosts a broad range of state-of-the-art space weather models and enables access to complex models through an unmatched automated web-based runs-on-request system. Model output comparisons with observational data carried out by a large number of CCMC users open an unprecedented mechanism for extensive model testing and broad community feedback on model performance. The CCMC also evaluates model's prediction ability as an unbiased broker and supports operational model selections. The CCMC is organizing and leading a series of community-wide projects aiming to evaluate the current state of space weather modeling, to address challenges of model-data comparisons, and to define metrics for various user s needs and requirements. Many of CCMC models are continuously running in real-time. Over the years the CCMC acquired the unique experience in developing and maintaining real-time systems. CCMC staff expertise and trusted relations with model owners enable to keep up to date with rapid advances in model development. The information gleaned from the real-time calculations is tailored to specific mission needs. Model forecasts combined with data streams from NASA and other missions are integrated into an innovative configurable data analysis and dissemination system (http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov) that is accessible world-wide. The talk will review the latest progress and discuss opportunities for addressing operational space weather needs in innovative and collaborative ways.

Kuznetsova, M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Full Life-Cycle Defect Management Assessment: Initial Inspection Data Collection Results and Research Questions for Further Study

It is often the case in software projects that when schedule and budget resources are limited, the Verification and Validation (V&V) activities suffer. Fewer V&V activities can be afforded and moreover, short-term challenges can result in V&V activities being scaled back or dropped altogether. As a result, too often the default solution is to save activities for improving software quality until too late in the life-cycle, relying on late-term code inspections followed by thorough testing activities to reduce defect counts to acceptable levels. As many project managers realize, however, this is a resource-intensive way of achieving the required quality for software. The Full Life-cycle Defect Management Assessment Initiative, funded by NASA s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance under the Software Assurance Research Program, aims to address these problems by: Improving the effectiveness of early life-cycle V&V activities to make their benefits more attractive to team leads. Specifically, we focus on software inspection, a proven method that can be applied to any software work product, long before executable code has been developed; Better communicating this effectiveness to software development teams, along with suggestions for parameters to improve in the future to increase effectiveness; Analyzing the impact of early life-cycle V&V on the effectiveness and cost required for late life-cycle V&V activities, such as testing, in order to make the tradeoffs more apparent. This white paper reports on an initial milestone in this work, the development of a preliminary model of inspection effectiveness across multiple NASA Centers. This model contributes toward reaching our project goals by: Allowing an examination of inspection parameters, across different types of projects and different work products, for an analysis of factors that impact defect detection effectiveness. Allowing a comparison of this NASA-specific model to existing recommendations in the literature regarding how to plan effective inspections. Forming a baseline model which can be extended to incorporate factors describing: the numbers and types of defects that are missed by inspections; how such defects flow downstream through software development phases; how effectively they can be caught by testing activities in the late stages of development. The model has been implemented in a prototype web-enabled decision-support tool which allows developers to enter their inspection data and receive feedback based on a comparison against the model. The tool also allows users to access reusable materials (such as checklists) from projects included in the baseline. Both the tool itself and the model underlying it will continue to be extended throughout the remainder of this initiative. As results of analyzing inspection effectiveness for defect containment are determined, they can be shared via the tool and also via updates to existing training courses on metrics and software inspections. Moreover, the tool will help satisfy key CMMI requirements for the NASA Centers, as it will enable NASA to take a global view across peer review results for various types of projects to identify systemic problems. This analysis can result in continuous improvements to the approach to verification.

Shull, Forrest↗
NASA NTRS2004

Transitioning to Intel-based Linux Servers in the Payload Operations Integration Center

The MSFC Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) is the focal point for International Space Station (ISS) payload operations. The POIC contains the facilities, hardware, software and communication interface necessary to support payload operations. ISS ground system support for processing and display of real-time spacecraft and telemetry and command data has been operational for several years. The hardware components were reaching end of life and vendor costs were increasing while ISS budgets were becoming severely constrained. Therefore it has been necessary to migrate the Unix portions of our ground systems to commodity priced Intel-based Linux servers. hardware architecture including networks, data storage, and highly available resources. This paper will concentrate on the Linux migration implementation for the software portion of our ground system. The migration began with 3.5 million lines of code running on Unix platforms with separate servers for telemetry, command, Payload information management systems, web, system control, remote server interface and databases. The Intel-based system is scheduled to be available for initial operational use by August 2004 The overall migration to Intel-based Linux servers in the control center involves changes to the This paper will address the Linux migration study approach including the proof of concept, criticality of customer buy-in and importance of beginning with POSlX compliant code. It will focus on the development approach explaining the software lifecycle. Other aspects of development will be covered including phased implementation, interim milestones and metrics measurements and reporting mechanisms. This paper will also address the testing approach covering all levels of testing including development, development integration, IV&V, user beta testing and acceptance testing. Test results including performance numbers compared with Unix servers will be included. need for a smooth transition while maintaining real-time support. An important aspect of the paper will involve challenges and lessons learned. product compatibility, implications of phasing decisions and tracking of dependencies, particularly non- software dependencies. The paper will also discuss scheduling challenges providing real-time flight support during the migration and the requirement to incorporate in the migration changes being made simultaneously for flight support. This paper will also address the deployment approach including user involvement in testing and the , This includes COTS product compatibility, implications of phasing decisions and tracking of dependencies, particularly non- software dependencies. The paper will also discuss scheduling challenges providing real-time flight support during the migration and the requirement to incorporate in the migration changes being made simultaneously for flight support.

Guillebeau, P. L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Determining the Publication Impact of a Digital Library

We attempt to assess the publication impact of a digital library (DL) of aerospace scientific and technical information (STI). The Langley Technical Report Server (LTRS) is a digital library of over 1,400 electronic publications authored by NASA Langley Research Center personnel or contractors and has been available in its current World Wide Web (WWW) form since 1994. In this study, we examine calendar year 1997 usage statistics of LTRS and the Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), a facility that archives and distributes hard copies of NASA and aerospace information. We also perform a citation analysis on some of the top publications distributed by LTRS. We find that although LTRS distributes over 71,000 copies of publications (compared with an estimated 24,000 copies from CASI), citation analysis indicates that LTRS has almost no measurable publication impact. We discuss the caveats of our investigation, speculate on possible different models of usage facilitated by DLs , and suggest retrieval analysis as a complementary metric to citation analysis. While our investigation failed to establish a relationship between LTRS and increased citations and raises at least as many questions as it answers, we hope it will serve as a invitation to, and guide for, further research in the use of DLs.

Kaplan, Nancy R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Problem Reporting System

The Problem Reporting System (PRS) is a Web application, running on two Web servers (load-balanced) and two database servers (RAID-5), which establishes a system for submission, editing, and sharing of reports to manage risk assessment of anomalies identified in NASA's flight projects. PRS consolidates diverse anomaly-reporting systems, maintains a rich database set, and incorporates a robust engine, which allows tracking of any hardware, software, or paper process by configuring an appropriate life cycle. Global and specific project administration and setup tools allow lifecycle tailoring, along with customizable controls for user, e-mail, notifications, and more. PRS is accessible via the World Wide Web for authorized user at most any location. Upon successful log-in, the user receives a customizable window, which displays time-critical 'To Do' items (anomalies requiring the user s input before the system moves the anomaly to the next phase of the lifecycle), anomalies originated by the user, anomalies the user has addressed, and custom queries that can be saved for future use. Access controls exist depending on a user's role as system administrator, project administrator, user, or developer, and then, further by association with user, project, subsystem, company, or item with provisions for business-to-business exclusions, limitations on access according to the covert or overt nature of a given project, all with multiple layers of filtration, as needed. Reporting of metrics is built in. There is a provision for proxy access (in which the user may choose to grant one or more other users to view screens and perform actions as though they were the user, during any part of a tracking life cycle - especially useful during tight build schedules and vacations to keep things moving). The system also provides users the ability to have an anomaly link to or notify other systems, including QA Inspection Reports, Safety, GIDEP (Government-Industry Data Exchange Program) Alert, Corrective Actions, and Lessons Learned. The PRS tracking engine was designed as a very extensible and scalable system, able to support additional applications, with future development possibilities already discussed, including Incident Surprise Anomalies (for anomalies occurring during Operations phases of NASA Flight projects), GIDEP and NASA Alerts, and others.

Potter, Don↗
NASA NTRS2005

Close-Call Action Log Form

"Close Call Action Log Form" ("CCALF") is the name of both a computer program and a Web-based service provided by the program for creating an enhanced database of close calls (in the colloquial sense of mishaps that were avoided by small margins) assigned to the Center Operations Directorate (COD) at Johnson Space Center. CCALF provides a single facility for on-line collaborative review of close calls. Through CCALF, managers can delegate responses to employees. CCALF utilizes a pre-existing e-mail system to notify managers that there are close calls to review, but eliminates the need for the prior practices of passing multiple e-mail messages around the COD, then collecting and consolidating them into final responses: CCALF now collects comments from all responders for incorporation into reports that it generates. Also, whereas it was previously necessary to manually calculate metrics (e.g., numbers of maintenance-work orders necessitated by close calls) for inclusion in the reports, CCALF now computes the metrics, summarizes them, and displays them in graphical form. The reports and all pertinent information used to generate the reports are logged, tracked, and retained by CCALF for historical purposes.

Spuler, Linda M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Challenges of Operations in a Dynamic Environment: A Three-Year Perspective of SAGE III

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment~III on the International Space Station (SAGE III/ISS) was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) on 23 February 2017. The SAGE III/ISS payload was robotically installed external to the ISS and began acquiring science measurements on 17 March 2017. The SAGE III/ISS instrument retrieves vertical profiles of atmospheric ozone, multi-wavelength aerosol extinctions, and other gaseous species. This paper will focus on the improvements made to the operations of the SAGE III/ISS payload. A key focus of the operations team following commissioning was to create robust tools that aide in the operations of the payload. A close collaboration with the SAGE III/ISS ground systems team allowed for the development of web-based tools to continuously monitor the health of the instrument. The mission operations team also worked with the SAGE III/ISS science team to gain a better sense of how the instrument works to maximize the quality and quantity of the science data collected. Another unique aspect of the SAGE III/ISS payload, that will be discussed, is the challenges of operating a hosted payload on the ISS; an active platform that has frequent attitude maneuvers, dockings, and EVA's. This active environment increases the need for the SAGE III/ISS operations team command the payload. Through coordination and teamwork, SAGE III/ISS mission has developed an operations team that has successfully managed the instrument around ISS activities and recovered from multiple instrument upsets. This has led the SAGE III/ISS payload to successfully surpass the acquisition metrics set forth prior to launch, allowing for the continued contribution to studying the atmospheric composition of the stratosphere and how it plays a role in earth’s climate.

SAGE III↗
NASA NTRS2010

HOPE: An On-Line Piloted Handling Qualities Experiment Data Book

A novel on-line database for capturing most of the information obtained during piloted handling qualities experiments (either flight or simulated) is described. The Hyperlinked Overview of Piloted Evaluations (HOPE) web application is based on an open-source object-oriented Web-based front end (Ruby-on-Rails) that can be used with a variety of back-end relational database engines. The hyperlinked, on-line data book approach allows an easily-traversed way of looking at a variety of collected data, including pilot ratings, pilot information, vehicle and configuration characteristics, test maneuvers, and individual flight test cards and repeat runs. It allows for on-line retrieval of pilot comments, both audio and transcribed, as well as time history data retrieval and video playback. Pilot questionnaires are recorded as are pilot biographies. Simple statistics are calculated for each selected group of pilot ratings, allowing multiple ways to aggregate the data set (by pilot, by task, or by vehicle configuration, for example). Any number of per-run or per-task metrics can be captured in the database. The entire run metrics dataset can be downloaded in comma-separated text for further analysis off-line. It is expected that this tool will be made available upon request

Jackson, E. B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Operations Challenges in a Dynamic Environment: A Three-Year Perspective of SAGE III

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station (SAGE III/ISS) was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) on 23 February 2017. The SAGE III/ISS payload was robotically installed external to the ISS and began acquiring science measurements on 17 March 2017. The SAGE III/ISS instrument retrieves vertical profiles of atmospheric ozone, multi-wavelength aerosol extinctions, and other gaseous species. This paper will focus on the improvements made to the operations of the SAGE III/ISS payload. A key focus of the operations team following commissioning was to create robust tools that aid in the operations of the payload. A close collaboration with the SAGE III/ISS ground systems team allowed for the development of web-based tools to continuously monitor the health of the payload. The mission operations team also worked with the SAGE III/ISS science team to gain a better sense of how the instrument works to maximize the quality and quantity of the science data collected. Another unique aspect of the SAGE III/ISS payload, that will be discussed, is the challenges of operating a hosted payload on the ISS; an active platform that has frequent attitude maneuvers, dockings, and EVAs. This active environment increases the need for the SAGE III/ISS operations team command to the payload. Through coordination and teamwork, SAGE III/ISS mission has developed an operations team, tool, and procedures that have successfully managed the payload around ISS activities and recovered from multiple instrument upsets. This has led the SAGE III/ISS payload to successfully surpass the acquisition metrics set forth prior to launch, allowing for the continued contribution to studying the atmospheric composition of the stratosphere and how it plays a role in Earth’s climate.

SAGE III↗
NASA NTRS2008

GIDEP Batching Tool

This software provides internal, automated search mechanics of GIDEP (Government- Industry Data Exchange Program) Alert data imported from the GIDEP government Web site. The batching tool allows the import of a single parts list in tab-delimited text format into the local JPL GIDEP database. Delimiters from every part number are removed. The original part numbers with delimiters are compared, as well as the newly generated list without the delimiters. The two lists run against the GIDEP imports, and output any matches. This feature only works with Netscape 2.0 or greater, or Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater. The user selects the browser button to choose a text file to import. When the submit button is pressed, this script will import alerts from the text file into the local JPL GIDEP database. This batch tool provides complete in-house control over exported material and data for automated batch match abilities. The batching tool has the ability to match capabilities of the parts list to tables, and yields results that aid further research and analysis. This provides more control over GIDEP information for metrics and reports information not provided by the government site. This software yields results quickly and gives more control over external data from the government site in order to generate other reports not available from the external source. There is enough space to store years of data. The program relates to risk identification and management with regard to projects and GIDEP alert information encompassing flight parts for space exploration.

Fong, Danny↗
NASA NTRS2003

An On-Line Technology Information System (OTIS) for Advanced Life Support

An On-line Technology Information System (OTIS) is currently being developed for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. This paper describes the preliminary development of OTIS, which is a system designed to provide centralized collection and organization of technology information. The lack of thorough, reliable and easily understood technology information is a major obstacle in effective assessment of technology development progress, trade studies, metric calculations, and technology selection for integrated testing. OTIS will provide a formalized, well-organized protocol to communicate thorough, accurate, current and relevant technology information between the hands-on technology developer and the ALS Community. The need for this type of information transfer system within the Solid Waste Management (SWM) element was recently identified and addressed. A SWM Technology Information Form (TIF) was developed specifically for collecting detailed technology information in the area of SWM. In the TIF, information is requested from SWM technology developers, based upon the Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Basic information is requested for low-TRL technologies, and more detailed information is requested as the TRL of the technology increases. A comparable form is also being developed for the wastewater processing element. In the future, similar forms will also be developed for the ALS elements of air revitalization, food processing, biomass production and thermal control. These ALS element-specific forms will be implemented in OTIS via a web-accessible interface,with the data stored in an object-oriented relational database (created in MySQLTM) located on a secure server at NASA Ames Research Center. With OTIS, ALS element leads and managers will be able to carry out informed research and development investment, thereby promoting technology through the TRL scale. OTIS will also allow analysts to make accurate evaluations of technology options. Additionally, the range and specificity of information solicited will help educate technology developers of programmatic needs.

Levri, Julie A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Transition from Research to Operations: Assessing Value of Experimental Forecast Products within the NWSFO Environment

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center seeks to accelerate the infusion of NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) observations, data assimilation and modeling research into NWS forecast operations and decision-making. To meet long-term program expectations, it is not sufficient simply to give forecasters sophisticated workstations or new forecast products without fully assessing the ways in which they will be utilized. Close communication must be established between the research and operational communities so that developers have a complete understanding of user needs. In turn, forecasters must obtain a more comprehensive knowledge of the modeling and sensing tools available to them. A major goal of the SPoRT Program is to develop metrics and conduct assessment studies with NWS forecasters to evaluate the impacts and benefits of ESE experimental products on forecast skill. At a glance the task seems relatively straightforward. However, performing assessment of experimental products in an operational environment is demanding. Given the tremendous time constraints placed on NWS forecasters, it is imperative that forecaster input be obtained in a concise unobtrusive manor. Great care must also be taken to ensure that forecasters understand their participation will eventually benefit them and WFO operations in general. Two requirements of the assessment plan developed under the SPoRT activity are that it 1) Can be implemented within the WFO environment; and 2) Provide tangible results for BOTH the research and operational communities. Supplemental numerical quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF) were chosen as the first experimental SPoRT product to be evaluated during a Pilot Assessment Program conducted 1 May 2003 within the Huntsville AL National Weather Service Forecast Office. Forecast time periods were broken up into six- hour bins ranging from zero to twenty-four hours. Data were made available for display in AWIPS on an operational basis so they could be efficiently incorporated into the forecast process. The methodology used to assess the value of experimental QPFs compared to available operational products is best described as a three-tier approach involving both forecasters and research scientists. Tier-one is a web-based survey completed by duty forecasters on the aviation and public desks. The survey compiles information on how the experimental product was used in the forecast decision making process. Up to 6 responses per twenty-four hours can be compiled during a precipitation event. Tier-two consists of an event post mortem and experimental product assessment performed daily by the NASA/NWS Liaison. Tier-three is a detailed breakdown/analysis of specific events targeted by either the NWS SO0 or SPoRT team members. The task is performed by both NWS and NASA research scientists and may be conducted once every couple of months. The findings from the Pilot Assessment Program will be reported at the meeting.

Lapenta, William M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Autonomous Multi-Sensor Coordination: The Science Goal Monitor

Many dramatic earth phenomena are dynamic and coupled. In order to fully understand them, we need to obtain timely coordinated multi-sensor observations from widely dispersed instruments. Such a dynamic observing system must include the ability to Schedule flexibly and react autonomously to sciencehser driven events; Understand higher-level goals of a sciencehser defined campaign; Coordinate various space-based and ground-based resources/sensors effectively and efficiently to achieve goals. In order to capture transient events, such a 'sensor web' system must have an automated reactive capability built into its scientific operations. To do this, we must overcome a number of challenges inherent in infusing autonomy. The Science Goal Monitor (SGM) is a prototype software tool being developed to explore the nature of automation necessary to enable dynamic observing. The tools being developed in SGM improve our ability to autonomously monitor multiple independent sensors and coordinate reactions to better observe dynamic phenomena. The SGM system enables users to specify what to look for and how to react in descriptive rather than technical terms. The system monitors streams of data to identify occurrences of the key events previously specified by the scientisther. When an event occurs, the system autonomously coordinates the execution of the users' desired reactions between different sensors. The information can be used to rapidly respond to a variety of fast temporal events. Investigators will no longer have to rely on after-the-fact data analysis to determine what happened. Our paper describes a series of prototype demonstrations that we have developed using SGM and NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite and Earth Observing Systems' Aqua/Terra spacecrafts' MODIS instrument. Our demonstrations show the promise of coordinating data from different sources, analyzing the data for a relevant event, autonomously updating and rapidly obtaining a follow-on relevant image. SGM was used to investigate forest fires, floods and volcanic eruptions. We are now identifying new Earth science scenarios that will have more complex SGM reasoning. By developing and testing a prototype in an operational environment, we are also establishing and gathering metrics to gauge the success of automating science campaigns.

Koratkar, Anuradha↗
NASA NTRS2020

Dynamic IT Security Database and Analytics for Launch Control Systems Software

During the Summer 2020 session, I worked with intern Destani S. Van Arsdalen of EGS Software. Together, we co-created a tool to aid the dynamic investigation, updated over time,of the security compliance of LCS COTS and open source software. We originally planned touse spreadsheet software for management and analysis, but through this exploratoryproject, chose to use Python and JSON after receiving feedback on our project’s current anddesired capabilities at that time.At first, the project was solely designed to help on-board new COTS software, based on aquestionnaire that could be filled out for each software package. This, combined with usingthe spreadsheet application’s web-query capabilities to fetch information from the NVD,allowed presentation and analytics cells to automatically populate as elements of themanually-filled questionnaire changed. While this system was promising, we decided tochange technologies for a few reasons. In the spreadsheet, single cells could not hold complexdata like arrays and objects. The automatic population of cells and dynamic updates made itdifficult to manage and add new features. And finally, it had limited extensibility sinceadding new software required significant understanding of how both the spreadsheet wasconstructed, and the more obscure, proprietary scripting languages packaged with it.The pivot to a standard computer science database language of JSON, aided by thescripting capabilities of Python, greatly helped to improve the project’s functionality. First,and most importantly, the script’s import and analysis of database data is easilyreproducible. Additional data analysis can be modularly added without requiringmodification of the script and is capable of routine scheduling. The revised process can besplit into three parts. First, the conversion of LCS asset and software documentation into theJSON hierarchical database format. Second, the merging of this database with the NVD,forming a new data structure, using CPEs of the CVE object as a linking element betweenthem. And third, the automatically performed analytics and analysis of the combined data,in a modular and extensible format, to produce better informed business decisions. The outputted graphs, for example, are automatically generated by the Python script inconnection with the combined database. This allows updated graphs and any analytics to be re-rendered automatically following updates to the LCS’s initial asset documentation. Afinal report can then be programmatically and easily constructed from these sources to allow fully reproducible metrics for heavily evidenced risk management decisions.

it↗