QGreenland & CryoCloud: An open GIS collaboration for education and research

AGU2023 presentation C22A-07

Abstract

Providing training on inherently-technical subjects can be confounded by the wide variety of personal computing systems in use by learners. Planning and administering in-person and virtual training is demanding; supporting technical difficulties can be taxing on educators and takes time away from learning.

In Spring 2023, the NSF-funded QGreenland team used the NASA-funded CryoCloud JupyterHub to provide equitable computing access to teach a 3-day virtual, hands-on workshop to ~30 learners from across the globe. Simply by logging in, participants used QGreenland and QGIS in CryoCloud’s browser-based Linux desktop environment to collaboratively test, explore, visualize, and process Earth science data simultaneously, with the same user experience they expect from using QGIS on their personal computers. Further, using an existing community JupyterHub saved substantial time and cost; we estimated a reduction from 2-4 weeks and $4500 in setup costs to 2-3 days and $0 in setup costs, leaving only $75 of cloud operating expenses. Because CryoCloud is externally-funded, users also benefited from having a continuing platform to collaborate post-workshop. Finally, because our workshop and CryoCloud were openly developed with an emphasis on FAIR principles, our methods and materials can be re-used and improved by other communities.

With modern tooling, educators can provide equitable access to advanced cloud computing environments that rival or exceed the capabilities of learners’ personal computers. JupyterHub provides a transformative experience to educators and students and has significant momentum in research and educational computing. In our presentation we will discuss the value of pairing CryoCloud and QGreenland, the benefits of inclusive and collaborative development, key design elements and outcomes of the QGreenland 2023 Researcher Workshop, and how others can use these tools to increase efficacy and efficiency for their own research and education use cases.