Models at CCMC, Vitmo ModelWeb Browser Results, Fundamental constants and equations used

Hello,
I was enjoying your model site.  One of the better ones on the Internet in terms of ease of use and clarity.
The only thing that I would like different is to have parameters in the generated URL, so that I can bookmark a run and go back to it again, without manually entering the settings.

https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/modelweb/models/vitmo_model.cgi?Model=IGRF&Year=2022&Lat=45.00&Lon=270.00&Height=0.0&start=0.00&stop=10000.00&step=1.00&selected=all&By=height

I chose this example because it stopped at 500.  So my guess is there is hard-coded line limit of 500 lines per run?

I was going to run two of these really close to each other and look at the differences.  And at different years or days.

It would be nice to add user calculations for columns.  I added the total magnetic pressure in microPascals.
Pressure_microPascal = PascalsPerSquareNanoTesla * B_total_nanoTesla^2
PascalsPerSquareNanoTesla = 10^6*((1/10^9)^2)/(2*mu0)
mu0 = 1.25663706212E-6 Newtons/Ampere^2 called “vacuum magnetic permeability” at https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/cuu/Value?eqmu0 with notes at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_permeability
I have been encouraging groups to have a common core of fundamental constants and references accessible across the Internet.  ONE value and all the backup information by hover.
(“vacuum magnetic permeability” OR “vacuum permeability” OR “magnetic permeability of vacuum” OR “permeability of vacuum” OR “permeability of the vacuum”) has 594,000 entry points (Google, 6 Feb 2022, GMT 7:28 am)
site:nasa.gov (“vacuum magnetic permeability” OR “vacuum permeability” OR “magnetic permeability of vacuum” OR “permeability of vacuum” OR “permeability of the vacuum”) has 867 entry points
site:nasa.gov “speed of light” has 16,200 entry points. And an uncountable number of references embedded in software as only values.
site:nasa.gov (“2.99792458” OR “299792458”) has 257 entry points
(“2.99792458” OR “299792458”) has 573,000 entry points
Even if only NASA kept one set of constants, the time to resolve dependencies and references in NASA models would be reduced.  On the Internet many tiny actions such as tracing constants are repeated billions of times. Worse, tiny variations creep in, as people hard code partially remembered values into files, programs and calculations.
A name server looks up the IP address for a name string.  A “constants server” could do the same for fundamental constants, equations, datasets. Not hard for an exascale server, or simple mirrors.  It is the consistency that matters, but not slavish “one size for all”.  I recommend finding all the living examples, documenting them, and offering links to standard mirrors.  I think NIST https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants/index.html sets a bad example for the whole Internet. Everything requires human eyeballs and typing and clicking. And the results cannot be referenced with a usable value AND links to all the background.
site:GitHub.com “speed of light” has 10,500 entry points
(“Coulomb’s law” OR “Coulombs law”) has 1.01 Million entry points
site:wikipedia.org “Fourier transform” has 8,490 entry points.  ( Would you consider that “curated”? )
Yes, there are many human languages, programming languages and sites. But once started, it gets easier quickly, reaches an operating point and provides a reference for future developments.
“bose einstein” has 2.31 Million entry points. Those users are not all working together and many just mention and do not trace or connect.
It would be interesting to look at the use of all constants, equations and values on NASA.gov and all its contractors.  Probably a mess. But I have found that if you just start, and keep at something, it usually gets done.
Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation
Richard K Collins

About: Richard K Collins

The Internet Foundation Internet policies, global issues, global open lossless data, global open collaboration


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *