The organization of complex datasets, experiments, and simulations into readable and reusable information is a challenging task in the realm of Natural Hazards Engineering Research. The varying types and formats of data collected in the field and in laboratory research is difficult to present due to the scale and complexity of these procedures. Procedures performed in experimental facilities use a variety of unique tools to simulate natural disasters. These tools have differing setups as well as various configurations of sensors and sensor types. In addition, each sensor type may have its own output. When reproducing or referencing these procedures, it is difficult to interpret how each piece of information relates to the whole. Finally, there is a need to store data while in the field, collaborate with other researchers, visualize their results, and curate their findings in a place that can be easily referenced and reused by other members in the community. DesignSafe is a Science Gateway that aims to enable natural hazards researchers by addressing these issues in an easy-to-use web interface. It provides researchers the ability to collaborate on projects in a shared workspace and publish their data through an interactive curation process. Allowing researchers and engineers the ability to accurately portray relationships between their predictions, procedures, and results greatly improves the readability and reusability of their findings. To do this, we’ve collaborated with several research groups and universities to develop a series of standardized yet flexible models that researchers use to structure their projects. In doing so, researchers can publish large and complex procedures in a way that is simple to interpret, cite, and reuse. This capability known as the DesignSafe curation process. This paper will focus more specifically on how this curation process was developed and implemented. It will expand on challenges implementing this process and future work being planned to further improve the pipeline.
