An architecture for managing distributed scientific resources

There are many examples where cooperation among scientists takes place by exchanging scientific resources, such as data, programs and mathematical models. This is particularly true for environmental applications. Finding the right resource to apply in an environmental problem is a difficult task. Usually, this decision is based on previous experience. Scientists have to cooperate in order to solve such problems. To facilitate the exchange, reuse and dissemination of information we propose an architecture for managing distributed scientific resources. Our proposal combines a mediation-based heterogeneous distributed database system and an enhanced metadata support system for effective management of distributed scientific models and data.