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12. Glossary

Term Definition
AMDAR / TEMP Upper-air observations: AMDAR (sensors aboard commercial aircraft), TEMP (radiosonde soundings) — scattered data, vertical profiles
ADR Architecture Decision Record — written record of an architecture decision
arc42 Architecture documentation template in 12 chapters
BUFR WMO binary format (FM 94) for observations; its descriptors (Table B) identify the quantities
Barnes (objective analysis) Interpolation method from scattered points to a grid using iterative Gaussian weighting; built into GeoServer (vec:BarnesSurface)
Blobstore GeoWebCache tile storage backend (disk, S3…); a default blobstore receives the layers without an explicit assignment
GeoServer catalog The set of workspaces, stores, layers and styles known to GeoServer
COG (Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF) GeoTIFF organized in internal tiles and overviews, readable through HTTP range requests directly from object storage
Cascade (WMS) GeoServer republishing layers of a remote WMS through a WMSStore; the remote service does the rendering
CF standard name Vocabulary of the CF conventions: standardized name of a physical quantity and its canonical unit
DEFAULT PRIVILEGES PostgreSQL privileges automatically applied to future objects created by a given role in a schema
Domain Business family of data: meteorology, aeronautics, hydrology
Data dir GeoServer configuration directory; ephemeral here, regenerated at every startup, the database being the source of truth
GeoServerInitializer GeoServer extension point invoked after the catalog is loaded; where configuration as code lives
Granule Elementary raster file (one instant, one level) indexed in an ImageMosaic
Hazelcast In-memory data grid used by the hz-cluster module to broadcast configuration events between replicas
GWC GeoWebCache — the tile cache embedded in GeoServer
Granule (index) Row of the PostGIS index describing a COG: S3 location, footprint, dimensions, source unit
Hypertable TimescaleDB table transparently partitioned by time; backs the observation store
ImageMosaic GeoServer store aggregating granules along dimensions (time, elevation, custom dimensions)
First guess (model background) Model field used as the starting point of an analysis, corrected with observed innovations (ADR-0013)
IDW Inverse Distance Weighting — interpolation weighted by inverse distance, suited to dense networks (SYNOP, METAR)
IWXXM XML exchange model for aeronautical messages (METAR, TAF, SIGMET…), ICAO Annex 3 standard
JDBCConfig GeoServer extension storing the catalog in the database
JDBCStore GeoServer extension storing resources (styles, icons, configuration files) in the database
JDBCStatus GeoServer extension storing task states/statuses in the database (shared between replicas)
JNDI Java resource directory; here, the data sources declared in Tomcat (jdbc/geoserver, jdbc/meteo)
Master password (master key) GeoServer secret encrypting the stored passwords (keystore); must be identical on all replicas
METAR / SPECI / TAF Aeronautical observation messages (METAR, SPECI) and aerodrome forecast messages (TAF), ICAO Annex 3
OGC Open Geospatial Consortium — WMS, WMTS, WFS, WCS, WPS standards
Rendering transformation GeoTools process invoked from an SLD <Transformation>; computes derived data (e.g. an interpolated surface) at rendering time
Replica GeoServer instance (pod) in the cluster
Model run Execution of a weather model at a given time (reference time); produces forecast validity times
search_path Ordered list of the PostgreSQL schemas in which an unqualified name is looked up; set here on the role
Superuser Unrestricted PostgreSQL role; required for CREATE EXTENSION postgis
Headless Service Kubernetes Service without an address (clusterIP: None) whose DNS returns the IP of each pod; the basis of Hazelcast discovery
Session affinity Routing of all requests from the same client to the same pod (cookie set by the Ingress)
PDB (PodDisruptionBudget) Minimum number of pods to keep during voluntary operations (drain, update)
SYNOP Surface weather observation from a station, nowadays exchanged in BUFR
TAC Traditional Alphanumeric Code — WMO textual codes (METAR, TAF, legacy SYNOP FM 12)
Canonical unit Reference unit chosen for a quantity within the platform (e.g. kelvin for temperature); any incoming data in another unit is converted or labeled
Validity The instant for which a forecast is valid
Elevation / level Vertical dimension of a piece of data (altitude, pressure level, depth)
WAFS World Area Forecast System — global aeronautical grids (wind, temperature, icing, turbulence) distributed as GRIB2
WMTS Web Map Tile Service — pre-cut tile service, served here by GeoWebCache
WPS Web Processing Service — execution of geospatial processes