An information states blackboard as an intelligent querying interface for snow and avalanche data

We present the graph-based querying paradigm used in the Regional Avalanche Information and Forecasting System (RAIFoS) for the collection and analysis of snow and weather related physical parameters in the Swiss Alps. The querying paradigm relies upon the issue of interactively constructing a semantically valid query graph on an information states blackboard as guided by meta-data elements standing for interpretations of conceptual model, data values and/or operations. The meta-data elements constitute the terms of a meta-data-driven query language (MDDQL) the interpretation of which is done interactively relying on a kind of finite state automaton.