KEYWORDS: Visualization, Oceanography, Human-machine interfaces, Geographic information systems, Information technology, Image visualization, Data archive systems
Examining web tools and creating techniques for visualizing and gaining access to data from netCDF files using a web user interface (UI) and GIS technology are the main goals of the work. There are numerous technique to take into consideration in order to offer quick and simple access to netCDF data. The first step is to preprocess the netCDF files, select the related data, and convert them into the chosen image format, such png or jpeg. Scalar marine data such as sea surface temperature, salinity, sea level, or sea temperature and salinity at particular depths can all be used this technique. The Python module can be used to prepare data. The data for wind, waves, and sea currents can also be shown similarly. The picture files should be retained on the Web server as archived files after being preprocessed, allowing for quick UI access. With web map services like mapbox GL, Cesium, OpenLayers, etc., these images can be seen as layers. A second technique entails converting static parameters from netCDF files to geoTIFF format beforehand and using OpenLayers 7 to view geoTIFF files. The benefit of this technique is that it gives access to the data value at any time and enables the visualization of the data using various color scale bars. A specific user interface (UI) was developed to test the second strategy. The UI enables features to display geographical maps at the pre-selected date, time, and marine parameter at a specific water depth, as well as to view marine data profiles at select points. The relevant python scripts select the proper data profile and then return them in json format to the UI in order to receive and examine the marine data profiles. The relevant request, which contains the geographical coordinates, is sent to the server. The UI makes use of plot tools to display the profiles of marine data.
The goal of this study is to develop a Black Sea regional online marine database access interface for ARGO profiles. Due to its exclusive focus on the ARGO data profiles gathered in the Black Sea, the ARGO Black Sea online web database offers quicker and simpler data access compared to the traditional full-functional ARGO data portals. The ARGO datasets were obtained between 2005 and 2021 and include profiles gathered from 42 ARGO floats from the free ARGO data access portals. The Black Sea ARGO profiles database was organized to keep meta data and data separately, and such a technique provides the functionality to optimize the search and the visualization of the data. Postgresql was selected as the database management system. The User Interface (UI) for online data access was created utilizing the map services mapbox gl and jQuery. The interface enables users to select the ARGO floats trajectories see the ARGO data profiles, download specific data profiles in ODV format, and pick ARGO floats trajectories using the ARGO ID from the relevant list that is readily available. A special software module was developed to enable automatic populating of database tables. The program reads, distributes, and stores data in the database in netCDF and csv formats. It also verifies that no double data rows are present. The Black Sea ARGO database can be used as a tool for statistical analysis of the marine ecosystems and sea currents, taking into account the trajectories of the ARGO floats as sea current tracers. It can also be used as a user-friendly data access interface to view the data.
The work addresses the design and techniques that can be used to build oceanographic databases with web interfaces. The Black Sea and the EastMedAtlas databases are used as examples to explain these concepts. The client-server architecture used in the development of the online data access system allows it to collect a variety of oceanographic data types, including timeseries, CTD profiles, thematic climatological maps, Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Sea Level (SLA), and in-situ and satellite remote sensing oceanographic data. The system supports the storage, access, visualization, and overlay of different types of oceanographic data. Relational databases are frequently used to store in-situ data. The system's ability to provide map service is one of its main features. It was decided to use mapbox GL for the Black Sea GIS. The jqPlot library was used to create the time series access and visualization module, which allows users to choose time intervals and parameters as well as visualize the results on a plot. Thematic climatic maps and satellite remote sensing images of the Black Sea are also presented in geoTiff format, which provides the possibility to adjust the color bars and view the data values for the related parameters. The satellite remote sensing data for SST and SLA were obtained from the Copernicus marine service portal for the periods 1981-2021 (SST) and 1993-2021 (SLA), respectively. Both satellite remote sensing parameters were preprocessed and archived in geoTiff format.
The present work deals with the systematic field observation, archiving, accessing and visualization of the vegetation land cover data in the abrasive coastal zone of the Krasnodar region in the Black Sea. Particularly, the field observation of the species composition of the higher vascular plants was carried out at the coastal area of the Tuapkhat massif, a cliff of 80-100 meters high. The field observations were divided into 112 sites taking into account the local geomorphologic features. After the analyzes of the obtained data from the field observations of the vascular plants, a dedicated on line Web GIS database was developed. At present, the online database consists of two tables, the first one includes the coordinates of the area covered by the different types of the vegetation plant, their quantities in each area and their statistical characteristics. The second one includes the description of each type of the vegetation plant with their characteristics and the corresponding images of each type of plant. The User Interface (UI) was developed using jQuery and mapBox GL, in order to provide online access to the vegetation plants characteristics in the above areas of interest. The UI allows the user to access and visualize a number of different types of data concerning the land vegetation plant, covering each area under study, i.e. species, family, life form, fruits, relation to moisture, relation to light, relation to substrate, Red Book, photo, etc.
In the framework of the HERMES project [1] a network of four buoys/monitoring stations were deployed, three in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and one in the Black Sea. The monitoring platforms were deployed in the coastal areas in the Northern Aegean Sea (Greece), in the Larnaca bay (Cyprus), in the SE Ionian Sea (Albania) and in the SW Black Sea (Bulgaria). The monitoring stations provide in near real time data for the sea currents, waves, sea level variation, sea temperature and suspended particles. Moreover, numerical modeling tools were implemented for the provision of forecasting data for sea currents, sea temperature, salinity and waves for all the four areas under study of the HERMES project The data management of the in-situ and forecasting data, a dedicated database was developed using MySQL DBMS, which includes 8 tables, two for each monitoring station. The data archive and online data access to the in-situ and forecasting data a dedicated software was developed including a User Interface. The UI allows to select the desirable in-situ data from the selected monitoring station for a given requested time interval. The data are presented as interactive time series plots. Selected data can be downloaded in SDN ODV format. The modules of the HERMES Web GIS were used to generate files with the in-situ time series data in the well known SeaDataCloud and EMODNET Ingestion formats. For the generation of the metadata of the monitoring stations the SDN MIKADO software was used. A similar Web GIS for archiving and providing access to data from monitoring stations was implemented also for the Kacively monitoring station in the northern Black Sea, which operated by MHI-RAS. The development of software for archiving and providing access to Kacively monitoring station was carried out in the framework of the Task No. 0827- 2019-0004 “Coastal researches” of the MHI-RAS.
KEYWORDS: Databases, Geographic information systems, Visualization, Software development, Oceanography, Human-machine interfaces, Data archive systems, Data visualization, Internet technology
The recent new developments for updating the user interface (UI) of the Black Sea oceanographic database are described in the current work. The developments dedicated to the use of new techniques at the base of WebG, for the visualization of the Black Sea oceanographic data and the online data access functions and features. The updated Black Sea oceanographic database is realized in two parts using the PostgreSQL. The first part of the database, which is responsible for accessing the metadata was designed and developed for interactive transaction processing (OLTP access template). The second part, which is responsible for the in-situ data archiving was developed following the “star” architecture. The latter is typical for the OLAP access template. The selection of the WebGL for the updated Black Sea UI is based on the advantages in using the modern technology for data visualization and analysis. The WebGL provides fast visualization of geographic objects at the user browser using GPU. Therefore, the previous implemented Mapserver for the Black Sea oceanographic GIS has been abandoned in favor of the WebGL. The updated UI of the Black Sea Oceanographic database includes a main menu, providing access to several online friendly user functions. The UI provides access to the data through several filters/criteria, such as the cruise name, date of cruise, ship name, sea area, hydrological and hydrochemical parameters, etc. The selected data are provided in the form of maps, profiles and metadata.
The paper briefs on the improvements of the Black Sea oceanographic GIS, which is developed for the needs of the Marine Hydrophysical Institute (MHI) oceanographic database. The structure, data and the online data access technology for the existing oceanographic GIS at MHI were described in "Black Sea GIS developed in MHI" [1] and "Using GIS technology for access to coastal data" [2]. Currently, a geo-spatial database has been implemented in order to improve the Black Sea oceanographic GIS. For this purpose the PostgreSQL/PostGIS database has been used, taking the advantage of its high functionality and open source. The structure of the new Black Sea oceanographic GIS database has been developed following the SeaDataNet metadata and data standards. The new improvements include the development of scripts for data exchange between the User Interface (UI) and the PostgreSQL/PostGIS database. Furthermore, instead of the previously used Flex RIA, the HTML5 is implemented to avoid problems concerning the support of new browsers. The main functions of the UI are realized using jQuery, while the Mapserver services are realized using OpenLayers.
KEYWORDS: Geographic information systems, Visualization, Dubnium, Human-machine interfaces, Databases, Data centers, Oceanography, Computing systems, Data archive systems, Software development
The work is dedicated to the development of a regional online free GIS data access system in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. EastMedAtlas consists from the following main parts: User interface (UI), Server and Map service. The user interface provides the database's request and visualize the results on the Map, and plots the data for each requested parameter. The UI support data in ODV and netCDF formats. The EastMedAtlas operates at the base of Apache server software and includes Database (DB), php scripts for providing data exchange between the UI and the Map service at the base of Mapserver software for visualization of geo-spatial data. The EastMedAtlas DB is developed at the base of MySQL and includes free access data of the Eastern Mediterranean sea downloaded through European and international portals, such as for example the SeaDataNet, EMODNET, CMEMS, WDC and other relevant databases. The EastMedAtlas data has received a further Quality Control using the regional QC criteria adopted in SeaDataNet. At present, the EastMedAtlas DB includes metadata and data from more than 20 thousands stations in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. The EastMedAtlas online GIS system is more user friendly and less cumbersome than other oceanographic global and regional online DBs.
The paper is devoted to the Black sea marine information systems. FSBSI (Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS) has gained a great experience in their development. A special feature of marine GISs is that in many cases the multidisciplinary and multi-component character of scientific oceanology leads to creating narrower specialized software tools to operate oceanographic data. At the same time, the accuracy of the information system representation of the processes taking place in the marine environment and in the sea – land interactive zone is determined in a considerable degree by the comprehensiveness and quality of databases in use. While creating the GISs for the Black sea, MHI uses as an information basis the Black sea database containing more than 160,000 oceanographic stations made so far since 1890. More than 80 per cent of the data have passed the quality check procedure. However, a number of GISs, for their successful operating, demand more parameters than the Black Sea database includes. This can be exemplified by the structure of the software used in the Geoinformation system of the Russian Black sea coastal zone. The database providing operation of the Specialized GIS for beach cadastral evaluation also has its peculiarities. The specific aspects of structure and functionality of the above mentioned and some other GISs created in MHI are described. The immediate objectives are identified both to create a comprehensive universal system for a wide range of researchers, with an optimized query system while addressing the integrated database, and to develop methods of spatial data sharing which allow gaining access to shared databases of the existing applied specialized systems.
Geoinformation systems (GIS) is the most convenient instrument for accessing, visualizing, analyzing of spatial (geo-referencing) data, therefore further improvements of the on-line Black Sea GIS were carried out. The Black Sea GIS was developed at the basis of Mapserver cartographic service and MySQL database. GIS consists of independent and interacting subsystems that permit easily its extension. The improvement of the Black Sea GIS includes the regional and coastal data concerning the visualization of the Dolgaya spit dynamics. The Dolgaya spit is a large accumulative body of the Sea of Azov (Black Sea basin). For most part of the area of interest, these changes occur because of natural reasons, but the economic activities at the spit and in the Sea of Azov have a certain influence on the processes too, affecting the changes of the spit. The changes of the spit was determined using satellite images obtained from 1960 to 1970s by the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as, using modern photos and field studies. Two shores, the Dolgaya spit are significantly different in composition and in the processes which take place. The obtained data from satellite remote sensing, aerial and from field surveys were inserted in the Black Sea GIS. The new data for this particular area of interest made possible to provide on-line access and visualization of the maps concerning the Dolgaya spit dynamic changes, values of erosion and accumulation at base points, plots and images, and combine the visualization these data with other GIS information layers.
Vladimir Belokopytov, Alexey Khaliulin, Andrey Ingerov, Elena Zhuk, Isaac Gertman, George Zodiatis, Marios Nikolaidis, Andreas Nikolaidis, Stavros Stylianou
The Desktop Oceanographic Data Processing Module was developed for visual analysis of interdisciplinary cruise measurements. The program provides the possibility of data selection based on different criteria, map plotting, sea horizontal sections, and sea depth vertical profiles. The data selection in the area of interest can be specified according to a set of different physical and chemical parameters complimented by additional parameters, such as the cruise number, ship name, and time period. The visual analysis of a set of vertical profiles in the selected area allows to determine the quality of the data, their location and the time of the in-situ measurements and to exclude any questionable data from the statistical analysis. For each selected set of profiles, the average vertical profile, the minimal and maximal values of the parameter under examination and the root mean square (r.m.s.) are estimated. These estimates are compared with the parameter ranges, set for each sub-region by MEDAR/MEDATLAS-II and SeaDataNet2 projects. In the framework of the PERSEUS project, certain parameters which lacked a range were calculated from scratch, while some of the previously used ranges were re-defined using more comprehensive data sets based on SeaDataNet2, SESAME and PERSEUS projects. In some cases we have used additional sub- regions to redefine the ranges ore precisely. The recalculated ranges are used to improve the PERSEUS Data Quality Control.
The Black Sea Geographical Information System (GIS) is developed based on cutting edge information technologies,
and provides automated data processing and visualization on-line. Mapserver is used as a mapping service; the data are
stored in MySQL DBMS; PHP and Python modules are utilized for data access, processing, and exchange.
New numerical models can be incorporated in the GIS environment as individual software modules, compiled for a
server-based operational system, providing interaction with the GIS. A common interface allows setting the input
parameters; then the model performs the calculation of the output data in specifically predefined files and format. The
calculation results are then passed to the GIS for visualization.
Initially, a test scenario of integration of a numerical model into the GIS was performed, using software, developed to
describe a two-dimensional tsunami propagation in variable basin depth, based on a linear long surface wave model
which is legitimate for more than 5 m depth.
Furthermore, the well established oil spill and trajectory 3-D model MEDSLIK
(http://www.oceanography.ucy.ac.cy/medslik/) was integrated into the GIS with more advanced GIS functionality and
capabilities. MEDSLIK is able to forecast and hind cast the trajectories of oil pollution and floating objects, by using
meteo-ocean data and the state of oil spill. The MEDSLIK module interface allows a user to enter all the necessary oil
spill parameters, i.e. date and time, rate of spill or spill volume, forecasting time, coordinates, oil spill type, currents,
wind, and waves, as well as the specification of the output parameters. The entered data are passed on to MEDSLIK;
then the oil pollution characteristics are calculated for pre-defined time steps. The results of the forecast or hind cast are
then visualized upon a map.
The module structure of the Black Sea GIS allows the increasing of its functionality, including new data types and defining new procedures accessing them, their visualization and integration with existing data by their conjoint processing and representation. The Black Sea GIS is released as free software; Mapserver is used as a mapping service; MySQL DBMS works with relational data. A new additional feature provided, is the ability of including coastal data obtained in SB SIO RAS. The data represent granulometric composition of the Anapa bay-bar sediments. The Anapa bay-bar is an accumulative sand form (about 50 km long) located on the northwest Russian Black Sea coast. The entire bay-bar and especially its southern part with sand beaches 50–200 m wide is intensively used in recreation. This work is based on the results of field studies of 2010–2014 in the southern part of the Anapa bay-bar researched by scientists of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS. Since the shore under consideration has no clearly pronounced reference points, “virtual” points located within 1 km distance from each other were selected. Transversal profiles cross these points. The granulometric composition was studied along with 45 profiles. The samples taken in every profile were from the most characteristic morphological parts of the beach. In this study we used shoreline zone samples. Twenty one granule fractions (mm) were separated in the laboratory. The module which processes coastal data allows to select coastal data based on territory/region and granulometric sediment composition. Also, it allows to visualize coastal maps with user-selected features combined with other GIS data.
The PERSEUS ODV QC Utility has been developed in the framework of the PERSEUS project.[1] The QC Utility implements a QC procedure for ODV files and assigns QC flags to metadata and data values according to the SEADATANET vocabulary L20. The QC procedure results are QC flags in an ODV file and a log file with a list of possible errors. The QC Utility can operate both in the window and console modes. The QC procedure includes a set of metadata and data quality tests. The metadata tests are: location check, date/time (including velocity and chronology) check and sea depth check. The data tests are based on check arrays (climate, statistics, parameter ranges and thresholds for spikes and gradients check) for sub-regions (local) or the entire region (regional). These arrays are assigned to the P02 parameter codes. The P01 codes are not used because of their superfluity (many codes correspond to the same parameter). The P02 vocabulary is more suitable but it does not provide identification of all parameters. The QC Utility gives a possibility of extending the P02 codes list to identify the parameters more correctly. Data tests include sounding value check (including order check), climatic check (if climatic arrays for the parameter are available), statistic check (if statistic arrays for the parameter are available), range check (if ranges for the parameter are available), fixing density inversions for hydrological data, fixing spikes (if corresponding thresholds for the parameter are available), gradient check (if corresponding thresholds for the parameter are available).
KEYWORDS: Geographic information systems, Climatology, Data modeling, Visualization, Databases, Satellites, Oceanography, Data storage, Raster graphics, MODIS
The work aims at creating the Black Sea geoinformation system (GIS) and complementing it with a model bank. The software for data access and visualization was developed using client server architecture. A map service based on MapServer and MySQL data management system were chosen for the Black Sea GIS. Php-modules and python-scripts are used to provide data access, processing, and exchange between the client application and the server. According to the basic data types, the module structure of GIS was developed. Each type of data is matched to a module which allows selection and visualization of the data. At present, a GIS complement with a model bank (the models build in to the GIS) and users’ models (programs launched on users’ PCs but receiving and displaying data via GIS) is developed.
The Cyprus Oceanography Center has been constantly searching for new ideas for developing and implementing innovative methods and new developments concerning the use of Information Systems in Oceanography, to suit both the Center’s monitoring and forecasting products. Within the frame of this scope two major online managing and visualizing data systems have been developed and utilized, those of CYCOFOS and BYTHOS. The Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting and Observing System – CYCOFOS provides a variety of operational predictions such as ultra high, high and medium resolution ocean forecasts in the Levantine Basin, offshore and coastal sea state forecasts in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, tide forecasting in the Mediterranean, ocean remote sensing in the Eastern Mediterranean and coastal and offshore monitoring. As a rich internet application, BYTHOS enables scientists to search, visualize and download oceanographic data online and in real time. The recent improving of BYTHOS system is the extension with access and visualization of CYCOFOS data and overlay forecast fields and observing data. The CYCOFOS data are stored at OPENDAP Server in netCDF format. To search, process and visualize it the php and python scripts were developed. Data visualization is achieved through Mapserver. The BYTHOS forecast access interface allows to search necessary forecasting field by recognizing type, parameter, region, level and time. Also it provides opportunity to overlay different forecast and observing data that can be used for complex analyze of sea basin aspects.
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