TITLE: Discovery of Marine Datasets and Geospatial Metadata Visualization

SECTION/FOCUS GROUP: Earth and Space Science Informatics (IN)
SESSION: Geo-Visualization with Virtual Globes (This Session will be Webcast) (IN04)

AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): Kurt D Schwehr1, Richard T. Brennan2, Jon Sellars3, Shep Smith4
INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. CCOM/JHC, UNH, Durham, NH, USA.
2. Atlantic Hydrographic Branch, NOAA, Norfolk, VA, USA.
3. National Geodetic Survey, NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
4. NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, NOAA, Norfolk, VA, USA.

ABSTRACT BODY: 

NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provides the deep
archive of US multibeam sonar hydrographic surveys. NOAA stores the
data as Bathymetric Attributed Grids (BAG;
http://www.opennavsurf.org/) that are HDF5 formatted files containing
gridded bathymetry, gridded uncertainty, and XML metadata. While NGDC
provides the deep store and a basic ERSI ArcIMS interface to the data,
additional tools need to be created to increase the frequency with
which researchers discover hydrographic surveys that might be
beneficial for their research. Using Open Source tools, we have
created a draft of a Google Earth visualization of NOAA's complete
collection of BAG files as of March 2009. Each survey is represented
as a bounding box, an optional preview image of the survey data, and a
pop up placemark. The placemark contains a brief summary of the
metadata and links to directly download of the BAG survey files and
the complete metadata file. Each survey is time tagged so that users
can search both in space and time for surveys that meet their needs.

By creating this visualization, we aim to make the entire process of
data discovery, validation of relevance, and download much more
efficient for research scientists who may not be familiar with NOAA's
hydrographic survey efforts or the BAG format. In the process of
creating this demonstration, we have identified a number of
improvements that can be made to the hydrographic survey process in
order to make the results easier to use especially with respect to
metadata generation. With the combination of the NGDC deep archiving
infrastructure, a Google Earth virtual globe visualization, and GeoRSS
feeds of updates, we hope to increase the utilization of these
high-quality gridded bathymetry. This workflow applies equally well to
LIDAR topography and bathymetry. Additionally, with proper referencing
and geotagging in journal publications, we hope to close the loop and
help the community create a true "Geospatial Scholar" infrastructure.

http://schwehr.org/2009agu

INDEX TERMS: 
[3045] MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS / Seafloor morphology, geology, and geophysics, 
[1946] INFORMATICS / Metadata, 
[1994] INFORMATICS / Visualization and portrayal, 
[1912] INFORMATICS / Data management, preservation, rescue.