Web-based scientific and outreach tools for geographic data dissemination

The rapid development of web-based tools and more dynamic web page interfaces is allowing worldwide scientists to publish, visualize, process, and interpret complete databases and information. We have been developing these web-based tools at the Bio-optical Oceanography Laboratory to provide the geographic and sensor data to the scientific community. The central component of these web tools is the web portal of the Bio-optical Oceanography Laboratory (URL: http://bio-optics.uprm.edu). This web page provides updated information on the current research areas, news, facilities and instrumentation available for our graduate students, staff, and current collaborators. Another important tool is the Weather Web page (URL: http://bio-optics/uprm.edu/weather) that provides information in near-real time of the current weather conditions at our facilities. This information has been enhanced with weather bulletins, satellite image and products, monthly climatological summaries, UV radiation index and a live web cam feed. Additional near-realtime data are available from the NCAS AErosol and RADiation NETwork (AERADNET) and NOAA's Integrated Coral Observation Network (ICON) for the Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) oceanographic station. Another web-based outreach tool that is currently in development is an Internet Mapping System using ArcGIS technology that will greatly enhance the data availability to the worldwide community. The atmospheric and oceanographic data from these monitoring stations will be complemented with data layers with geophysical information and high resolution imagery. The user can interact with the web mapping service by analyzing their data with the layers available in the web application. This web-based tool will provide researchers with the necessary information for further analysis and to obtain new conclusions and insights on previous published results. The internet database approach of the Bio-Optical Oceanography Laboratory is available to demonstrate the power of having these tools open to any researcher.