In an era of increasing volumes of earth science data, highly complex data dissemination tools and interfaces have been developed providing unprecedented access and flexibility. Yet, there is still a need for simple, easy-to-use application-specific environments aimed at the needs of particular subgroups of users. We present a recently developed near-real-time web interface designed to make microwave radiometer and scatterometer data accessible to the tropical cyclone research community, students and cyclone enthusiasts within the general public. Several web sites (such as NOAA/NESDIS and NRL/FNMOC) provide scatterometer and radiometer data in real-time for storm forecasters. Our site complements these by providing microwave data archived for training and retrospective analysis. This briefing will present the details of the interface design methodology and demonstrate the interface functionality.

The archive interface was designed to enhance the usability and understanding of scatterometer data interpretation by integrating SSM/I rain rates and microwave SST data in the display. Cyclone location, intensity and forecast data from Joint Typhoon Warning Center, National Hurricane Center and Naval Research Lab - Monterey are obtained by FTP and parsed using Python's built-in FTP control module. Based on cyclone tracks, QuikSCAT and SeaWinds data images are processed and pre-rendered server-side using IDL. Javascript files are simultaneously generated to automatically update the web site display. The front end is built with standards-based implementations of HTML and Javascript, enabling the site to function with most modern web browsers. Client-side Javascript provides the ability to quickly display cached images. For example, clicking and flipping between wind barbs and ambiguities allows a seamless visual comparison without the interruption involved with reloading a page in the browser. By temporally interlacing the QuikSCAT and SeaWinds data, more details of storm development and evolution can be obtained. This archive is available at http://www.remss.com/hurricane/data_archive.html.