This paper is an example of what we call data interactive publications. With a properly configured workstation, the readers can click on "hotspots" in the document which bring up an interactive analysis tool called the Unidata Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). The IDV will enable the readers to access, analyze and display datasets on remote servers as well as documents describing them. Beyond the parameters and datasets initially configured into the paper, the analysis tool will have access to all the other dataset parameters as well as to a host of other datasets on remote servers.

These data interactive publications are built on top of several data delivery, access, discovery, and visualization tools developed by Unidata and its partner organizations. For purposes of illustrating this integrative technology, an atmospheric/hydrologic case study has been chosen: a July 16, 2004 convective rain event over Colorado, which illustrates how components of this process fit together. The Local Data Manager (LDM), Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP) and Abstract Data Distribution Environment (ADDE) services, Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Service (THREDDS) cataloging services, and the IDV are highlighted in this example of a publication with embedded pointers for accessing and interacting with remote datasets.

An important objective of this paper is to illustrate how these integrated technologies foster the creation of documents that allow the reader to learn the scientific concepts by direct interaction with illustrative datasets, and help build a framework for integrated Earth System science.