Information System on Real-time Quickscat and TRMM Observations

Emerging technologies have provided unprecedented opportunities to transform information into knowledge and disseminate them in a much faster, cheaper, and user-friendly mode. We have set up a system to produce, display, and disseminate high level (gridded) ocean surface wind field from the scatterometer on Quikscat launched in June 1999 in near-real time. The wind field will be combined with hydrologic parameters from the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) to monitor evolving weather systems and natural hazard in near-real time. It will reveal the interplay between dynamic and hydrologic parameters. It will form the basis for spacebased Ocean Surface Exchange Data Analysis System (SOSEDAS) which will include the production of ocean surface momentum, heat, and water fluxes needed for interdisciplinary studies of ocean-atmosphere interaction.

Various commercial or non-commercial software tools have been compared and selected in terms of their ability in database management, remote data accessing, graphical interface, data quality, storage needs and transfer speed, etc. Issues regarding system security and user authentication, distributed data archiving and accessing, strategy to compress large-volume geophysical and satellite data/image. and increasing transferring speed are being addressed. A simple and easy way to access information and derive knowledge from spacebased data of multiple missions is being provided.

The evolving ‘knowledge system’ will provide relevant infrastructure to address Earth System Science, make inroads in educating an informed populace, and illuminate decision and policy making.