EPIC: Providing World Wide Web Access to Oceanographic Observations

D.W. Denbo1, N.N. Soreide2, M.C. Spillane1, and W.H. Zhu1

1Joint Institute for the Study of Ocean and Atmosphere, University of Washington, Seattle, WA,2NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 2

Background

EPIC was developed at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to manage hydrographic and time series oceanographic observational data sets.

EPIC Web tools Basic web utilities to reduce development time EPIC Web Browser provides easy access to on-line

data Java enhanced data selection creates an improved

interface to the EPIC Web Browser

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 3

Web Utilities

EPIC utilities for creating dynamic Web pages include: AnyURL - uses forms to point to static URLs (gif,

mpeg animations, or other Web pages) cover - dynamic generation of graphics or listings

by running existing utilities from a Web page clickable maps - cgi script translates mouse

clicks on a map to a latitude-longitude rectangle m2gif - convert Plot Plus output directly to gif

format

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 4

EPIC Web Browser

Web application for viewing observational data by creating graphics and listings “on the fly”.

Uses a set of perl routines that generate HTML. Routines can be called as cgi scripts or from other perl scripts.

Uses EPIC Web utilities to provide functionality.

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 5

EPIC Web Browser Capabilities

Plot (T, S, Sigma-t, Ox) vs Pressure/DepthPlot Temperature vs SalinityPlot user-selected property vs

Pressure/DepthPlot two user-selected Properties vs

Pressure/DepthPlot Station LocationsPlot Vertical Sections

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 6

EPIC Web Browser Capabilities (cont)

List data files in ASCII formatDownload data file in binary (EPIC/netCDF)

formatView meta-data/attributes of data fileEdit data file selection listDownload data file selection list

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 7

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 8

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 9

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 10

Java Tools

Java Interface to EPIC data selection

Combines Java applets with existing HTML forms and cgi scripts.

Provides “point and click” interface to on-line databases from the Web.

Searches databases then starts the EPIC Web Browser.

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 11

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 12

Java Tools (cont)

Java-enhanced Interface to Real-time TAO Data

Interactive access to the most recent TAO data

Uses existing cgi scripts to generate buoy summary plots

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 13

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 14

Availability

EPIC is freely available and used at numerous oceanographic institutions Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute U.S. Geological Survey Scripps Institution of Oceanography etc ...

Available at: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/epic-toolkits.html

EPIC Home Page: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html EPIC Web Browser:

http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/browser/browser_doc.htmlhttp://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/browser/browser_doc.html

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 15

References

Denbo, D.W., and N.N. Soreide, 1997: EPIC. Oceanography, 9(3), 189-190.

Denbo, D.W., S. Zube, D.C. McClurg, and N.N. Soreide, 1997: EPIC and TAO data access with Java applets. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, AMS, 2-7 February 1997, Long Beach, CA, 182-183.

Renton, M.W., and N.N. Soreide, 1997: EPIC utilities for data access on the World Wide Web via forms. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, AMS, 2-7 February 1997, Long Beach, CA, 441-443.

January 14, 1999http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/home.html

15th IIPS, Dallas, TX 16

References (cont)

Zube, S., D.C. McClurg, N. Merati, M.W. Renton, T. Vance, and W.H. Zhu (1997): Live access to oceanographic databases on the World Web Web via the EPIC Web Browser. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, AMS, 2-7 February 1997, Long Beach, CA, 184-186.