EOMF-35. GIS Innovations to Improve Visualization of and Access to NOAA Ocean Exploration Data

Abstract
CIRES employees at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) are helping NCEI implement new, innovative GIS services for NOAA Ocean Exploration data. Geospatial data layers are now hosted in the NOAA GeoPlatform - an instance of Esri’s cloud-based ArcGIS Online. Geospatial data layers provide visualization of past and near-real-time ship tracks, 2D and 3D remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive tracks, where geologic and biologic samples were collected, as well as gridded and tiled multibeam bathymetry mosaics. Although the GIS team already supports a live operations map that provides near-real-time ship and expedition tracking, the team is working to enhance data transmission security and increase update frequency by incorporating a user datagram protocol (UDP) feed. This UDP feed also supports the additional development of near-real-time ROV location and dive track GIS services for 3D data display. Additionally, the GIS team is using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and React to develop a custom map viewer to improve discovery of and access to NOAA Ocean Exploration data collections archived at NCEI. Overall, this work will significantly enhance how scientists, researchers, policy makers, educators, and the general public discover, visualize, and leverage NOAA Ocean Exploration data at NOAA NCEI.