Exploring ocean data

Abstract

In fall of 2004, we met Jim Gray and began to converse about the data needs of ocean scientists. The conversations ultimately led to the development of a unique portal for exploring multidisciplinary data sets, which we call the Metadata Oriented Query Assistant (MOQuA). At the time, we were working with an extremely rich data set which included measurements from ships, satellites, aircraft, moorings, and a variety of underwater robots. The data set also included output from both atmospheric and ocean models. We initially made the data available via a state-of-the-art data server. However, serious users did not use the server, instead approaching us for copies of the relevant portions. Our experience convinced us that we needed a far more capable portal, but framing the seemingly divergent needs of ocean scientists in a way which could be satisfied via an intuitive interface was challenging. In the course of many conversations and interactions with Jim, we realized that we needed to structure the interaction around questions rather than visualizations, and this simple insight lead to the development of MOQuA system.