The new COAST 2.0.0 is here!

Please download and try out the enhanced functionality that has been added to the  COAST geobrowser. These features and functionality in the new COAST 2.0 were added based on user feedback to allow more capabilities for user data addition and visual analytics.

Additions include:

A.               The Temporal Visualization Tool

Development of the Temporal Visualization Tool (TVT) plugin for COAST was begun in the 2007 Integrated Approach to Monitoring Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico project.  The origin of this time-based animated data overlay tool is the Naval Research Laboratory Monterey Weather plugin included with World Wind, which is still distributed with the present World Wind 1.4.1 package.  Modifications to the TVT have been targeted to provide users the capability to connect to and map/integrate disparate datasets, located locally and online, into project sessions for COAST users.  The TVT allows direct data listing of accessible raster datasets, subsequent multi-select, temporally animated image overlays in the COAST browser, and transparency control over the animated layer within COAST via a slider mechanism.  This modality allows for strong possible visual analytic insight into time-based phenomenology that may be occurring within the spatial and temporal ranges of the animated and underlying data layers (images) visible in the current COAST session.  A new VCR-style control mechanism was added to allow the user to start, pause, rewind, and step through the individual images selected to compose the animated sequence in the TVT.  As an image of interest presents itself to the user during a TVT session, the user can pause the image onscreen, increase or decrease the transparency of the image to reveal correlation to other layers visible underneath, or seek to activate or add additional layers that may lend insight to the investigative process at hand.

B.               The Recursive Online Remote Data Directory Mapper (RECORD-DM) Tool

The development of the Recursive Online Remote Data - Data Mapper (RECORD-DM) utility was driven by the need for an ability to map and add online remote image-product datasets to the TVT plugin’s list of available images as needed.  Online image data are often deposited in widely varying organizational schemes, and both the content and structure of the data repositories change as data are added and reorganized.  The RECORD-DM tool allows a user to map the current state, parent directory structure, and location of online raster data available for viewing in TVT.  It also allows geographic position information to be attached and creates an XML file map of the data tree for immediate use in the TVT as either static or temporally animated overlays in the current COAST session.

To use the RECORD-DM tool from within COAST, the user selects it from the drop-down Advanced Local Tools menu and then types in the Web URL or ftp address, or browses to the local or network directory of choice.  Upon running successfully, the interface is filled in with the proper directory tree mapping of the desired temporal datasets, and the user is allowed to assign names, descriptions, and most importantly corner coordinates to the newly mapped datasets.  It is assumed that all image data within each child directory have the same coordinates for mapping into COAST, although the user is allowed to assign unique coordinates to each individual directory or to the directory tree as a whole.  The XML file map has the additional benefit of being sharable between COAST users so that if a RECORD-DM XML file map of new data is generated, the XML file can be sent to other users for loading into their TVT-enabled COAST for animated review.  The file is accessed in TVT by using the File/Load menu dropdown option.

C.              The Import Data Tool

The Import Data Tool (IDT) was created for COAST 2.0 in response to feedback from GOMA partners and from researchers at other Coastal science institutions indicating the need for a simpler mechanism to pull in single image or vector data formats.  It is a simplified but strengthened compilation of elements of the Image Overlay Tool and the Shapefile Import Tool plugins from World Wind heritage.  The IDT resides under the main File dropdown menu as shown in Fig. 4. 

COAST users who want to import an image into their COAST session can readily use this tool to browse to their georeferenced or non-georeferenced image data location and select it for import.  The currently supported image formats for import into COAST using the IDT include BMP, GIF, PNG, JPG, TIF, and TIFF.  The currently supported vector file formats include SHP, ZIP (shape), and XML point files.  In the current implementation of this tool, it is required that any georeferenced image have geographic (latitude, longitude) projection for proper import into COAST.  If the image has no associated georeferencing information, the user has the option to enter coordinates if known.  If not known, the user can still select the image for import and click the Create button to manually place the image into COAST.  This feature is referred to as “rubber-sheeting” an image in.  Small white boxes or “ears” will appear on a non-georeferenced image that has been brought into COAST this way.  The user can select one of these ears by clicking on it and then dragging the ear and the corner of the image like a flexible sheet to its proper location as a COAST overlay.  The user continues to click and drag each ear until the image is in place to the user’s satisfaction.  After import or placement, the user can select the Save Created layer option under the file menu.  An XML layer description file with the extension SCL will be written out that contains the image display characteristics and geographic overlay information.  This file can then be shared with other users using the COAST Import Layer tool.  The imported layer will then appear under the User Data parent layer in the Layer Manager.  This is applicable for both image and vector data imported into COAST and provides a key mechanism for users to be able to share data investigation sessions with other colleagues.

D.              The Add Points Tool

The Add Points Tool (APT) was created for COAST 2.0 to allow users the capability to directly digitize points onto the COAST interface, add metadata and links directly, and save the added points out to several shareable formats for use by others.  To activate the tool’s interface, a user selects it from the COAST Tools drop down menu.  The user then navigates and zooms into points of interest in the COAST geobrowser and digitizes and saves point coordinates for their session.  Users also have the option of typing in Web link addresses and location descriptions, and of selecting a custom icon to be used as a marker in their new COAST Point layer.  Points can also be edited and replaced as needed.  Points in TXT, CSV, COAST XML layer, or GPX format can also be added by an Import Points function located under the File menu.  This lends great flexibility to COAST users as point data exists in many different formats in the GIS world.  When the user has completed the APT session, the point set may be saved as a point TXT, CSV, or PRN file or saved as a COAST-compatible XML layer.

The APT should lend itself greatly to the gathering of field in-situ data as field teams can gather field sample points using GPS and upload them to COAST upon return to their computers, or they can use a computer in the field to enter the points manually in COAST using the APT along with notes and data information.  This should greatly streamline the process of integrating field data with other associated data layers within COAST and provide a more centralized option for users.