1. OOI EPE: Real-Time Ocean Data Coming Soon to an Undergraduate Classroom Near You!
Michael Crowley1 S. Glenn1, S. Lichtenwalner1,
J. McDonnell1, A. deCharon2, M. Mills1, C. Companion2, J. Wieclawek3
1Rutgers Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, 2University of Maine Darling Center, 3Raytheon Web Services
Poster #1761
Introduction to the OOI & EPE
The Integrated Tool Suite
Educational Visualization Service
Investigation Builder
The NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) will expand the ways in which ocean science research is conducted. The OOI will design, deploy and operate a large array of transformative research platforms and sensors. The sensors will collect the physical, biological, geological, chemical datasets necessary to understand the complex processes and challenges facing today's changing ocean.
Recent advances in the delivery of web-based education, and the use of visualization technology in educational contexts, have led to the development of on-line platforms for instruction that engage students in active scientific inquiry by collecting and analyzing real world data. The OOI Education and Public Engagement (EPE) team is leveraging these technologies for ocean education.
EPE is constructing three tools that are available through an integrated web portal that supports engagement of undergraduate educators. These tools, to be completed in early 2015, will enable educators to enhance their undergraduate education programs by using real-time and archived time series and profile data provided by the OOI and other sources.
For the next 25 years, EPE will enable a new approach to oceanography research, where scientists, students and the public can explore the ocean in real-time from their classrooms, offices, dorm rooms, and homes. The face of an oceanographer will no longer be limited to a professor at sea, but expanded to a student at home viewing and analyzing exactly the same data at exactly the same time.
In addition to EPE, the other OOI construction teams include:
Regional Scale Nodes (RSN): RSN will deploy sensors off the coast of Washington to study Hydrate Ridge, an area of subseafloor gas- hydrate deposits, and Axial Seamount, an active submarine volcano.
Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN): CGSN will deploy a global array of moorings and underwater gliders to provide sustained, but adaptable, access to complex coastal and global systems.
Cyberinfrastructure (CI): The CI will provide a common operating infrastructure connecting and coordinating the operations of the marine components with the OOI scientific and educational pursuits.
Program Management Office (PMO): The OOI program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and managed by the OOI PMO, located at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL).
The EPE team will provide the following to educators:
a web portal, enabling virtual collaboration and sharing of materials,
enhanced software for creating concept maps that can translate science concepts into education material,
a suite of educationally appropriate data visualization tools allowing students to explore data without Matlab,
and a step by step wizard to develop educational investigations with real-time data following best education practices.
Provides flexible and customizable visualization tools
Focused on time series and profiles from OOI and other sources
Goal is to balance capability and usefulness
Multiple entry points (teacher, student, developer)
Community library of investigations
Online investigation template
Investigation Builder Wizard (step by step design process)
EPE resource integration
Concept Maps
Investigation Builder
Resource Database
External
Data
OOI Data
Single Integrated Web-based Portal
Visualization
Educational Resource Database
Supports content storage for Tools
Collects user supplied content (i.e. images, videos, documents)
Index of user generated EPE resources including education-ready OOI visualizations
Ocean and meteorological data are searchable by source, location, time and variable.
Three primary tools including the Investigation Builder, Concept Map Builder and Visualization Tools are accessible through a single integrated Web-Based Portal and sharable through a resource database.
Integrated Web Portal
Common user interface
User profiles
User support via help documentation &
Webinars/training
Monthly Comparator tool showing ocean temperature for January
Concept Map Builder
Concept Map Builder (create & edit) and Viewer
Concept & linking phrase suggestions (ontologies)
Embedded content resources such as descriptions, data visualizations, photos & videos from OOI & outside resources
Ontologies are being built to enable users to search and discover the links/relationships between OOI sites, platforms, instruments, data products and science themes.
Become an EPE Early Adopter
We invite you to help us build the best tools by joining our beta site today, playing with the tools, and letting us know what you think.
Looking for More Information?
Locations of the OOI infrastructure currently being installed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Major sites include Station Papa, Regional Scale Nodes, Endurance Array, Pioneer Array, Irminger Sea, Southern Ocean and the Argentine Basin. Construction is expected to be completed in the spring of 2015.
In addition to the OOI booth here at Ocean Science 2014, EPE has four other posters in tonight’s session that present details on our tools including:
#1763 – Educational visualization tools by Sage Lichtenwalner
#1767 – Development of online visualization tools by Mike Mills
#1965 – Investigation Builder by Janice McDonnell
#1764 – Using the EPE software to build an ocean acidification investigation by Oscar Schofield
Acknowledgements
The OOI is funded by the National Science foundation and managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. EPE would like to thank NSF for its years of dedication to the COSEE program as well as the OOI project.
A concept map example highlighting the ontology built that allows users to search the relationships for the Regional Scale Node Profiler Mooring. The user can see where the mooring type is located and what it contains, as well as click for a pop up definition the profiler.