1. OBIS Portal Architecture Concepts plus potential for utilization as a basis for Regional OBIS Nodes Tony Rees, CSIRO Marine Research, Hobart (and OBIS Technical Subcommittee) for: OBIS Nodes meeting, Halifax, September 2004

2. OBIS Architecture – Version 1 (2002) data provider 1 data provider 2 data provider 3 (etc.) www user 2 www user 3 (etc.) Mapping tool 3 Mapping tool 2 all queries OBIS Portal C-squares mapper = custom database wrapper www user 1

3. Typical search sequence – OBIS version 1

4. Typical search result – OBIS version 1

5. OBIS Architecture – Version 1 (2002) data provider 1 data provider 2 data provider 3 (etc.) www user 2 www user 3 (etc.) Mapping tool 3 Mapping tool 2 all queries OBIS Portal C-squares mapper = custom database wrapper www user 1 many searches return no data !!! (user does not know what is a viable query)

6. What is in the Index... OBIS Index name index scientific “names with data” from data providers “names without data” from Catalogue of Life common names from Cat. of Life “near match” versions of scientific names allocation of all taxa to OBIS taxonomic categories synonyms transferred to current names metadata on each species (how many records, etc.) filters on marine vs. non-marine species, etc. spatial index list of geographic units (squares) in which each species occurs – see next slide New concept (1) developed in 2003/4 – the “OBIS Index”

7. Spatial indexing units used for OBIS: 0.5 x 0.5º squares (approx. 50 km resolution) – stored in “c-squares” notation (www.marine.csiro.au/csquares) OBIS Index 7500 7500:4 7500:499 7500:499:4

8. Part of the spatial index (actually from another database, which employs finer resolution squares): OBIS Index

9. New search options – current OBIS version “Stage 1” searches – return lists of names, with metadata (nos. of records, etc.), taxonomic groups, common names, and “quick maps”

10. Other search options – scientific name + category search

11. Other search options – browse by taxonomic category

12. Other search options – clickable maps by taxonomic category

13. Example “Stage 1” search result – e.g. genus = “Lutjanus”

14. For each species... (NB, all this information is from the Index) – example row: from Catalogue of Life information allocation to OBIS taxonomic category metadata (from parsing the Cache content) from the Spatial Index – species distribution by 0.5 x 0.5 degree squares from Cat. of Life info pre-formatted link to “Stage 2 search”

15. What is in the Cache... One record per OBIS data point, with copy of key information fields for that point Cache content is built by crawling the data providers (and refreshing at intervals) Purpose is to provide insulation from providers being off line at any time, and to improve data retrieval speed Also as by-product, makes the task of keeping the Index up-to-date relatively simple (crawling of the provider content is already done). New concept (2) developed in 2003/4 – the “OBIS Cache” OBIS Cache

16. Pre-formatted link to “Stage 2” search (get OBIS data)...

17. Typical search result – “Stage 2” search (2004)

18. OBIS Architecture – version 2 www user 1 www user 2 www user 3 (etc.) Mapping tool 3 Mapping tool 2 “Quick maps” OBIS Portal (search application) OBIS Cache OBIS Index “Stage 1” (get info) queries C-squares mapper “Stage 2” (get data) queries data provider 1 data provider 2 data provider 3 = DiGIR translation software global names list (partially complete) Cat. of Life metadata refresh (etc.) provider crawling Index building

19. Implications... Index is a self-contained guide to what data are available in the OBIS system (metadata layer) – makes the Portal “intelligent” (content aware) Can use the Index as a standalone tool to answer: –For what species does OBIS have data (and how much), at any particular time –What is the distribution of species “X” (by 0.5 x 0.5 degree squares) – displayed as “Quick Map” using the c-squares mapper –Which species occur in region “Y” (0.5 degree square or larger – default query from main map entry point is currently set to 10 x 10 degrees) –Browse OBIS content, e.g. by category, genus, alphabetical, plus show summary statistics (e.g. numbers of records by category) –Auto-complete scientific names, correct misspellings, etc. (above are “Stage 1” [Index] searches) –Provide 2 entry points to “Get OBIS Data” (stage 2 search): Pre-formatted hyperlink to retrieve all data for a species (1-40,000 records), no additional typing required Click on any “Quick Map” to retrieve spatially filtered subset for a species.

20. Options for OBIS Nodes (under this model)...

21. Possible OBIS node – minimalist configuration www user 1 www user 2 www user 3 (etc.) (at remote location) Mapping tool 3 Mapping tool 2 “Quick maps” “Stage 2” (get data) queries OBIS Portal (search application) OBIS Cache OBIS Index “Stage 1” (get info) queries C-squares mapper

22. Possible OBIS node – expanded configuration www user 1 www user 2 www user 3 (etc.) Mapping tool 3 Mapping tool 2 “Quick maps” “Stage 2” (get data) queries OBIS Portal (search application) OBIS Cache OBIS Index “Stage 1” (get info) queries C-squares mapper

23. The big picture...

24. Common OBIS Data Set OBIS search application – local entry point www user Regional Node (Standard Configuration) www user Independent data provider 1 (etc.) provider crawling Index building OBIS search application (master) OBIS Cache (master) OBIS Index (master) Independent data provider 2 Independent data provider 3 Catalogue of Life “Quick maps” C-squares mapper Mapping tool 2 Common OBIS / 3 rd party tools (web accessible) “OBIS Central” – Rutgers OBIS search application (copy) OBIS Cache (copy) OBIS Index (copy) www user Regional Node + full mirror function RON sourced data Mapping tool 3 OBIS search application – local entry point www user Regional Node (Standard Configuration) OBIS search application – local entry point www user Regional Node (Standard Configuration)