ARCUS 13th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum 2001

The SCICEX Database Project (SDP) - Developing An Interactive Arctic Environmental GIS

Paul A Bienhoff¹, Jeffrey H. Smart², Wayne Loschen^3
1Undersea Systems Group, Strategic Submarine Dept, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Mailstop 24W445, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD, 20723-6099, Phone 240/228-4323, Fax 240/228-6864, paul.bienhoff@jhuapl.edu
²Submarine Technology Dept., JHUAPL
³Submarine Technology Dept., JHUAPL

The data collected during the SCICEX cruises from 1993-1999 is not readily accessible to other scientists. The SCICEX Database Project will correct this limitation, allowing future Arctic investigators to use the baseline data from the SCICEX investigations to focus and improve their investigations. The SDP will be an integrated database for viewing and analysis of environmental data collected during the SCICEX program. Though a good portion of the SCICEX data is available in digital form, much of it is not yet archived in the NSF-sponsored central data warehouse (ARCSS-DCC).

The Submarine Operational and Research Environmental Database (SOARED)

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) developed a database and display system to address a Navy requirement to make data collected by a submarine accessible to the crew of that submarine. In the course of the design of the Navy system (the FAST TACTical Integration Console, FAST TACTIC), a demonstration website was assembled. This demonstration website (http://wood.jhuapl.edu/soared/) is called the Submarine Operational and Research Environmental Database (SOARED) and uses data collected on SCICEX cruises plus data from other publicly accessible databases. The idea was to use data similar, if not identical, to the data collected by the SCICEX submarines, and show how that data could be retrieved and displayed using a simple graphical user interface (GUI). In addition, SOARED has some basic analytical features that allow data to be compared and evaluated statistically. Data are retrieved using queries generated with either "point and click" or "drag and drop" actions using a computer mouse.

The SCICEX Database Project (SDP)

SDP is intended to be a node linked to ARCSS-DCC, and archiving all SCICEX data collected to date as well as data collected on future submarine Arctic cruises. Subsequent to the development of the SOARED demonstration website, several of the scientists who have been involved in SCICEX suggested the fixed database could be useful for other scientists who could compare SCICEX data to data collected for their own work. This project addresses that suggestion. The presentation for the Arctic Forum will describe the project and include a demonstration of the existing relational database, displays and basic retrieval and analysis tools. A desired outcome of the presentation will be support for the concept, along with suggestions for other features that will enhance the scientific value of the SCICEX information.

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