Web-based Servers Tutorials

Web-based servers such as LAS and DChart allow users easy access to remote data using simple web interfaces. They allow users to explore datasets with out the hassle of writing programs to deal with the native format of the data.

Live Access Server (LAS)

  • Visualize data with on-the-fly graphics
    • xy, xt, yt, timeseries (t), xz, yz, zt, profile (z)
    • plot in Google Earth
  • Request custom subsets of variables in a choice of file formats
    • netCDF
    • ASCII
    • ArcView gridded
    • xyzt volume downloads are possible but are constrained by memory limits, network timeouts, storage availability.
  • Access background reference material about the data (metadata)
    • click on the for metadata
    • then click on (more…) for data documentation.
  • Compare (difference) variables from distributed locations
  • Easily create animations

Note: The navigator needs to be set for "pop-ups" activation to allow output plots.

DChart: A Web interface for gridded and in-situ data

  • Visualize data with on-the-fly graphics
    • profile, property-property, time series, xy, xt, yt, xz, yz
    • An in-situ station layer that allows you to select data stations
  • Export graphics
    • to Google Earth
    • to Google Maps
  • Download custom subsets of station/profile data
    • comma separated
    • tab separated
    • Java Ocean Atlas
  • Download custom subsets of gridded data
    • netCDF format

Note: DChart is able to download larger netCDF files than LAS.

ERDDAP Data Server (ERDDAP)

ERDDAP is a data server that gives you a simple, consistent way to download subsets of gridded and tabular scientific datasets in common file formats and make graphs and maps. This particular ERDDAP installation has oceanographic data (for example, data from satellites and buoys).