Experience OBSEA: a web-based 3D virtual environment of a seafloor observatory

Oceanographic data such as wave conditions (height, period, direction), wind, and sea currents are often difficult to interpret. What is the sea state given a certain wave height, wave directional spreading, and wind speed (e.g., 2 m, 29º, 18 m/s)? An expert user might be able to imagine the sea conditions with such information, but this will be almost impossible for a non-expert user. The common approach for visualizing oceanographic data and its variability is usually through tables and 2D graphs, for example plots, bar diagrams, and latitude-longitude maps. These visualizations are often limited to displaying raw data values, which still require user interpretation. With the purpose of providing a more intuitive view of the marine environment and sea conditions to a widespread audience, this work presents an experimental web application. The open-source application represents in a realistic and intuitive way the observations from a meteo-oceanographic and seafloor observatory located in the Western Mediterranean; the OBSEA observatory. The user can visualize the marine observatory facilities within a 3D virtual environment that changes and evolves according to the data acquired. This work aims at a digital twin of the seafloor observatory using near-real-time and historical data.