DA/spl I.bar/MAP: Data Analysis and Model Assessment Portal

An important missing component in today's METOC (meteorology and oceanography) community is not the data itself, but a transparent layer or processes between data collection and data application; that is, the processes to easily register (create metadata), search, access and visualize or apply the data. A data registration mechanism is needed to allow a user to register their data sets to a metadata repository. Registration should allow the user to readily create a metadata record defining the data with reference to temporal and spatial domain, parameters, format, availability, etc. A metadata repository will facilitate the availability of data globally via some search mechanism. A data search/access mechanism is needed to find the data required by a user for the purpose of research and application. Finally, data visualization should also be automated, interactive and efficient. Our effort to fill this void with a quality assessment tool is called the Data Analysis and Model Assessment Portal (DA/spl I.bar/MAP).