Overview
Interactive Oceans is a comprehensive geospatial platform designed to enable researchers to quickly analyze existing oceanographic datasets and geospatial entities. Built as part of the Cabled Array Value Added Team (CAVA) at the University of Washington, this platform revolutionizes how scientists interact with high-sampling-rate, real-time oceanographic data.
Features
- Geospatial Visualization: Interactive mapping interface for exploring oceanographic data across geographic locations
- Real-time Data Access: Process and deliver high-sampling-rate, real-time oceanographic data streams
- Analysis-Ready Data: Pre-processed data in cloud-optimized formats (Zarr) for immediate analysis
- Distributed Processing: Container-based microservices architecture for scalable data processing
Technical Architecture
The platform is built on a modern, distributed microservices system:
- Backend: FastAPI for RESTful APIs, PostgreSQL with PostGIS for geospatial queries
- Frontend: React with Leaflet for interactive mapping
- Data Pipeline: Prefect for orchestrating data preprocessing workflows
- Storage: Cloud-optimized Zarr format for efficient data access
- Infrastructure: Docker containers orchestrated for distributed processing
Key Design Principles
- Microservices Architecture: Modular, scalable services that can be independently deployed and maintained
- Cloud-Native: Infrastructure as code using Terraform for reproducible deployments
- Analysis-Ready Data: Transform raw data into cloud-optimized formats that scientists can use immediately
Development Leadership
As Software Development Engineer, I:
- Designed and implemented the entire distributed microservices system
- Built the geospatial platform and data visualization web application
- Created data pipelines for preprocessing oceanographic data
- Architected cloud infrastructure using Terraform
- Led and mentored junior engineers on the team
- Collaborated with NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI)
Impact
The platform received positive feedback from both scientific and public users, resulting in additional two-year funding during COVID-19 university cutbacks. It has become an essential tool for oceanographic research, enabling faster data discovery and analysis for the research community.
Community Engagement
Presented the platform at multiple conferences:
- OOI AGU Virtual Booth (2021): "Creative Ways to Use OOI Data"
- ESIP January Meeting (2022): "Unlocking ARCO: Analysis-Ready Cloud-Optimized Data transformation in practice"
- Northeast Pacific OOI Workshop (2022): "A New Reign of Ocean Discovery: Cloud-Based Data Access and Exploration"