Busstop—an integrated system for handling, analysis and visualization of ocean data

Abstract

“Busstop”, a prototype of an integrated system for handling, analysis and visualization of ocean data, is presented. While strictly speaking a general purpose system, Busstop was developed with the main goal of facilitating the synergistic use of satellite based radar altimetry and ancillary data (e.g. satellite based radiometry data, such as sea surface temperature and ocean colour observations). Busstop integrates functionality from Geographical Information Systems (GIS), image processing systems and data base management systems, and provides a smooth interface to user written programs. The traditional spatial GIS functionality has been extended with transparent support for temporal data as well, enabling the GIS functionality to work even as a tool for analysis of dynamic phenomena.