Lexcube: An Interactive Earth Science Data Cube Visualization

Abstract

A variety of Earth system data streams are being captured and derived from remote sensing observations and modelling approaches. Since the spatial and temporal resolutions of these datasets continuously rise, global and local insights become more difficult to obtain and only specialists are able to effectively access and explore the data.Here we present the Leipzig Explorer of Earth Data Cubes (lexcube.org), the first fully interactive viewer for large Earth system data cubes, enabling the exploration and visualization of terabytes of data through space and time. Lexcube runs in the web browser and on many modern devices, including phones and tablets, works with a weak network connection and requires no coding skills. It can also be used to support field research by displaying the current geolocation of the user device in the visualization, allowing to compare past Earth system data to the current real-world situation in the field. Currently, lexcube.org allows to explore the Earth System Data Cube with 73 parameters from various domains, the ECMWF CAMS global reanalysis of atmospheric composition EAC4 and a data set of 97 different spectral indices from the national park Hainich in Germany. As of January 2023, lexcube.org has seen over 2,500 users who have generated over 145,000 API requests since its release in May 2022. Utilizing the open-source library xarray, Lexcube is capable of browsing any supported gridded data set in space and time, integrating into the existing data cube open-source ecosystem. Lexcube itself will be released in 2023 as an accessible, easy-to-use open-source package.