The CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT): Visualization of Environmental Satellite Remote Sensing Data

LT Mike Hopkins, NOAA
NESDIS/Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution

The CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT) is a new visualization tool to look at satellite data, developed in part through the NOAA/NESDIS CoastWatch program, which has been providing satellite ocean remote sensing data to a wide group of users since it's inception in 1987. The CoastWatch program had been seeking an updated visualization tool, one that met the needs of users ranging from research scientists to coastal resource managers to recreational boaters, using current technology. CDAT ‘s design builds upon earlier CoastWatch utilities (IDIDAS, CCOAST, CWIPS), incorporating the best attributes from these in a more modern GUI- based environment more familiar to today's users.

CDAT allows users to interactively display and manipulate two-dimensional gridded satellite data, including CoastWatch sea surface temperature data derived from the AVHRR sensor onboard the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. For example, once SST data has been loaded into CDAT, users have the ability to scale temperatures to aid in feature identification, read SST values at specific latitude/longitudes, pan and zoom in the image, add overlays (such as coastlines) and annotate the images. Upon completion of user manipulations, the image can be out outputted to a variety of formats, ranging from images (PDF, JPEG) to data (GeoTIFF, Binary Raster) for use in a Geographical Information System (GIS). Other features include:

* Input formats include CoastWatch, HDF, and binary raster
* Adjustable data enhancement with multiple color palettes
* Bitmapped and vector generated overlays
* Point, line, and box surveys
* File metadata and Earth projection information
* Text and simple shape annotation
* Export formats include PDF, JPG and GeoTIFF

The original requirements were for a portable, graphical user interface that would allow users to view satellite data, perform simple analyses and annotations, and export the data in a printable or web compatible form. In order to fulfill these requirements, CDAT was written in ANSI-C using an open source, portable GUI toolkit, GTK+. Although the CDAT development platform is Linux, executables may be compiled for any system supported by GTK+, including many versions of Unix and Microsoft Windows.

The primary author of CDAT is Peter Hollemans, of Systems Engineering and Security, Inc. CDAT has been developed under the guidance of the NESDIS Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (OSDPD) and the CoastWatch program.

BIO - Lt. Mike Hopkins LT Mike Hopkins is the Operations Officer for NOAA's CoastWatch Program in Camp Springs, MD. His primary duties involve the operational use of ocean color remote sensing data from satellites, although he also is also involved in various aspects of CoastWatch program management and NOAA strategic planning. He previously worked with the CoastWatch program while at the National Hurricane Center in Miami FL from 1993-1997. LT Hopkins' sea tours have been on the NOAA ships MALCOLM BALDRIDGE (1992-93) and MILLER FREEMAN (1997-2000). LT Hopkins graduated with a degree in Meteorology from Penn State in 1991. BIO - Peter Hollemans Peter Hollemans received the Bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, in 1996. He has been working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since 1997. Previous research has included climate forecast modeling, automated satellite data processing systems, scientific data formats, methods of image segmentation, and data visualization tools. He is presently pursuing the Master's degree in computer science at the University of Victoria.

Science Center Exhibit/Demo Tuesday - 3:10 - 3:20 P.M. Other demo times will be posted at the exhibit.