Continued Support Services to Maintain and Enhance Interoperable Data Portal for the GCOOS-RA

HRI is continuing to provide system maintenance, development and support services to design, build, test, and document the data access, data discovery, and general database components required of an interoperable Data Portal for the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA). Mr. Felimon Gayanilo, a Systems Architect/Enterprise IT Technologist at HRI, developed the current version of the Data Portal that was originally deployed in 2009.

The Data Portal and supplemental data repositories to support GCOOS-RA goals and objectives were developed to facilitate the sharing of data, model outputs, and related products for the benefit of all stakeholders. The Data Portal supports policy-making, natural resource management, scientific research, and the increasing need for data to resolve issues related to global climate change and public health.

The deployed and operational version of the Data Portal is an automated computerized network-accessible data collection and delivery system. These data sources are maintained under a variety of data standards and archival schemas, and the Data Portal serves as the interface to these data, model output, and products via automated standards-based machine-to-machine (M2M) service interfaces, and through web-based human-accessible graphical user interfaces (i.e., HTML standards). The same set of services provide features that facilitate interoperability with other regional data systems, as well as with the federal backbone comprised of systems typified by, but not limited to, that of the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).