Abstract

The Seamount Catalog (SC) under http://earthref.org is a hub for a variety of data. It has been growing steadily since its launch, and now has records for thousands of seamounts, each with carefully prepared maps, metadata, and large volumes of raw and processed multibeam data. Historically these records have been accessible only through traditional name and location queries. In these queries result sets are normally presented as a list and geospatial information is simply reported as latitude and longitude data pairs in these lists. This presents considerable limitations for integrating additional rich media content, such as videos, images, data files, cruise tracks, and interoperable database results, without overwhelming the user. The SC database clearly lends itself to a more intuitive user interface and thus has been an invaluable test bed for the design and implementation of FlashMap. This is a versatile KML-driven geospatial browser written for reliability and speed in Adobe Flash that either can be used in the users browsers or as a stand alone program on their computer desktops. FlashMap allows layers of content to be loaded and displayed over a streaming high-resolution map which can be zoomed on 14 levels and panned similarly to Google Maps and Earth. Many organizations, from National Geographic to the USGS, have begun using Google Earth software to display geospatial content. However, Google Earth, as a desktop application, does not integrate cleanly with existing websites requiring the user to navigate away from the browser and focus on a separate application. FlashMap remedies this problem with a web-based application that allows for seamless integration of the real-time display power of Google Earth and the flexibility of the web. Google Earth is based on KML (Keyhole Markup Language), which is an XML-based file format designed for geospatial display data. Our Flash-based application is fully compatible with KML 2.1, the most recent iteration of KML, allowing users with existing Google Earth KML files to effortlessly display their geospatial content embedded in a web page. As a test case for FlashMap, the SC, in conjunction with data merged from other databases, showcases the flexibility of this single web-based application. With a KML 2.1 compatible web-service providing the content, any database can display results in FlashMap. The user can then hide or show multiple layers of data types, potentially from several data sources, and rapidly digest and integrate a vast quantity of information to narrow the search results. This flexibility will give experienced users the ability to drill down to exactly the record they are looking for and will allow users familiar with Google Earth the ability to load and view geospatial data content from any computer with an internet connection.