EverVIEW: BRINGING ECOLOGICAL MODELING, NetCDF DATA MANIPULATION AND VISUALIZATION TO THE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGER'S DESKTOP

Natural resource managers in the Greater Everglades have expressed their need to view and manipulate ecological modeling data on their desktop computers. Managers not only want to view model output on their desktops, but also to run ecological models, adjust model parameters when assessing alternative restoration plans, and have a spatially explicit visualization environment for comparing these alternatives. Working through the USGS Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) program, the National Wetlands Research Center has created EverVIEW to help address the needs of resource managers.

EverVIEW is a desktop application developed in Java for multiple operating systems. The application was designed in a framework which facilitates deploying functionality as tools or plug-ins. EverVIEW exposes tools to the user through various toolboxes such as the Data Manipulation Toolbox and the Modeling Toolbox. Tools can be incorporated into EverVIEW, the umbrella application, or downloaded and run as stand-alone executables.

The Greater Everglades modeling community is progressively moving to NetCDF as the default data container for modeling inputs and outputs. EverVIEW is designed to view NetCDF data in a spatially-explicit environment but also allows the user to view other local or web mapping service (WMS) enabled spatial datasets. The “NetCDF Slice & Dice Tool” from the Data Manipulation Toolbox was the first tool released. This tool allows the end-user to create subsets of NetCDF files through user-defined filters. Users can filter data using desired date ranges, seasons, spatial envelopes or polygon geometry, and other ranges of data values.

A unique feature of EverVIEW is an ability to instantiate multiple mapping panels, each of which can be populated with different datasets allowing the end-user to spatially compare modeling inputs and outputs. Users are able to download models from the Modeling Toolbox and view inputs and outputs on map panels arranged on the screen simultaneously. For example, after downloading the spoonbill habitat model, users can choose to view salinity, water depth and nest location inputs in separate map panels, and the resulting habitat suitability output in another panel.

The Greater Everglades management community can finally perform side by side model comparisons on their desktops using that information to make better informed decisions. EverVIEW will continue to evolve to maintain its relevance in meeting the needs of natural resource managers.