THREDDS Explorer plug-in, bringing meteoceanographic operational data into QGIS

Abstract

THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS) provides a web server interface to retrieve large amounts of data. This service is used by Earth observation agencies (i.e. NOAA) to provide meteoceanographic, environmental and satellite-derived data products.

The architecture of TDS allows to build applications and plugins that rely on these services. This is the case of THREDDS Explorer. THREDDS Explorer is a plugin developed for QGIS. Its main objective is to facilitate data access and visualization, through the remote access protocols WMS and WCS provided by an open TDS. THREDDS Explorer allows an unified and simple access to TDS servers, and retrieving their data without leaving the QGIS work environment. THREDDS Explorer also has the ability to create animations based on time parameters that maps contain.

In parallel with THREDDS Explorer, we have developed a second plugin to exploit its capabilities. This second plugin processes the results of TESEO (drifting model in marine environments) and generates multiple layers with different spills resulting from the TESEO executions. These layers are fully compatible with THREDDS Explorer to create animations and visualize how oil spills evolve over time.

This toolkit allows for the visualization of the time evolution of the particles of an oil spill and weather variables (i.e. temperature, wind, waves, rain) combined. This visual representation of data allows analyzing how weather conditions affect spills and draw conclusions about their offshore interaction