Establishing best practices to improve usefulness and usability of web interfaces providing atmospheric data (original) (raw)

Developing climate information portals with users: Promises and pitfalls

Climate Services, 2017

reports and papers about climate services both the term ''portal" and ''platform" are used. In this paper, we use ''portal" mainly for digital information systems and interpret ''platform" as an exchange forum that includes experts and users in addition to digital information. We recognize that the terms are oftensometimes confusingly-used interchangeably, in a few cases adding ''web-based" or ''digital" to the term ''platform" to constrain the term to what we call ''portal" in this paper.

Usability Evaluation Methods for a Scientific Internet Information Portal

Journal of Universal Computer Science, 2012

Sharing information is important for the scientific community. Over the years the internet became the main information source due to its actuality, interactivity and flexibility. While the amount of available data grows, especially non-profit scientific internet pages often lack the user friendliness known from commercial offers, sometimes they also fail to focus on the users' needs. To analyze and improve the attractiveness of internet pages it became common to apply methods of usability engineering. But as it requires a certain amount of work it is usually done in 'big scale' for commercial offers. In this paper we would like to demonstrate the evaluation of a non-commercial scientific information internet portal using methods of usability engineering. For this an online User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) in combination with web traffic analysis was used. We also would like to outline the experience made during the evaluation process, as well as some of the results.

Geo-WC: Custom Web Components for Earth Science Organizations and Agencies

EarthArXiv (California Digital Library), 2024

The development of web technologies and their integration into various fields has allowed a new era in data-driven decision-making and public information accessibility, especially through their adoption of monitoring and quantification environmental data resources provided by governmental institutions. While the use of web technologies has given way to the creation of democratized applications, challenges persist in dealing with non-standardized data formats, especially considering the complexities of environmental data. To overcome these challenges and obtain up-to-date information from different institutions, we present Geo-WC: a web component framework specifically designed for earth and environmental sciences, serving as a bridge across various scientific domains. The Geo-WC utilizes a developer-friendly approach through simple HTML declarative syntax to unify information in a consolidated processing interface, allowing accessibility to users with different skill sets. The framework integrates widely used web technologies, facilitating client-side data analysis, visualization, and accessibility within web browsers.

Web Weather 2.0: Improving Weather Information with User-Generated Observations

AIS transactions on human-computer interaction, 2013

Introducing web weather 2.0, this paper suggests that active participation by civil society may arise through sharing of environmental data through observations of weather and other measurable variables in the environment performed by individuals. Collecting data from individuals is here suggested for improving weather data currently used by weather research centers and practitioners. Extending these current sets of weather data by using web 2.0 may address some issues stated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) regarding spatial and temporal resolutions of meteorological data including knowledge on different processes between the air and other environmental systems. To test the concept of web weather 2.0, the usability of weather data collected from individuals and the expected quantities of such data need to be determined. In addition, collection methods should be developed. Aiming at the design of an artifact that can meet these needs, this paper presents some important steps of the design process of a "share weather" system, including several demonstrations and experiments performed on different user groups, i.e. school children performing weather observations as a part of their daily tasks and education, and adults interested in weather due to their daily dependence on traffic conditions. This paper provides new knowledge about usergenerated observations of weather, including quality and motivation to contribute, and guidance on how future systems for collection of environmental data from individuals may be created. After testing the feasibility of the designed "share weather" artifact, we conclude that the potential role of individuals in producing valuable information beneficial to society should be considered within several branches of environmental sciences as well as policy-making.

Usability Analysis of Aviation Weather Products for General Aviation

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2019

Previous research suggests that a lack of weather knowledge and poor usability of weather displays may be contributing to aviation weather-related accidents. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perceived usability and performance of pilots while using different parts of the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) website. On average, pilots rated Radar the highest, followed by Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs), and then Satellite on the System Usability Scale. Performance measures and the post-study interview revealed further insight into what aspects of the AWC are giving pilots difficulties.

Designing science web sites

Earth Science Informatics, 2010

From a scientist's viewpoint a web site is one tool used to conduct research. From an artist's viewpoint web sites are a form of visual composition. From a developer's point of view a web site is a type of application. While web sites are a relatively new medium with a particular set of constraints, they do adhere to the same basic design principles that apply to other art forms. These design principles are the basic assumptions that affect the arrangement of elements within a composition. A successful design uses the principles and elements to achieve a visual goal in the composition. A web site designed for scientists has unique properties which are not shared by many other types of web sites. These properties influence the overall visual design of the web sites. Recently at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA undertook a re-design of a number of its websites. In the effort, the use of visual design principles combined with the properties of a science web site were put to the test. In all, six different web sites were designed each with a difference science focus. We describe the process used to design the web sites which involve forming teams of designers, scientists and developers. We present example pages from each design and conclude with a discussion of what was learned during the process.

The relevance and use of atmospheric data access for the geospatial user community (ADAGUC)

The atmospheric and geospatial communities are still separate worlds with their own tools and data formats. It is extremely difficult to easily share data among scientists representing these communities without performing some cumbersome conversions. ADAGUC aims to reduce the need for scientists to invent their own converter tools. Selected space borne atmospheric datasets will be made accessible to a GIS system in order to be submitted to data comparison, resampling, selection, manipulation and visualization. The user community will be intensively involved in the project to obtain a high fitness for use. The first ADAGUC workshop (Oct 2006) was attended by a large group of users from both the atmospheric and GIS community and resulted in a better understanding of user needs that are currently translated into specifications for the user requirements document of ADAGUC. The deliverables of this project are: Open Source conversion tools, selected atmospheric datasets in a GIS-friendly...

Architecture of a Data Portal for Publishing and Delivering Open Data for Atmospheric Measurement

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Atmospheric data are collected by researchers every day. Campaigns such as GOAmazon 2014/2015 and the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory collect essential data on aerosols, gases, cloud properties, and meteorological parameters in the Brazilian Amazon basin. These data products provide insights and essential information for analyzing and predicting natural processes. However, in Brazil, it is estimated that more than 80% of the scientific data collected are not published due to the lack of web portals that collect and store these data. This makes it difficult, or even impossible, to access and integrate the data, which can result in the loss of significant amounts of information and significantly affect the understanding of the overall data. To address this problem, we propose a data portal architecture and open data deployment that enable Big Data processing, human interaction, and download-oriented approaches with tools that help users catalog, publish and visualize atmospheric data. T...

Usability Trumps Features: User needs and the redesign of a web-based GIS to support community environmental monitoring

"Web-distributed tools that complement community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) initiatives can improve processing of and access to information, supporting environmental education and better informing decision-making. To this end a web-based geographic information system known as “Juturna” was developed to support CBEM in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada. This web-GIS facilitates input, analysis, and reporting of community data. However, use of the system steadily declined in activity since this initiative started in 2004. Lay users reported that the system was complicated and confusing, and so discouraged use. Also, it employed expensive proprietary software, which was a disincentive for the local Conservation Authority and collaborating NGO to adopt the system. To revitalize use of the website and provide support to the CBEM program, we undertook to redesign the web-GIS using open source software. To understand why the original web-GIS was not well used and to inform redesign of the system, we implemented a user-centered design methodology. Methods included user testing, rapid prototyping and stakeholder interviews. The process was invaluable in prioritizing user tasks, defining characteristics of users of the website, and identifying those components of the web-GIS most confounding to them. Findings were used to inform re-development of the web-GIS through an iterative process that led to the creation of two prototypes that were evaluated by the user audience and so informed the design of a new (more accessible) website."