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VAT: A Scientific Toolbox for Interactive Geodata Exploration

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Abstract

Data-driven research requires interactive systems supporting fast and intuitive data exploration. An important component is the user interface that facilitates this process. In biodiversity research, data is commonly of spatio-temporal nature. This poses unique opportunities for visual analytics approaches. In this paper we present the core concepts of the web-based front end of our vat (Visualization, Analysis and Transformation) system, a distributed geo-processing application. We present the results of two user studies and highlight unique features, among others for the management of time and the generalization of data.

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Notes

  1. https://www.gfbio.org

  2. http://www.idessa.org

  3. http://www.qgis.com

  4. https://www.carto.com

  5. https://www.giscloud.com

  6. https://developers.google.com/maps/

  7. Open Geospatial Consortium, http://www.opengeospatial.org

  8. http://www.worldclim.org

  9. Global Biodiversity Information Facility: http://www.gbif.org

  10. https://github.com/bgweber/RServer

  11. https://vat.gfbio.org

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant no. SE 553/7-2 and by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under grant no. 01LL1301.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 6, Marburg, 35032, Germany

    Christian Beilschmidt, Johannes Drönner, Michael Mattig, Christian Authmann & Bernhard Seeger

  2. Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marco Schmidt, Aidin Niamir & Thomas Hickler

  3. Department of Physical Geography, Goethe University, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Hickler

Authors
  1. Christian Beilschmidt
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  2. Johannes Drönner
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  3. Michael Mattig
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  4. Marco Schmidt
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  5. Christian Authmann
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  6. Aidin Niamir
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  7. Thomas Hickler
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  8. Bernhard Seeger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Beilschmidt.

Additional information

This is an extended version of the paper „Interactive Data Exploration for Geoscience“ [5] selected for the special DASP issue Best Workshop Papers of BTW 2017.

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Beilschmidt, C., Drönner, J., Mattig, M. et al. VAT: A Scientific Toolbox for Interactive Geodata Exploration. Datenbank Spektrum 17, 233–243 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13222-017-0266-5

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