GLOS HarborView A mapping mashup that supports recreational boating on the Great Lakes David Hart GIS Specialist Aquatic Science Center University of Wisconsin-Madison GLOS Annual Meeting Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, April 6, 2009
Overview of the Presentation Vision Application Future Directions Panorama, McKinley Marina 11/7/06 I drove from Madison to Milwaukee on a beautiful day in early November 2006. When I got within 500 yards of Lake Michigan, I entered a fog bank so thick it was hard to figure out where I was.
The Current Problem There are over 4 million boats registered in the eight Great Lakes states (approx. one-third of U.S. total) There is a wide variety of experience levels in the Great Lakes boating community. Boaters use a variety of independent (and sometimes insufficient) sources of information to make decisions about when and where to go boating. This can lead to missed opportunities, inefficient trips, and impaired safety.
What is HarborView? HarborView is a web map viewer focused on Great Lakes harbor communities that seeks to support safe and pleasurable recreational boating. It integrates weather images and coastal observations with maps and info about recreational and cultural attractions.
User Needs - Mariner Interviews Interview #1 Milwaukee Yacht Club, 48 Trawler Yacht sails every year in northern Lake Huron active in the Coast Guard Auxiliary keen interest in real-time weather information for the GL What information do you need to help make a decision to go boating? weather (current conditions and forecasts) ports and facilities (destinations) safety and navigation (aids to navigation w/ current status)
User Needs - Mariner Interviews What are some of your current sources for this information? Great Lakes Open Lake Forecasts, NWS (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/forecast.htm) Nautical Charts (buy pre-loaded at West Marine) Coast Pilot, NOAA old school dissemination, but can be downloaded now (http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/coastpilot.htm) includes aerial photo of harbor Light List, U.S. Coast Guard (http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/lightlists/lightlists.htm) The key question -- Is the light still working today? for example: In Ludington, is the North lighthouse still operating as advertised?
User Needs - Mariner Interviews What are some of your current sources for this information? Great Lakes Cruising Guides, Lakeland Boating (http://www.lakelandboating.com/cruise_guide.cfm) example: Lake Michigan Ports o Call accommodations, sightseeing, emergency, transit, repairs Great Lakes Cruising Club (http://glcclub.com/) membership organization, requires login appoints port captains who prepare harbor reports western shore of Lake Michigan has one report) Michigan Harbor Guide, Michigan DNR way ahead of Wisconsin
User Needs - Mariner Interviews General Insights Port facilities info (are there marinas? power supply? where are the nearest services?) Plan trip on availability of dockage can be similar to hotel reservations Visibility and waves are a huge issue for boaters. Boaters are comfortable with zulu time. Wave steepness very important, GL waves have very short, rapid period. Oceans have swells
User Needs - Mariner Interviews Recommendations for HarborView Prototype Latest obs layer link to NOAA buoy report in dialog box, from buoy report get wave height and period fog, humidity, temperature vs. dew point, wind is critical, barometric pressure ok, water temp Need geo-regulations e.g.) vessels over 40 must go 4 mph in Milwaukee harbor and for 30 minutes before and after fireworks = no wake Need oblique view of harbors e.g.) Pictometry Webcams are becoming very important Regarding integration of information how old is this info? How do boaters get internet access in coastal waters? Help small communities get public wi-fi, should be in all downtowns
Balancing User Needs & Technology GLOS application developers discussed several web mapping technology options in April 2008 OpenLayers Flash Chameleon/MapServer The Google Maps API emerged as a good candidate provided a good base map incorporated distributed data sources (KML ) search capabilities It is important to note that web mapping technology is changing very rapidly and we often need to experiment to match the appropriate technology to user needs.
HarborView Data Catagories Base Maps nautical charts, orthophotos, topographic maps Satellite Imagery MODIS, NEXRAD reflectivity Model Output wind fields, water level surface, temperature, currents Observations water level stations, buoys, met stations, ships Recreation/Cultural Features boat ramps, lighthouses, parks, beaches, shipwrecks Other webcams, panorama photos, lightning strikes
HarborView Initial Screen opens with a basinwide map highlights ~5 harbors on each lake eventually expand to all GL harbors
Latest MODIS
Current Precipitation
Model Output - Winds
Model Output WS Temp
Model Output - Currents
Select a Harbor
Point Observations
Latest Observations
Webcams
GL WATER Institute Webcam
GL WATER Institute Webcam Webcam Animation
Coastal Attractions
Lighthouses
Terry Pepper Seeing the Light
User Generated Content
Wikipedia
Panoramio
Google Local Search
Tackle Shops
German Restaurants
Polish Sausage
Data Sources in the Works Marinas include oblique photos of the harbor entrance Oblique photos Panorama photos of public access sites County and city web mapping sites GeoRSS of cultural events in coastal communities Historic sites Local observatories
Future Directions Incremental development bug fixes and performance enhancements scale thresholds and selecting harbors animations Milwaukee prototype usability testing among recreational boaters GLOS awareness and needs survey mapping mashup workshop on each of the lakes Data custodians coastal attractions outside Wisconsin Mobile devices??
Questions? David Hart University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute dhart@aqua.wisc.edu http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/gis/ http://coastal.lic.wisc.edu/ http://glos.us/ Great Lakes Observing System Bill Werick, Chair Jennifer Read, Director Great Lakes Commission staff Roger Gauthier Christine Manninen Guan Wang Devra Polack (Spinster Design) Pete Giencke (now at Google) UW-Madison student Ben Coakley Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land. -Luna Leopold