The Remote Data Analysis and Visualization Center (RDAV) has enhanced the web interface to a system that allows researchers to interact with sophisticated data about locations and relationships of life species across geographical areas.

 

The vast diversity of living things on the earth poses a major challenge to biologists, ecologists, and national park personnel in terms of knowing or predicting where species are and how they interact with one another and the environment. To address the challenge, scientists have created ever-growing sets of data and developed what are known as species distribution models (SDMs).

 

In a pilot study project involving species distribution modeling in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the RDAV team built a data analytics system that leverages supercomputing to offer tools via a web interface with which researchers can compare, contrast, and explore trends and relationships in the large number of SDMs currently being generated.

 

Using the Nautilus supercomputer, which is managed by the National Institute for Computational Sciences, and scaling the software MaxEnt, commonly used to model SDMs, the RDAV team created models using the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) of the GSMNP. The ATBI is an extensive data set containing 8,000 species.

 

The enhancements the team has made to the system web interface consist of a streamlined design, a more robust set of tools for analysis of data on species occurrences, and a feature that will facilitate collaboration.

 

The addition of multiple tabs at the bottom of the web interface page has created a more refined presentation of the options, and the incorporation of ‘help’ pop-ups offers new users explanations of the various parts of the site.

 

The redesign has expanded multivariate analysis capabilities by including several visualizations of the parameter space. This will allow users to explore relationships between the various variables that influence the models. Seeking to make further enhancements, the development team has expressed a desire to receive researcher feedback concerning the usefulness of these analytics.

 

Users can now also create accounts that will allow them to save their workspace and share analyses with others.

 

The web interface will enable student users as well as researchers and biodiversity managers to more efficiently conduct their own studies and experiments based on sophisticated modeling using HPC resources.

 

RDAV performed this project in collaboration with the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). Both RDAV and NIMBios are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

 

Visit the newly enhanced web interface discussed in this announcement.