The HOLOS Ecoinformatics Engine is live!

Holos Logo Vertical

Please visit the interactive, user-friendly portal here:  https://holos.berkeley.edu/

The "Ecoengine" is an informatics tool that has:

Event Data: Organize, unify, and serve a wealth of "event" data from UC Berkeley’s labs, natural history museums, and field stations.
Baselayer Data: Organize, unify, and serve an array of baselayers relevant to ecological analysis including climate, land cover/use, vegetation indices, hydrology, fire, and other freely available datasets.
Interface: Provides a platform for visualization, analysis, and sharing of the disparate and complex data that are critical to understanding global change biology.
 

For API and related documentation, please visit:  http://ecoengine.berkeley.edu/ 

The Ecoengine allows for unprecedented integration of data and expertise necessary to address the challenge of identifying the interactions and feedbacks between different species and their environment. Key features of the Ecoengine include easy and rapid access to vast amounts of disparate data, the ability to perform rapid exploratory analyses and tests for correlations, and the ability to visualize and communicate results to a broad community of users. It promotes the type of multi-disciplinary building that will lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the biotic input and response to global change. The Ecoengine serves to unite previously disconnected perspectives from paleo-ecologists, population biologists, and ecologists and make possible the testing of predictive models of global change, a critical advance in making the science more rigorous.


Holos data structure figure

Diagram of data structure of Holos. The Ecoengine (center) is accessible through the Ecoengine API (top, center). The entry points include two mapping and visualization tools; the Explore Tool (top left), which has search and filtering functions, and the Compare Tool (top right) which allows you to import results from Explore and make comparative maps for sharing. The API is also accessible through Developer Tools and through the ROpenSci package.

As seen in the figure above, the Ecoengine is built around an open API (Application Programming Interface) that allows users to access the data resources in a variety of ways. These entry points include:

  • Library Interface: A modern search and visualization interface that will enable responsive exploration and discovery of the Ecoengine’s vast datasets.
  • Internally Developed Apps: Web applications built by the Ecoengine team to support visualization and analysis. The two main applications are Explore and Compare.
  • Externally Developed Apps: Resources for 3rd party developers to build applications based on the Ecoengine resources in order to address specific research needs. Developer interested in working with our API can find out more information via the Developers Guide.
  • Expert Analysis Tools: Resources for the research community to interact with the Ecoengine’s data directly using common analysis tools such as the R Project for Statistical Computing via rOpenSci.

The Ecoengine is an open collaboration spanning several of UC Berkeley’s research departments and leaders.  We encourage interested scientists to follow our progress and add your own data to our growing resources.

 

This project is supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation.