Data Explorer

Release 3 is in beta

Release 3 is in BETA. The Data Explorer is a new Release 3 feature, and we are still refining it. Not all organization metadata has been migrated yet, so some organizations, sites, stations, and datastreams may be missing or incomplete here compared with the classic interface. The classic interface described in Navigation and Find, Graph, and Download Data still works. We would love your feedback. See Feedback.

Release 2 is organized around one organization at a time. The new Data Explorer starts from the map instead. You can search every organization you are allowed to see at once, narrow by measurement, then pick datastreams to chart.

Quick Start

This is the short version of how to find datastreams and chart them.

1. Open Explore.
2. Narrow the search with Organizations, Groups, and Measurements.
3. Pan and zoom the map until sites appear (see Datastreams appear when you zoom in).
4. Scroll to the Datastreams table.
5. Choose Add to Cart, then pick fields.
6. Hit Chart.

Open the Explorer

From the Start Page, choose the Cross-organization Data Explorer (New) card, or choose Explore in the top bar.

You can use the Explorer without logging in and see public organizations. If you log in, you also get:

• A My Orgs toggle to list only the organizations you belong to.
• Exact site locations for your own organizations. See A Note on Locations.
• Datastreams that are visible to members only.
• The Feedback button.

The Download and Status links in the top bar are not active in this version.

Page Areas

Top bar. Links to Explore, Chart, and Start Page. When you are logged in, there is also a Feedback button.

Map (right). Yellow markers show where sites are. Numbered circles are clusters of several sites. The map has:

• Zoom and compass controls.
• A satellite button that switches between the street map and satellite imagery.
• Two counters, Sites in view and Datastreams, that show what the current filters match inside the map.

Panel (left). Everything that filters the map, from top to bottom:

Section	What it does
Status bar	A prompt or the View Datastreams button. On the right: the cart count, Clear cart, Clear selections, and an options menu.
Organizations	Check the organizations to include. All Orgs or My Orgs when logged in. Has a text filter.
Groups	Check groups to include. Has a text filter.
Timeframe	Optional date range. Off by default.
Measurements	Check the kinds of observation to include, such as Air Temperature. Counts show how many datastreams match each one.
Sites	Appears once sites are shown. Check sites to focus on.
Datastreams	Appears once sites are shown. Lists the matching datastreams with a text filter and the Add to Cart and Chart buttons.

The small arrow buttons below each section collapse or expand it. The arrow on the border between the panel and the map makes the panel wider.

How to Use It

1. Pick organizations and groups

   Check the organizations you care about. Leaving a list unchecked means all of them, the same as in the classic interface. Organizations and groups narrow each other. See Reading the Filters.

   Use My Orgs to show only organizations you belong to, then Select All to check them.

2. Choose a timeframe (optional)

   Turn on the Timeframe switch, then pick a begin date and, optionally, an end date. Dates use the timezone shown beside the picker.

   With Timeframe off, the Explorer shows datastreams where they are deployed now. With it on, you find datastreams that were deployed at any time in the range, including at sites they have since left.

3. Choose measurements

   Check one or more Measurements. Checking more than one shows datastreams that match any of them. Counts update as you change other filters.

   Under the three dots in the status bar, Purpose controls which kinds of data are listed. It starts at Ready to Use. See Purpose.

4. Pan and zoom the map

   Drag to pan. Scroll or use the + and - buttons to zoom. Click a numbered cluster to zoom in on it.

5. Select sites (optional)

   Hover over or click a site marker, then use the checkbox in the popup. You can also check sites in the Sites list. Selected sites turn a darker yellow. This keeps nearby sites on the map so you can pick several.

6. Review the datastreams

   Choose View Datastreams in the status bar, or scroll down. Use the search box in the table header to filter by name or field.

Datastreams Appear When You Zoom In

Zoom in to see datastreams

The Sites list and the Datastreams table only appear once the map is zoomed in enough. While many sites are in view, the map shows numbered clusters and the measurement counts, but not the individual datastreams. Zoom in, or add filters, until the map shows individual sites instead of clusters.

This keeps the page fast and the map readable. The status bar says Set filters or zoom the map to reveal sites and datastreams. until sites are shown. If you pick an organization or group, the map does not move for you, so zoom to where its sites are.

Reading the Filters

• Counts beside Measurements and Sites show how many datastreams match. A count of 0 means that choice has nothing under your other filters, but the choice stays listed.
• Choosing something in Organizations narrows Groups to the groups those organizations use, and the other way around.
• A greyed row is still checked, so it still filters, but it no longer fits your other selections. Uncheck it to remove it.
• Clear selections unchecks everything and turns off the timeframe.

Cart

The cart works like a shopping cart. You collect output fields from many datastreams, possibly from several organizations, then chart them together.

1. In the Datastreams table, choose Add to Cart.
2. Click a field name to add that field for every datastream on the current page, or choose Add All Shown.
3. Fields already in the cart are highlighted.
4. Choose Chart to open the Chart page with your cart.

The number next to the cart icon in the status bar is how many fields you have collected. Clear cart empties it.

Your cart and filters stay put while you pan the map or move between Explore and Chart. They are not saved, so refreshing or closing the tab clears them.

Chart and Download Access

Seeing a datastream in the Explorer does not mean you can chart or download its data. Each organization sets an access level for the public and another for its members. The levels that matter once a datastream is in your cart are:

Your access	What you get
Chart	The chart draws a reduced set of points. Export CSV saves that same reduced set.
Download	The chart draws every recorded reading. Export CSV saves every reading.

If you have neither, the chart shows No chart or download access. for that datastream. An organization can give its members a higher level than the public, so logging in as a member can unlock more.

The Reduced Set

For a datastream you can only chart, Dendra splits your date range into short time intervals. For each interval it keeps four values that were actually recorded: the first, the last, the lowest, and the highest. These are real readings, not averages or smoothed values, so peaks and dips stay visible.

• A longer date range uses longer intervals. A shorter range shows finer detail, but never every reading.
• Fields drawn this way are marked with an asterisk (*) in the chart legend, with a note beneath it.
• Export CSV saves what the chart drew. For a * field, the CSV has the reduced set, not every reading.

Need every reading?

That takes Download access to the datastream. Ask the organization that owns it. See Access Definitions for what each level allows.

Chart Colors

Each field in the cart gets a default line color on the Chart page. Colors come from the Okabe-Ito palette, a set designed to stay distinguishable for people with common kinds of color blindness.

The default depends on the measurement, so the same kind of data looks the same from chart to chart.

Color	Hex	Typically used for
Vermillion	#D55E00	Temperatures: air, soil, water, dew point, wind chill
Yellow	#F0E442	Radiation and light
Bluish green	#009E73	Rain and other precipitation, plant water, green pigments
Blue	#0072B2	Open water: stream stage, discharge, water level, snow depth
Reddish purple	#CC79A7	Humidity and water chemistry
Orange	#E69F00	Water in soil and other substrate, such as soil moisture
Black	#000000	Pressure, wind, carbon dioxide, lightning, and logger or instrument status (battery, signal)

Some things to know:

• More than one of a color. When the cart already has a line in that color, the next one takes a different shade of the same color, darker shades first and then lighter ones. Two air temperature lines both stay in the vermillion family. After all the shades are used, the colors repeat.
• No color for the measurement. A datastream with no measurement, or with Unknown, takes the next unused color from the palette.
• You choose. In the cart table on the Chart page, click the color to pick any swatch. Each column of swatches is one color family.
• Sky blue and grey are left out. Sky blue is too close to the blue shades, and grey overlaps the black ones.

Why These Colors

No standard assigns one line color to each environmental variable, so the defaults follow published guidance where it exists:

• Rain uses green, and pressure and wind use black, following the American Meteorological Society (AMS) guidelines for color in meteorological graphics and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) station model.
• Open water uses blue, following U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) illustration standards.
• Temperature uses vermillion, the warm red in the palette. AMS paints temperature contours tan, which is not in this palette.
• Air temperature and relative humidity use different colors, so the usual weather pair is easy to tell apart.

Okabe and Ito: Color Universal Design

AMS: Guidelines for Using Color to Depict Meteorological Information (1993)

A Note on Locations

Some sites are sensitive, such as those with rare species. For these, the public map may show a location that is slightly off from the true one. If you are logged in and a member of the organization, the map uses the exact location for that organization’s sites. Other organizations still show the public location. The same map can show both.

Feedback

This is a new feature and we want to hear how it works for you. When you are logged in, choose Feedback in the top bar.

1. Choose a rating from very unhappy to very happy.
2. Tell us why. Please do not enter passwords or other secrets.
3. Enter your email if you would like a response.
4. Hit Submit.

If you are not logged in, you can reach us from the support page.