The West Coast Ocean Data Network is dedicated to increasing communication between state and federal agencies, tribes, universities, NGOs, and industry to leverage resources for new data collection, develop data best management practices, conduct trainings, and ensure compatibility of regional datasets.
The Network is comprised of two working groups: a Coordination Team and a Development Team, each providing guidance on the Portal activities and making sure we are adopting current standards, compatible technologies, and communicating our mission and goals effectively. New participants are welcome! To participate, please visit the Network communication forum to join the community.
The Network Forum includes communication tools for data producers and users and a member directory of contributors. You can also access our Knowledge Base of data sharing best practices. To learn more or participate in our Network, please contact us, or subscribe to our network listserv.
In addition to the "Discover" web interface for data seekers, this portal provides several machine pathways for application developers to enable them to search and connect to the services and datasets published by network members. These pathways represent multiple ways that portal services can be integrated into local tools, and thereby enable smaller projects to benefit from the published contributions of the wider network.
Read more about these pathways and how to use them below:
CSW is an open standard created by the Open Geospatial Consortium for discovering, browsing, and querying metadata records from a data catalog. This portal uses CSW to harvest many of the published resources from our network providers, and in turn publishes a CSW interface that you can connect to. Access our CSW interface at the following URL using your favorite CSW client:
What is a Catalog Service for the Web?
ESRI Geoportal CSW Documentation
Example 1 - click the following URL to query the capabilities of our CSW and return the results as an XML document.
http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/geoportal/csw?service=CSW&version=2.0.2&request=GetCapabilities
Example 2 - click the following URL to initiate a CSW GetRecords query that returns the first 10 ISO metadata records found in the catalog as an XML document.
At the heart of this portal is an ESRI Geoportal data catalog, which provides an easy to use HTTP-based interface for querying resources. Access our Geoportal REST API at:
Geoportal REST API Documentation
Example 1 - click the following URL to initiate a Geoportal find query that returns the first 10 metadata records in the portal as a JSON document:
http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/geoportal/rest/find/document?f=pjson
OpenSearch is an open standard for search created by Amazon A9 that makes records available in a format suitable for syndication and aggregation. Access our OpenSearch API at:
http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/geoportal/rest/find/document
Add our portal as a search provider in your favorite web browser
Example 1 - click the following URL to query the description of our OpenSearch API and return the results as an XML document.
http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/geoportal/openSearchDescription
Example 2 - click the following URL to initiate a search that returns all records with the keyword 'bathymetry' as a GeoRSS XML document:
http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/geoportal/rest/find/document?searchText=keywords:%20bathymetry
SOLR provides blazing-fast full-text and faceted search through a standard REST interface. It's the driving force behind our Discover page. Access our SOLR REST API at:
How do I use the SOLR REST API?
Example 1 - click the following URL to initiate a SOLR select query that return the first 20 metadata records for the marine debris category as a JSON document:
