Ocean Data Labs looks back at 2020

Last year was a tumultuous one for the history books, to put it mildly. And while many of us already trying to forget the year that was 2020, the Ocean Data Labs community actually has a lot to be proud of. Of course, from an educational…
2 years of temperature and salinity data from 30m at Irminger Sea Flanking Mooring B showing the annual cycle.

My ooilab Python Toolbox

Data portals are great for navigating and finding useful datasets. But sometimes, the easiest way to access data is with a bit of code, especially when you want to make your own graphs or do a bit of custom processing (like the above example). For…
Profiles of temperature and salinity from an Argo float off Baja
,

Introduction to Python – Argo Float Data

This summer, as part of our virtual REU workshop, we introduced students to the basics of using Python to analyze oceanographic data. When we frantically designed the course back in May (during the early even more frantic days of the pandemic),…
Storytelling with ocean data title slide

Storytelling with Ocean Data

Storytelling with data is a popular topic. In fact, one of the most cited papers in Data Vis, Segel and Heer's 2010 Narrative Visualization: Telling Stories with Data, just celebrated its 10th anniversary and was awarded IEEE's Test of Time…
A graph showing the seasonal cycle of Sea Surface Temperature at NDBC Station 44025
,

Introduction to Python – Data Analysis

Weather is something we all experience. Which is why you'll often find weather-related data used in data analysis courses. Of course, as oceanographers, weather data is far more relevant to our research goals, but it's also useful to start with…
Data graph showing NDBC Station 44025 air/sea temps and wind speed

Introduction to Python – Part 2

Teaching students how to visualize ocean data is a challenge. But before you get into cognitive theory, choosing colors, or the the principles of (good) visualization design, you really just need to get your students' feet wet plotting some…
A screenshot of a binder notebook, sowing a graph of a CTD profile.
,

How to Share and Run Python Notebooks

Python notebooks are a wonderful tool for sharing and collaborating on code. Built on the open-source backbone of the Python programming language, JupyterLab notebooks (their formal name) allow you to include code, text, formulas and images…
Timeseries plot of ocean and air temperatures at NDBC Station 44025 off the coast of NJ.
,

Introduction to Python – Part 1

We now live in an ocean of data. And of course, that is literally true for those of us who study the ocean. We've come a long way from the early days of oceanography, when scientists like Nansen, Ekman, and Bjerknes might collect a few…
Wave-carved Iceberg, Western Antarctic Peninsula

Polar Literacy Principles for Science Communication

This week was #ScienceLiteracyWeek in Canada, and as part of the campaign, the Arctic Relations blog asked Janice McDonnell, Ocean Data Labs Project PI, to share her thoughts on developing and Using the Polar Literacy Principles in Science…
Autumn tree on Cook Campus, taken by Sage Lichtenwalner

September 2020 Community News

In this issue: Fall 2020 Webinars will explore NEW resources - Register now Resource of the Month - Data as a Tool Implementation Stipends - Opportunity ends soon OOI Data Labs+ Fall 2020 Webinar Series We're pleased to…
Temperature profiles from 2 Pioneer Array Profilers, showing data from May 2019.

Data Labs Tutorial at WHOI

Today I had the opportunity to virtually present an introduction to the Ocean Data Labs project, along with a short tutorial on working with OOI Profiler data to the WHOI Ocean Informatics Working Group. We had over 40 participants attend, including…
,

Waves Across the Pacific

We spend a lot of time talking about the wonders and potential of the Ocean Observatories Initiative during our Data Labs workshops.  After all, the OOI includes a large collection of standard and cutting-edge instruments that allow us to monitor…