Data Services Newsletter

Volume 20 : No 1 : Spring 2018

GMAP 2 Released

GMAP 2 is a new version of IRIS’s popular Google Maps station plotting web application. The completely redesigned application now enables users to search for seismic stations across global data centers supporting FDSN Web Services. Its updated interface makes searching for stations easier than ever before.

Explore more stations than ever before:

Under the hood, GMAP 2 makes requests to the IRIS Fed Catalog web service. This allows users to visualize stations stored at FDSN data centers other than the IRIS DMC. Users can search for stations archived at all or individual participating data centers.

Figure 1 – A historical map of all stations at contributing data centers. On the date of this request (3/22/2018) there were 73,188 harvested stations.

Draw and filter by geographic boundaries:

Geographic constraints may be interactively drawn on the map. Users may also resize existing boundaries for higher precision adjustments.

Figure 2 – Both radial (left image) and rectangular (right image) geographic constraints are supported. Easily draw boundaries on the map to limit loaded stations to a geographic area.

Improved display features:

Tectonic plate boundaries may be optionally displayed on the map. Additionally, users can select from Google’s terrain, street map, and satellite themes. For plotting the Apollo lunar missions’ stations the application includes a map of the Moon.

Figure 3 – Tectonic plate boundaries are shown on the Google Maps satellite themed map. Stations for the _GSN virtual network are displayed.

The future:

The DMC is exploring the possibility of several enhancements to the GMAP plotting application, including:

  • The ability to export station plots as KML for visualization in Google Earth.
  • An additional map of Mars for plotting the anticipated Martian seismic station (Insight). The application currently supports plotting Apollo mission station data on a lunar map.
  • The ability to show near real time waveform data in the browser for a selected station that supports real-time data availability.

by Nick Falco (IRIS DMC)

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