—William Winner, NOAA
Advances in inexpensive sensors, remote sensing, and internet data availability have allowed the environmental science community to collect and share data on an unprecedented level. Tools for visualization and data mining have become even more important. Scientists would like to navigate datasets in space and time at different scales even when some of the measurements may be at a single location and a single time. Our ArcMap Toolbar combines the data mining and retrieval capabilities of an Online Analytical Processor (OLAP) data cube with the spatial analyses and visualizations provided through Esri ArcGIS. Our OLAP data cubes provide the necessary framework for mining large amounts of data and computing temporal, measurement variable, and other aggregates. Unfortunately, OLAP technology lags traditional relational database technology and lacks native geospatial support. Spatial aggregations must be hand coded and are limited to a simple predetermined set. Using the OLAP results as input to the Esri spatial engine, we enable the scientist to dynamically aggregate both space and time.