A workspace environment for analysing and visualising data on past climates, environments and human interaction with these.

The SEAD project aims to provide a comprehensive suite of interfaces for retrieving, adding, altering, analysing and visualising the contents of the database. The majority of these will be available online, with more advanced features and data entry through downloadable software components which will synchronise seamlessly with the online database. This concept allows users to easily compare their unpublished data, held on the local machine, with the central data and upload it when ready. Uploaded data will pass through a clearing house to ensure that everything is correct and complete.

The SEAD team are coordinating with the Neotoma consortium and HUMlab in order to provide globally accessible and intuitive access to environmental archaeology data (see collaboration for more info.)

Click on the image below to open a HD resolution Flash presentation of the SEAD screenscape concept. This presentation was used at the HUMlab 2 opening ceremony on the 14th MAy 2009.

It's 6.5MB and 1920x1080 pixels, so please be patient whilst it downloads... (no preloader, sorry!)

Data exploration Reconstruction

SEAD will incorporate adaptive map and category search systems for finding data relevant to the users' research questions, graphically, geographically and text based searching. SEAD will not only provide the facility to find relevant datasets, but also combine and analyse them collectively. This will give users access to more powerful analyses in the form of inter-regional studies, theme based analyses and time-slice modelling. SEAD will incorporate the environmental and climatic reconstruction facilities currently available in the BugsCEP system, providing access to beetle based quantitative climate and landscape interpretations. These systems will be improved and expanded, and further methods will be added through collaboration with external research groups. Improvements to the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) climate reconstruction method will be built into the system. Data are often best understood when presented graphically. SEAD will include a number of graphing and presentation systems for making data and analysis results easier to comprehend and disseminate. (See the Flash presentation for close ups...)

Data analysis Visualisation

This page will be progressively updated as tools are developed and tested.

The SEAD team and partners are currently prioritising these tools:

A facetted browser interface for data dynamic querying and data retrieval, with options for filtering by space, time and multiple data and metadata variables

An interface for data entry, management and clearing

An interface for studying climate change as reconstructed from fossil insects and exploring prediction scenarios

An analysis interface for exploring the structure and distribution of continuous and discrete proxy data over multiple sites