Welcome to the Marine Data Literacy website, an annotated collection of exercises and resource links, presenting technical methods for handling "marine" data (in the broadest sense).  All software programs used here are entirely free, Windows-compatible, compiled binaries, but some also have non-Windows versions. All datasets are also free.  MDL is about the nuts-and-bolts of marine data; it is not a general oceanography textbook.  Exercise groups 1-8 are aimed toward top-level synthesis of data products in GIS applications (sometimes in tandem with Ocean Data View and a few other ancillary programs).  Group 9 is aimed toward synthesis of operational data products in Integrated Data Viewer (IDV).  At present in MDL there are 80+ exercises, with about 2000 illustrations.  As a printed book, MDL would be over 1000 pages.  If you need to find a particular data type (or source) in the long list of exercises, then browse the Index of Data Sources.  All of the HTML exercises here in MDL are my own copyrighted materials, and do not overlap with, copy or materially repeat any of the IODE's own exercises (mainly PDF format). 

WHAT'S NEW:  Viewing and Managing Well-Formed NetCDF Grids in Saga (entirely new); Creating Marine Data Surface Plots in ODV (revised);  Exporting Marine Data from ODV: Interpolations; (restored); Data Browsing/Mining in OPeNDAP & LAS  (entirely new); GEBCO 08 Global Relief Grid: Online Processing (uses previously misunderstood resource)

1. Basic PC Handling - Things you really should already know, but they're here to remind you

2. Marine GIS Operations & Tools - Making maps of earth features and marine data analyses

3. Handling World Ocean Database/Atlas Products - Obtaining data and analysis products from the world's largest marine archive

4. Managing & Analyzing Marine Data in Ocean Data View - The most popular ocean data management software is introduced and its basic methods demonstrated

5. Gridding Marine Data & Handling Grid Products - Gridding marine data from various sources, managing grids and creating "standard products" for marine GIS

6. Plotting Motion Vectors - Drawing wind and current vector "arrows" on maps

7. Handling Relief Data (Bathymetry & Topography - Managing and plotting bathymetric and topographic data (grids or vectors)

8. HDF/NetCDF Data and Network Access Tools  - Visualize imagery or raster data products in these formats.  Special software and protocols for direct user access and subsetting

9. Handling Operational & Synoptic Marine Data - Methods to obtain and visualize operational marine data, mainly using the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software. 

Dedication - Who keeps me going.  IODE Award - Not just another pretty face.  History and Image Gallery - Locations & people.  Essential Global Data - Low-resolution data layers for Atlases.  Formats - All formats used here, with brief notes.  Software - Selected software, necessary and/or useful.  Index of MDL Data Sources - Matches data sources to exercises.  Sketch Maps - Hand-sketch maps of global regions, for classroom discussions.  Atlases - Data product collections for comparison with your own exercise results.  Template - Downloadable form used in these exercises, for prospective authors. Classroom Needs - What's required for local courses not held at the OTA center in Ostend, Belgium.  Contact - About Murray Brown, the author.  Citation - How to cite MDL. ___

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