Real-time Metadata Capture Implementations

The current rate of data acquisition in the ocean sciences precludes the manual generation of appropriate metadata after the fact. Recognizing this fact, we have begun to implement methods for creating metadata and inserting them into relational databases in real-time. We have also created web-based tools for watchstanders and maintenance personnel to enter logbook data in real-time. Several examples will be addressed in this poster. Enhancements to the Hudson Interactive River Observatory (HIRO) real-time data logging system have been made that create metadata records and insert them (as SQL transactions over a secure wireless TCP/IP connection) into a relational database in real-time. These records document the start and stop time of individual data files, of sensor-specific data streams and of the logging system as a whole. An interactive watchstanders logbook has been developed and used on the R/V Maurice Ewing to create and log metadata records associated with upgrades to the Hydrosweep DS2 multibeam system. A similar version of this tool is being used to capture the maintenance and update records associated with the HRIO system.