Lively data: Discover, browse and access ocean altimetry data on internet

Abstract

The Products and Services (P&S) department in the Space Oceanography Division at CLS (Collecte, Localisation, Satellites) is in charge of distributing and promoting altimetry and operational oceanography data. The department is thus involved in the Aviso satellite altimetry project (the French service which distributes altimetry products since 1992), in the Mercator ocean operational forecasting system, and in the European Godae/Mersea ocean portal. Aiming to a standardisation and a common vision and management of all these ocean data, all these projects, led to the implementation of several Opendap/LAS Internet servers (Baudel et al., 2004). Some of the possibilities of the tools, as well as how-to information will be high-lighted, as they are in the "Lively data" section of Aviso website (see http://www.aviso.oceanobs. com/html/donnees/las/). Moreover, with a two-year experience we now have some feedback and analysis of how people - users, would-be users and students alike - are using this tool, some ideas for possible enhancements, etc.