Dataset Search

Dataset Search at a Glance

Searching datasets

Dataset Search page returns a list of datasets that match your search options along with a map showing the observations from the matching datasets. From the list of datasets, you can go to the Dataset page where you can find the detail information about it and explore the observations from it.

Notes: If you are interested in finding species, Species Search would be more useful for you.

With Dataset Search, you can search datasets by:

• data provider,
• species of interest,
• region of interest, and
• time range.

Below are typical criteria you find Dataset Search useful for:

• I'm looking for "PIROP" data that are cited in a paper.
• I know that the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation provides their data to OBIS-SEAMAP. Can I download their data?
• I'm looking for surveys conducted in my study area.
• What datasets are available that have humpback whale sightings in my study area?
• I'm looking for all marine mammal surveys conducted in the 1990s.
• I'm looking for satellite telemetry data for sea turtles.

Tutorials

Features & Functions

Face	Feature	Description
(Default)	Identify	This function is available when no tool button is selected. If another button is selected, deselecting it enables "Identify." Click on the cell you want to get the information for. The popup window will come out, showing #observations in the cell. Be patient as it may take the results several seconds to show.
	Species of interest	Specify the name of you species of interest. Enter a part of scientific/common name of your species into the text box. A list of candidate species shows up. If you find your species in the list, click the species or use the arrow keys to select it. (option) You can also keep typing to enter the name in full. Once done, click ([Update] button) to refresh the map. The datasets that observe the species are returned.
	Zoom in	To zoom in, you need to define a rectangle on the map where you want to zoom in. First click on the map to locate one of the two diagonal vertices of the rectangle. Release the mouse button and move the mouse to the other diagonal point. The red guiding line appears. Then click again to fix the rectangle.
	Draw region of interest	A region of interest (ROI) takes a rectangular shape. First click on the map to locate one of the two diagonal vertices of the rectangle. Release the mouse button and move the mouse to the other diagonal point. The red guiding line appears. Then click again to fix the rectangle. The map is updated automatically, extracting observations in the ROI drawn.
	Remove ROI	To remove the region of interest (ROI), click the button and click on the ROI you want to remove. The map is updated automatically.
	Transparency	Slide the bar to left (more opaque) or right (more transparent) to adjust the transparency of the region of interest.
	Show/hide graph area	Show and hide the graph area. The graph area may close automatically depending on your criteria.
	Display environmental layer	Open the panel where you can choose an environmental layer to display. See the movie tutorial Map environmental layers to learn more.
Keyword Platform Taxon group Provider	Other search options	You can specify additional dataset search options. Expand the panel by clicking the title. Keyword: Any keyword(s). The word(s) specified is searched against the dataset name, provider name, abstract and other text-based metadata entries. Platform: Survey platform type. A "Shore" type includes seal haulout counts, seabird colony data, sea turtle nesting data. A "Tag" type refers to satellite telemetry data. Taxon group: As OBIS-SEAMAP focuses on marine mammals, seabirds and sea tutles, the OBIS-SEAMAP data are grouped into these three taxa. When you check one of them, you are searching datasets that have at least one observations for species in that taxa (along with for other taxa). You can choose multiple taxa. Provider: List of provider is automatically updated when you specify a species of interest or draw a region of interest, filtering out those who do not contribute datasets for a specified species/region. Choosing one of the providers narrows the list of datasets to those from the selected provider. Rules of combination: All options are combined with a *AND* condition. For example, when [Tag] and [Sea turtles] are checked, telemetry datasets for sea turtles are returned. When [Plane] is checked and "National Marine Mammal Laboratory" is selected, aerial surveys from that provider are returned. ship surveys from the same provider are *not* returned.

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