PANGAEA search

A convenient way to find data is using the search engine PangaVista. Each predefined dataset in its granularity as defined by the PI can be found by keywords matching the data set description. Keywords can be combined to create Boolean expressions using a syntax identical to those used by search engines. As a result of a query the titles of datasets are listed, each with a link for full access as a web page or download as a tab-delimited text file. The header provided with each set contains the metadata fields according to standards for describing geodata. PangaVista is not case-sensitive. Opening data sets > 50 000 data points as html may result in browser freezing.

A map server based on the open source UMN can be used to visualize PangaVista results on a map. Data sets located at on pair of latitude/longitude are presented as red dots, data sets consisting of serveral geographical locations are shown as shaded blue areas. The search can be limited to a certain area by setting geographical constraints graphicaly or by typing in coordinates in the fields of the search engine. As geographical background information standard maps (ETOPO, GEBCO) can be used.

Link to the Online-Help of PangaVista

By prefixing keywords (using the format "prefix:keyword") with a tag name from the PANGAEA XML schema you can search inside specific parts of the schema.