Data search

Using the International OBIS Portal

The International OBIS Portal has recently had a substantial upgrade, allowing users to search by taxa (scientific and common names), country, dataset, institute and various marine regions.

Some other search methods, including browse by data provider, and filter by physical and chemical oceanographic variable, are available on the global OBIS data set (over 40m records) via the International OBIS Portal.

API's in R and via webservices can be used to extract data directly into your systems. Use cases are described and OBIS records all publications that cite the use of OBIS data providing users insights on how to add futher value to the data.

This portal aggregates data from all nodes and therefore one can search across any taxa or region and not be concerned that non-Australian data providers may be missed by use the ALA portal.

Using the Atlas of Living Australia OBIS Portal

Here are four ways by which you can search for marine species distribution records within the OBIS data network from the OBIS Australia site:

• Name Search - by species common name or species scientific name (options are simple search or a range of advanced searches)
• Explore Your Area - display a map of any local area with details of presently held marine species records in a 1, 5 or 10 km radius
• Show All Records - display a clickable map of all records in the present OBIS AU holdings (approx. 2.1 million as at mid 2012) with options for further subsetting and data query
• Chart View - display a set of data summaries as clickable charts of all records in the present OBIS AU holdings (approx. 2.1 million as at mid 2012) with options to drill down e.g. by taxonomic category, State or Territory, time period of observation, and more.

(the above options are provided using software developed by the Atlas of Living Australia project)