Data from the depths could get a lot less murky soon, thanks to a new partnership announced by Google and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA will provide data from its various ocean-science programs and Google will build tools to visualize that information, the two organizations announced Tuesday. The deal extends a collaboration that began when Google built NOAA's underwater topography into Google Earth. The two entities have continued to work together on other projects, such as incorporating satellite measurements on coral-reef bleaching.
The partnership will include porting more ocean depth, climate and other scientific data into Google Earth as well as providing online access to zoning and regulatory information near the coasts. NOAA outreach programs like Science on a Sphere and the Okeanos Explorer ship will also get some kind of Google makeover.
While the first Google oceans-data release generated a lot of excitement, its implementation brought a mixed response from specialists.
*Image: The ocean near Okinawa (upper left)/Google Earth. *
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