Cash prizes and the opportunity to present your ideas to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley are up for grabs at the August 1-3 DataBay “Reclaim the Bay” Innovation Challenge.
Programmers, scientists, and “citizen hackers” are invited to participate in the event, where teams will create data-driven applications that increase public engagement and support Chesapeake Bay restoration.
A wide range of Chesapeake Bay datasets and resources—including CBIBS data—are available for participants to use as they develop applications to help meet the Chesapeake’s challenges.
In addition to the more-well-known ways to access CBIBS data—this website, the 877-BUOY-BAY (877-286-9229) toll-free phone number, and free apps for Android, iPhone, and iPad, even more robust datasets are available that could be useful at DataBay:
- Users can access the Data Download section of the CBIBS website to acquire a CSV file of data on one parameter from a buoy for up to about a month; the file takes a few moments to download.
- For larger data files—generally those that cover longer periods of time of roughly 30 days or more—users are encouraged to email cbibs@noaa.gov and request preexisting files.
- RSS feeds are also available.
- Users can also set up continuous data feeds using an application programming interface—an API. An API is essentially a set of rules that tells one system how to do something—for example, an API can tell a mobile app how to include CBIBS data. CBIBS API uses XML and JSON; user clients can be any programming language. More information and details are available in the CBIBS API Cookbook, which is a pdf document that will be useful for tech-savvy users. Please contact CJ Pellerin with any questions on API.
DataBay will be held at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland; Friday evening is an introductory session with speakers, Saturday is all-day work session, and Sunday will feature presentations from the competing teams.
Good luck to all the participants!