Autoplot: a Browser for Science Data on the Web

Abstract:

Autoplot was introduced in 2008 as an easy-to-use plotting tool for the space physics community. The idea was that data sources would be identified with URIs, and data from these sources would be loaded in and a reasonable rendering of the data would be shown automatically. The scientist could then easily adjust plot axes and navigate the data. URIs would point to data files served on web sites, and Autoplot manages the download and freshness of the files. Data from different sources is easily integrated onto one page, and configurations are saved as ".vap" files. The scientist can then easily communicate with others by sending URIs and attaching .vap files.

Autoplot is used widely on many missions, and its set of features has grown as well. Autoplot's scripting is used by many students and workgroups to provide an alternate to IDL and Matlab which makes loading data and producing graphics trivial, and allowing the scientists to focus on the data. Autoplot has plug-ins that allow it to grab data directly from the CDAWeb and from the PDS/PPI Node, providing a more abstract facility for discovering data. Last, Autoplot has been used widely on the Van Allen Probes and Juno missions, and its use there is shown.