Join this session to learn from our journey in creating a STAC-based UI for search and discovery. We'll explore the process to date and reflect on the decisions made to navigate complexities while aiming for openness.
Searching for geospatial data hasn't always been a seamless experience for users. The lack of standardized tooling and APIs has made it challenging to efficiently discover and access the vast amounts of available data. In this talk, we'll share our journey in creating an open source STAC-based UI for search and discovery that aims to address these challenges.
The puzzle pieces for search and discovery began to fall into place with the emergence of the STAC (spatial temporal asset catalog) specification, which provides a standardized way to catalog and access geospatial data. However, despite this progress, the lack of end user tooling options remains a significant hurdle. Existing solutions often fell short in providing a map-centric UI perspective for users.
We started with an early proof of concept UI and it became apparent that the user experience sitting on top of this standardized core was critical to close the loop. While that first iteration showed promise, we recognized the need to build upon STAC's foundation and create a more robust solution. The goal was to allow users to search and visualize assets from a STAC catalog using a map-centric UI.
To achieve this, we re-designed our approach and built upon STAC. We introduced improved visualizations, easy filtering options, and titling and mosaicing capabilities that make a significant difference in usability. Additionally, we implemented hierarchical (H3) and grid aggregations to enable big-picture visualization.
Our solution was not to adhere to a rigid set of business requirements or try to make it a do-it-all application; instead, it focuses on search and discovery, providing a straightforward and efficient way for users to access geospatial data. This goal led us to create a highly configurable and reusable solution via a simple config.json file.
Today, our open source STAC-based UI is live and available for use. We'll share insights on where it lives now and discuss our roadmap for the future, including plans for continued development and community engagement.
