Development of a data visualization and analysis tool to study the particle dynamics in the coastal zone

Developing a field experiment to study the different aspects of the marine system involves both the co-operation of research groups from distinct disciplines and the use of various meteorological and oceanographical sensors deployed simultaneously at different locations. The information obtained, stored in voluminous data sets and frequently in various formats, needs to be visualized and analysed in different ways to provide knowledge of the dynamics of the system examined. There is therefore need for tools to be able to: (i) access and retrieve data sets stored in various file formats, and (ii) to allow their visualization and analysis. In this work, a user-friendly visualization and analytical tool was developed for this purpose using the IDL (Interactive Data Language v.5.3). It allows the description, interpretation and analysis of the temporal and spatial variability of both scalar and vector variables. A description of the software is given and an application using data from the High Frequency Flux (HFF) experiment, part of the European MTP II-Mater research project, in the Gulf of Lions is presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.