STOQS is a geospatial database web application designed for providing efficient acccess to in situ oceanographic data across any dimension - e.g., retrieving a common parameter from all measuring platforms in a specific area over a specific span of time. STOQS complements other data management technologies such as NetCDF and OPeNDAP by providing an ability to index data retrieval across parameter and spatial dimensions in addition to the a priori indexed coordinate dimensions in NetCDF. It also provides a functional bridge between NetCDF and Geographic Information Systems technologies.

Here's a short video giving the context in which STOQS is used:

After installation, data is loaded into STOQS from a variety of data sources, including OPeNDAP data sets, other relational databases, and flat files. Products are delivered within the STOQS User Interface and in a variety of formats, including KML, via REST-style web requests.

To install the software for your own use fork the project on GitHub, clone it to your Linux system (CentOS is preferred), e.g.:

git clone [email protected]:<your_github_id>/stoqs.git stoqsgit

and follow the instructions starting with the PREREQUISITES file.

If you wish to load data into an already installed STOQS server you can start with reading the LOADING file for the instructions for creating a database, setting data sources, and writing a loader script.

Further information is in these files:

PREREQUISITES - System level requirements, e.g. Postgis, Django, Python modules
INSTALL       - Steps to install the Django stoqs application
DEVELOPMENT   - Instructions on running a development environment
PRODUCTION    - Instructions on setting up a production environment
LOADING       - Loading your data
TIDBITS       - Miscellaneous tips, fixes, and examples for using STOQS
LICENSE       - GNU General Public License text, how this software is licensed

The stoqs project web site has a wiki with links to presentations and periodic feature updates. The stoqs-discuss list in Google Groups is also a good place to post questions or any sort of comments about STOQS.