The Outreach Core of UC San Diego’s Superfund Basic Research Program has an integrated three-pronged approach to linking science and technology to policy, planning and education:

1. Establish a “Regional Workbench Consortium,” an Internet-based network that provides a multidisciplinary conceptual framework for linking research-to-research, and research-to-action <http://regionalworkbench.org>.
2. Develop tools for integrating GIS and 3D Visualization in support of water quality management and watershed planning <http://superfund.ucsd.edu/outreach/>.
3. Create new multimedia interfaces (narratives linked to searchable topic maps and data files) that improve the way we can display, interrelate and share knowledge
<http://www.regionalworkbench.org/html/narratives.html>.

The web development group for UCSD’s SBRP is creating innovative front-end interfaces with dynamic and useful back-end databases and web services. These rich internet applications utilize multimedia display methods by combining streaming video and audio materials, video conferencing, white boarding and one-to-many presentation capabilities with user-driven content retrieval all in one interface. By empowering users with these types of tools and technologies, the research and learning environment becomes more engaging and interactive. We use these web development tools:

Macromedia Studio MX product line: http://www.macromedia.com
Macromedia Studio MX includes Dreamweaver MX, Macromedia Flash MX, Fireworks MX, FreeHand 10, and ColdFusion MX Developer Edition.

Back-end systems: PHP and MySQL

A site from which we draw inspiration (well worth checking out):
http://www.becominghuman.org

The GIS/3D Vis tools we are using include ESRI's ArcGIS suite of products, Fledermaus 3D Visualization software, and the Panoram Theatre (a visualization center made available by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in partnership with the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal(IT)2). The SIO Visualization Center can accommodate up to 60 people. It is built around a Panoram curved floor-to-ceiling screen (~9' by ~29') featuring 3.2 megapixel resolution (3,276,800 pixels). The Infinite Reality graphics subsystem within the hardware is driven by a single-pipe SGI Onyx 3400 with a system bandwidth capable of 44 GBps. The Onyx is powered by 16 MIPS R12K processors and 16 GB of addressable memory. Disk space is currently 1.5TB, with a sustained access rate of 125 MB/sec. This technology allows us to display multiple data layers (e.g., seismicity, high resolution topography, seismic reflectivity, draped interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images etc.) simultaneously, render them in 3D stereo, and take a virtual flight through the data as dictated on the spot by the user. http://siovizcenter.ucsd.edu/contact.shtml

We use remote sensing software called ENVI (The Environment for Visualizing Images)
for tasks involving 3D transformation/draping of imagery on topography. Commercial off the shelf software is available on-line at http://www.rsinc.com Key uses are for multispectral and hyperspectral imagery, aerial photogarphy/photogrammetry and digital elevation processing. Site liscences are about $5,000 for ENVI runtime and scaled up for full programming functionality. Maintenance optional, but is approx 1,000 per year.