NCDB-View

A web-based dashboard for exploring and visualizing meteorological and marine data stored in ncdb SQLite databases. ncdb-view provides a fast, interactive way to scan dataset cycles, inspect available observation spaces, and preview geophysical variables (like Sea Surface Temperature or Salinity) without writing any Python code.

Features Interactive Data Browser: Navigate datasets, cycles, and variables via a clean web interface. Instant Plotting: Integrated with the ncdb plotting engine to generate spatial maps on the fly. HPC Ready: Designed to run in headless environments with a FastAPI/Uvicorn backend.

Installation

Since ncdb-view depends on the core ncdb library, it is recommended to install both into a clean virtual environment.

1. Create and activate a virtual environment

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

2. Install ncdb-view (this will automatically pull core ncdb)

pip install git+https://github.com/givelberg/ncdb-view.git

Usage

Once installed, the ncdb-view command is added to your path. Point it at your .db file:

ncdb-view --db /path/to/your/marine.db

If you do not have a .db file yet, provide a name for it, and it will be generated by the scanner.

By default, the server will start on http://127.0.0.1:8734.

Running on NCEP/HPC (Using an ssh tunnel)

If you are running the viewer on a remote node (e.g., on ursa), you will need to set up an SSH Tunnel from your local laptop to view the interface in your browser.

An example of establishing the tunnel to ursa:

Step 0: ssh to ursa and notice the login message, like:

Local port 56373 forwarded to remote host.
Remote port 2838 forwarded to local host.

Write down the local port forwarded to the remote host: it is 56373 in the example above.

Step 1. In your first window login using:

ssh -L 56373:127.0.0.1:56373 John.Steffen@ursa-rsa.boulder.rdhpcs.noaa.gov

Step 2: In your second window login using:

ssh -p 56373 -L 8734:127.0.0.1:8734 John.Steffen@127.0.0.1

Notice: 8734 is the port number that needs to be consistent with the port number used by ncdb-viewer

Run the application on ursa:

ncdb-view --db /path/to/your/marine.db

In the browser on your laptop:

Navigate to http://localhost:8734.

Configuration

Argument	Description	Default
--db	Path to the SQLite database file	Required
--port	The port to run the server on	8734