Building WakeAtlas: ships, shipwrecks and ocean science on a free CesiumJS globe

I have been constructing WakeAtlas, a free maritime exploration website. My goal was to bring together information that is usually found in separate databases, allowing users to explore it visually. The content available includes real-time AIS vessel positions that are updated in real-time, historical shipwreck data, images of selected US ports, Argo profiles displaying ocean conditions at different depths, Copernicus Marine biogeochemistry layers including oxygen, nutrients, and plankton, as well as data on Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice concentrations with dated comparisons.

While building WakeAtlas, I encountered a few practical challenges. One was keeping the vessel updates responsive without constantly downloading the entire fleet. To address this, the system first loads the visible area, and then streams any changes to the positions. If there are no updates, the display refreshes normally. Another challenge was preventing repeated processing and downloads for the imagery.

To overcome this, I saved the US port imagery on the server and served it as cached map tiles. This way, visitors can revisit those areas without triggering another download from Earth Engine.

When presenting different sources together, it is important to explain their differences. A model forecast, an ocean profile, and a satellite observation can represent information from various dates and resolutions. These scientific models and observations come from their respective providers, and WakeAtlas serves as an exploration interface, not a new scientific model.

To experience WakeAtlas for yourself, simply open the globe at <https://wakeatlas.org>. Please note that the data sources and credits are available on the site. While the globe is free to explore without an account, keep in mind that WakeAtlas will remain free to use without any paywall. The coverage and update times vary depending on the source, and it is designed for exploration and research purposes rather than navigation.

Your feedback on how easily you can locate the layers, how well the globe performs on your device, and whether the dates and limitations are clear is appreciated.