Pacific Services Center

NOAA's Honua (NOAA's World)

Understanding the Earth and our place as its "stewards" requires a fundamental understanding of the natural world and the relationships and interactions between humans and their surroundings. PSC developed NOAA's Honua, a suite of regionally specific educational and outreach products aimed at increasing environmental understanding and awareness in the Pacific. These products are 3-D visualizations-spherical displays-that show global patterns and events using NOAA science data. The displays are intuitive and compelling teaching tools, and are readily accessible for formal and informal educational settings.

Science on a Sphere (SOS) is a large visualization system that uses computers and video projectors to display animated data on a six-foot sphere. This illuminated globe features dynamic, moving images of atmosphere, oceans, and topography and is used by NOAA to describe the environmental processes of the Earth to various audiences.

PSC currently supports two SOS displays in Hawai`i:

• Bishop Museum in Honolulu (www.bishopmuseum.org)
• `Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai`i in Hilo (www.imiloahawaii.org)

NOAA's Honua Data Visualizations are a compelling and interactive way to connect people with the world around them. Projected onto a smaller, self-contained sphere, NOAA's environmental data and visualizations allow people to watch weather patterns, sea surface temperature shifts, and ocean currents on the surface of a globe. This platform features a custom touch-screen interface so that participants can easily understand and navigate data interpretations and descriptions. NOAA's Pacific Services Center uses this educational tool to showcase NOAA data to students in classrooms and to the public at community events, workshops, and exhibits.

NOAA's Honua Data Visualizations are available on the following themes:

• Understanding Climate Change
• Understanding Oceans

Eluminati Dome is an immersive display that enables participants to "experience" a virtual environment. This visual and auditory experience exposes participants to the up-close and personal sights and sounds of the Earth and various global systems and events such as climate change, hazards, and natural resource activities.

The NOAA's Ocean Today Kiosk is a highly dynamic and visitor-friendly interactive exhibit. It was initially developed as a major installation on the floor of the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The Sant Ocean Hall was developed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Science Initiative with NOAA serving as its major partner.