Make a platform available to the program offices that will allow them to easily API enable datasets through an SQL Builder/API Builder built on top of the EPA Data Platform.
Currently, there isn’t a way to easily explore and download data in the Envirofacts data warehouse without leveraging the Envirofacts API (http://www.epa.gov/enviro/facts/services.html).
The Envirofacts API has several limitations:
- Output is limited to 10000 rows of data at a time, but a user can pick which 10000 rows of data and then return to retrieve the next 10000.
- The endpoint URL cannot support joining more than 3 tables at a time. (tie in the feedback)
The Advanced User Interface will be a web tool for sharing, querying and analyzing data in the Envirofacts data warehouse. The advanced user interface:
- Will be a standalone application and database run completely separate from production Envirofacts.
- Provides easy web-based access to the latest and greatest Envirofacts data dumps.
- Gives users an Open Data Protocol (odata), CSV, and API endpoint.
- Allows testing, running, editing and permalinking to public queries against Envirofact’s corpus of data with a simple, syntax-highlighted web user interface.
- Can be used as a permanently linkable tool for teaching general SQL and relational database concepts.
- Potential to be hosted on Windows Azure so that it can be speedy, scalable, and always available.