This EAR Geoinformatics Program grant supports a two year project to augment development of a prototype informatics tool aimed at assisting non experts in identifying sedimentary minerals and organic components in smear slides to support paleorecords research on marine and lacustrine cores. Development of the prototype TMI (Tool for Microscopic Identification) has a resulted in an online application. Support from this grant will allow for augmented capabilities of TMI to include: 1) a workflow tool for electronic data capture of smear slide analysis during core description; and 2) a discovery and display tool for data stored in relevant databases. The design will involve a modular, reusable architecture capable of interacting with multiple external data sources (e.g., Neotoma) and workflow tools. TMI will collect and maintain a database of images and data in interpretive modules that will assist researchers and students without professional level experience in optical petrography to quickly identify sediment components in smear slides and to interpret the assemblages to place them in the context of litho- and bio-facies and their environmental and paleoenvironmental significance.
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