Learn2Vibe

How to Build a Customizable Coastal Engineering Dashboard

Create a powerful, user-friendly dashboard tailored for coastal engineers. This project combines real-time data visualization, customizable widgets, and advanced analysis tools to help professionals monitor and manage coastal environments effectively. With its intuitive interface and robust features, this dashboard streamlines decision-making processes for coastal engineering projects.

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Simple Summary

A customizable dashboard for coastal engineers that provides real-time data visualization and analysis tools to monitor and manage coastal environments efficiently.

Product Requirements Document (PRD)

Goals:

  • Develop a customizable dashboard for coastal engineers
  • Provide real-time data visualization of key coastal parameters
  • Enable easy analysis and reporting of coastal data
  • Improve decision-making for coastal management projects

Target Audience:

  • Coastal engineers
  • Environmental scientists
  • Coastal resource managers
  • Government agencies involved in coastal management

Key Features:

  1. Customizable widget-based dashboard
  2. Real-time data integration (tides, waves, weather, erosion rates)
  3. Interactive maps and GIS integration
  4. Data analysis tools (trend analysis, forecasting)
  5. Report generation and export functionality
  6. Collaboration tools for team projects
  7. Mobile-responsive design for field use
  8. Alerts and notifications for critical events

User Requirements:

  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for dashboard customization
  • Ability to add, remove, and resize widgets
  • Data source integration options (APIs, CSV uploads, manual entry)
  • User authentication and role-based access control
  • Data visualization options (charts, graphs, maps)
  • Customizable thresholds for alerts and notifications
  • Export capabilities for reports and data

User Flows

  1. Dashboard Customization:

    • User logs in
    • Navigates to dashboard
    • Clicks "Edit Dashboard"
    • Adds/removes widgets using drag-and-drop
    • Resizes and arranges widgets
    • Saves custom layout

  2. Data Analysis:

    • User selects a data widget
    • Chooses data sources and parameters
    • Applies filters and date ranges
    • Generates visualizations
    • Performs trend analysis
    • Exports results or generates report

  3. Alert Management:

    • User navigates to Alert Settings
    • Sets up new alert with custom thresholds
    • Chooses notification method (email, SMS, in-app)
    • Saves alert configuration
    • Receives notifications when thresholds are exceeded

Technical Specifications

  • Frontend: React.js with Redux for state management
  • Backend: Node.js with Express.js
  • Database: PostgreSQL for structured data, MongoDB for unstructured data
  • API: RESTful API design
  • Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
  • Data Visualization: D3.js, Leaflet for maps
  • Real-time Updates: WebSockets
  • Hosting: AWS (EC2, RDS, S3)
  • CI/CD: Jenkins or GitLab CI
  • Monitoring: ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)

API Endpoints

  • /api/auth/register
  • /api/auth/login
  • /api/dashboard
  • /api/widgets
  • /api/data-sources
  • /api/analysis
  • /api/reports
  • /api/alerts
  • /api/user-settings

Database Schema

Users:

  • id (PK)
  • username
  • email
  • password_hash
  • role

Dashboards:

  • id (PK)
  • user_id (FK)
  • layout_json

Widgets:

  • id (PK)
  • dashboard_id (FK)
  • type
  • settings_json

DataSources:

  • id (PK)
  • name
  • type
  • connection_details

Alerts:

  • id (PK)
  • user_id (FK)
  • data_source_id (FK)
  • threshold
  • notification_type

File Structure

/src /components /Dashboard /Widgets /DataVisualizations /Analysis /Alerts /pages Home.js Login.js Register.js Dashboard.js Analysis.js Reports.js Settings.js /api authApi.js dashboardApi.js dataApi.js alertApi.js /utils dataProcessing.js chartHelpers.js /styles global.css components.css /public /assets images/ icons/ /server /routes /controllers /models /middleware /tests README.md package.json

Implementation Plan

  1. Project Setup (1 week)

    • Initialize React and Node.js projects
    • Set up version control and project structure
    • Configure development environment

  2. Backend Development (3 weeks)

    • Implement user authentication
    • Create API endpoints
    • Set up database and ORM
    • Develop data processing utilities

  3. Frontend Core (3 weeks)

    • Create basic UI components
    • Implement dashboard layout system
    • Develop widget framework

  4. Data Integration (2 weeks)

    • Integrate external data sources
    • Implement real-time data fetching
    • Develop data caching mechanisms

  5. Visualization and Analysis (3 weeks)

    • Create data visualization components
    • Implement analysis tools
    • Develop report generation features

  6. User Management and Settings (1 week)

    • Implement user roles and permissions
    • Create settings and preferences pages

  7. Alert System (1 week)

    • Develop alert creation interface
    • Implement notification system

  8. Testing and Refinement (2 weeks)

    • Conduct unit and integration tests
    • Perform user acceptance testing
    • Refine features based on feedback

  9. Deployment and Documentation (1 week)

    • Set up production environment
    • Deploy application
    • Create user and technical documentation

Deployment Strategy

  1. Set up AWS infrastructure (EC2, RDS, S3)
  2. Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy
  3. Set up SSL certificates for HTTPS
  4. Implement Docker for containerization
  5. Use AWS Elastic Beanstalk for easy deployment and scaling
  6. Set up automated backups for the database
  7. Implement monitoring and logging with CloudWatch and ELK Stack
  8. Use AWS Route 53 for DNS management
  9. Implement a Blue-Green deployment strategy for zero-downtime updates
  10. Set up a staging environment for pre-production testing

Design Rationale

The customizable dashboard approach was chosen to cater to the diverse needs of coastal engineers, allowing them to focus on the most relevant data for their specific projects. React.js was selected for its component-based architecture, which aligns well with the widget system. Node.js on the backend provides a JavaScript-based full-stack solution, improving development efficiency. PostgreSQL offers robust support for geospatial data, crucial for coastal engineering applications. The combination of D3.js and Leaflet provides powerful, flexible data visualization capabilities. The modular file structure and use of modern web technologies ensure scalability and maintainability as the project grows.