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This project aimed to advance the long-standing need for a more formalized approach to data management planning at the science center (program) level in USGS. The study used two different science centers as test cases. Improved planning for data management and data integration is identified in the Bureau science strategy goals (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007; Burkett and others, 2011) with the need for consistent and unified data management to allow for accessible and high confidence data and information from the USGS science community. Principal Investigator : Thomas E Burley, Stan Smith Benefits Two data management models for other science centers to use Data management framework tested by use case scenario ...
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FAIR is an international set of principles for improving the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of research data and other digital products. The PIs for this CDI project planned and hosted a workshop of USGS data stakeholders, data professionals, and managers of USGS data systems from across the Bureau’s Mission Areas. Workshop participants shared case studies that fostered collaborative discussions, resulting in recommended actions and goals to make USGS research data more FAIR. Project PIs are using the workshop results to produce a roadmap for adopting FAIR principles in USGS. The FAIR Roadmap will be foundational to FY2021 CDI activities to ensure the persistence and usability of...
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Recent open data policies of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which were fully enforceable on October 1, 2016, require that federally funded information products (publications, etc.) be made freely available to the public, and that the underlying data on which the conclusions are based must be released. A key and relevant aspect of these policies is that data collected by USGS programs must be shared with the public, and that these data are subject to the review requirements of Fundamental Science Practices (FSP). These new policies add a substantial burden to USGS scientists and science centers; however, the upside of working towards compliance with...
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Over the last few years, the ISO 19115 family of metadata standards has become the predominantly accepted worldwide standard for sharing information about the availability and usability of scientific datasets among researchers. The U.S. interests in the ISO standard have also been growing as global-scale science demands participation with the broader international community; however, adoption has been slow because of the complexity and rigor of the ISO metadata standards. In addition, support for the standard in current implementations has been minimal. Principal Investigator : Stan Smith, Joshua Bradley Cooperator/Partner : Chis Turner In 2009, the Alaska Data Integration Working Group members (ADIwg) mobilized...
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We are working to incorporate environmental DNA (eDNA) data into the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database, which houses over 570,000 records of nonindigenous species nationally, and already is used by a broad user-base of managers and researchers regularly for invasive species monitoring. eDNA studies have allowed for the identification and biosurveillance of numerous invasive and threatened species in managed ecosystems. Managers need such information for their decision-making efforts, and therefore require that such data be produced and reported in a standardized fashion to improve confidence in the results. As we work to gain community consensus on such standards, we are finalizing the process for submitting...
The purpose of this study is to understand how the USGS is using decision support, learning from successes and pitfalls in order to help streamline the design and development process across all levels of USGS scientific tool creation and outreach. What should researchers consider before diving into tool design and development? Our goal is to provide a synthesis of lessons learned and best practices across the spectrum of USGS decision support efforts to a) provide guidance to future efforts and b) identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for knowledge transfer and integration. Principal Investigator : Amanda E Cravens Co-Investigator : Nicole M Herman-Mercer, Amanda Stoltz
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USGS data are one of the most valuable assets of the organization, and it is critical that we ensure our scientists and staff produce and manage data in such a way that at the completion of a project, the data continues to be accessible in useable formats, documented so it can be understood, and preserved properly for future uses. Principal Investigator : Vivian B Hutchison Cooperator/Partner : Lisa Zolly, Michelle Y Chang, Heather S Henkel, Thomas E Burley, Chatfield Thomas A, Carly Strasser The goals of this project included: produce three online training modules that relay the importance of data management, best practices for planning, and guidance for preparing science data to share; target audiences of...
2012 Updates (from the FY12 Annual Review) The NWIS Web Services Snapshot represents the next generation of data retrieval and management. The newest Snapshot tool allows instant access to NWIS data from four different web services through ArcGIS, software available to all USGS scientists in all mission areas. Increased data retrieval efficiency reduces the steps required to retrieve and compile water data from multiple sites from what can be more than 30 steps to just a few clicks. As an end-user education tool, it promotes use of NWIS data from both web services and the NWIS database, which increases the production of scientific research and analysis that uses NWIS data. The Snapshot database design enables efficient...
This project described production of an information foundation for fish habitat research consisting of a “mashup” of data from multiple USGS data systems that are fragmented among the former USGS Divisions. The proposal aimed to develop and test the semantic approach to data integration by focusing on the problem of fish habitat modeling. Effective prediction of the abundance of particular species at particular locations is a primary objective of both ecology and natural resource management. Better knowledge of aquatic fish ecology and habitat requirements and improved tools for assessment and planning are needed to help conserve and rehabilitate populations throughout their native range. Principal Investigator...
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The U.S. network of 160 weather radars known as NEXRAD (NEXt generation RADar) is one of the largest and most comprehensive terrestrial sensor networks in the world. To date, the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has archived about 2 petabytes data from this system. Although designed for meteorological applications, these radars readily detect the movements of birds, bats, and insects. Many of these movements are continental in scope, spanning the entire range of the network. It is unclear whether biological or meteorological data comprise the bulk of the archive. Regardless, the biological portion is sufficiently large that it likely represents one of the largest biological data archives in the world, perhaps...
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Geotagged photographs have become a useful medium for recording, analyzing, and communicating Earth science phenomena. Despite their utility, many field photographs are not published or preserved in a spatial or accessible format—oftentimes because of confusion about photograph metadata, a lack of stability, or user customization in free photo sharing platforms. After receiving a request to release about 1,210 geotagged geological field photographs of the Grand Canyon region, we set out to publish and preserve the collection in the most robust (and expedient) manner possible (fig. 6). We leveraged and reworked existing metadata, JavaScript, and Python tools and developed a toolkit and proposed workflow to display...
The purpose of this project was to establish and support a USGS Mobile Environment website to provide support of portable hardware devices, application development and application delivery. The development of a framework to fully support this endeavor will require input and involvement by Core Science Systems, Enterprise Information, Science Quality and Integrity, Office of Communication, Publishing and the mobile community. Principal Investigator : Lorna A Schmid, David L Govoni, Sky Bristol, Tim Kern Benefits One-stop shop to provide detailed support information across USGS Mission Areas Actual functioning mobile applications, built collectively Deliverables Trained Mobile Community Workshop held July 17...
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In this age of rapidly developing technology, scientific information is constantly being gathered across large spatial scales. Yet, our ability to coordinate large-scale monitoring efforts depends on development of tools that leverage and integrate multiple sources of data. North American bats are experiencing unparalleled population declines. The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), a multi-national, multi-agency coordinated monitoring program, was developed to better understand the status and trends of North American bats. Similar to other large-scale monitoring programs, the ultimate success of NABat relies on a unified web-based data system. Our project successfully developed a program interface...
A number of monitoring method and protocol libraries are currently in existence. Although these systems have been tailored to certain disciplines or research foci, the underlying principles, mechanisms, and processes have commonalities that could facilitate synthesizing content and information. The Protocol Library project consists of modifying and thus extending the capabilities of the existing NEMI methods compendium. To accomplish the task of incorporating a broad array of protocols, NEMI developers have conducted user requirement queries of protocol owners. In addition, protocol owners have been asked how they would prefer to access the data. Input forms have been created to accommodate the desires of protocol...
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Large amounts of data are being generated that require hours, days, or even weeks to analyze using traditional computing resources. Innovative solutions must be implemented to analyze the data in a reasonable timeframe. The program HTCondor (https://research.cs.wisc.edu/htcondor/) takes advantage of the processing capacity of individual desktop computers and dedicated computing resources as a single, unified pool. This unified pool of computing resources allows HTCondor to quickly process large amounts of data by breaking the data into smaller tasks distributed across many computers. This project team implemented HTCondor at the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) to leverage existing computing...
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This project will assess the accuracy of climate drivers (precipitation and temperature) from different sources for current and future conditions. The impact of these drivers on hydrologic response will be using the monthly water balance model (MWBM). The methodology for processing and analysis of these datasets will be automated for when new climate datasets become available on the USGS Geo Data Portal (http://cida.usgs.gov/climate/gdp/ - content no longer available). This will ensure continued relevancy of project results, future opportunities for research and assessment of potential climate change impacts on hydrologic resources, and comparison between generations of climate data. To share and distribute the...
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Environmental DNA (eDNA) testing allows for high sensitivity monitoring efforts of cryptic species in large, remote systems and is performed by investigating water and soil samples for sloughed DNA. Having access to eDNA datasets across multiple taxa and ecosystems is necessary for improved coordination among researchers and management. Additionally, quality control protocols are needed to vet incoming database submissions. We developed a mechanism to submit eDNA data to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database, which currently maps and displays visual identification or physical capture data for non-native aquatic species. We have been working within the invasive species and eDNA communities to establish...
2012 Updates - Phase 2 (information from the FY12 CDI Annual Report) This project solicited input from USGS Mission Areas, Geographic Areas, CDI, etc. on Phase 1 FY11 Data Management Education Products. The proposal called for an interface with Data Management Website Working Group to make materials available. The work also included the development of content for a USGS data management training program based upon existing materials and data management training. Finally, development of a format/structure for data management training workshop was completed. Principal Investigator : Heather S Henkel, Vivian B Hutchison Benefits Inform and encourage broadest possible application of data Management best practices...
This project identified collected, and characterized existing online monitoring methods and protocol collection tools that USGS manages or is a substantial collaborator. It also identified the common elements between existing protocol libraries content and functionality. The project examined the results of the USGS Monitoring workshop in December 2011 that provided information about stakeholder needs to form the future scope of monitoring library components and functionality. Finally, the project developed a mechanism via the Data Management website for USGS scientists to identify their needs with regards to seeking monitoring protocols for a particular methodology and or other protocol access, reference, and citation...
What USGS programs use citizen science? How can projects be best designed while meeting policy requirements? What are the most effective volunteer recruitment methods? What data should be collected to ensure validation and how should data be stored? What standard protocols are most easily used by volunteers? Can data from multiple projects be integrated to support new research or existing science questions? To help answer these and other questions, the USGS CDI supported the development of the Citizen Science Working Group (CSWG) in August 2011 and funded the Working Group’s proposal to hold a USGS Citizen Science Workshop in fiscal year 2012. The USGS Citizen Science Workshop goals were: To raise awareness of...