Ecogrid: from Field Observation to Spatial Knowledge 5 April 2005 Floris Sluiter Computational Bio- and Physical Geography, UvA

Sub Program 1.4 of the VL-e program Two projects on biodiversity: Bambas –Parameter Optimization and Data Assimilation in Bird Avoidance Models Ecogrid –The topic of today

Co-workers: Willem Bouten, chair CBPG Guido van Reenen, CBPG (Analysis Data Model) Floris Sluiter, CBPG (Design & Implementation) VOFF (10 nature organizations) Victor Mensing, Vlinderstichting Dirk Zoetebier, Sovon Special Thanks to: Aart Jan van der Linden, Talmon Communications (portal prototype implementation)

Overview Ecogrid Aims Example: Red-backed Shrikes Data Acquisition Spatial databases Ecogrid System Overview Working Prototype: –Data Acquisition Portal –Science/Analysis Portal Remarks & Questions

Ecogrid: the Aims SP1.4 Construct a virtual database that is connected to geographically distributed databases which contain information on the distributions of species, on landscape characteristics and on weather. Develop generic methodologies and tools for scale conversions, to be able to integrate and interpret data that are observed at different spatial scales. Use this infrastructure across the boundaries of organizations to identify: –Spatial food web structures –Biodiversity hotspots –Effects of changed land use.

Example: Insect diversity and Red-backed Shrikes

Nitrogen dep. }

Data Acquisition The Netherlands has one of the worlds most extensive and densest networks for collecting data on the spatial and temporal distributions of flora and fauna Spreadsheets/’databases’ Notebook Biologist

Data Acquisition (continued) Combine biological data with data on –Weather & Climate data –Landscape characteristics Land use Soil Vector maps of roads/cities and other infrastucture Vegetation … Some of these datasets we will host ourselves, others we will connect to through web services

Spatial databases: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Spatial functions to query (SQL) within and across layers: –Equals() –Disjoint() –Intersects() –Touches() –Crosses() –Within() –Contains() –Overlaps() Special indexing techniques (GisT) ‘Layers’ build with these data types, stored as tables in PostgreSQL/PostGIS.

Ecogrid system: overview Sovon Vlinder- stichting Data Acquisition Portal Landscape Weather Ecogrid Virtual Meta Database Scale conversion Modules Geostatistics.... Data mining modules Processed data Model Experiments Spotfire VL-eScience Research Environment BAMBAS Database Science Portal

Ecogrid system: Prototype Sovon Vlinder- stichting Data Acquisition Portal Landscape Weather Ecogrid Virtual Meta Database Scale conversion Modules Geostatistics.... Data mining modules Processed data Model Experiments Spotfire VL-eScience Research Environment BAMBAS Database Science Portal Taxonomy Fenology Codes

Ecogrid: Portal Prototype

Concluding Remarks PostgreSQL (and Postgis) are especially suited for large scientific databases 12 April we will present the prototype to all the partners in this project By the end of the year all the databases will be filled and we will have online data aqcuisition. Then we will shift our focus on using the data and concentrate on Analysis and Datamining

Questions?