E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Cape Hatteras National Seashore Threatened bird tracking systems at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Leslie Frattaroli Acting GIS Specialist Outer Banks Group

Background Biological data is obtained for threatened and endangered birds on the Seashore Monitoring data has been collected for over 10 years Data is collected over 3 islands (Bodie, Hatteras, Ocracoke) In 2012, Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Management Plan was implemented Bodie Island Hatteras Island Ocracoke Island

ORV Management Plan Continued 2012 ORV Management Plan Bird location and movements dictate the current beach closures Closure will then be reassessed based off current location on a daily basis Internal hard-copy maps created to reflect this change Public facing web map updated on Cape Hatteras National Seashore website

Old system Wildlife technicians and management utilized google docs spreadsheets for data collection Data collection entered manually from a paper form Duplicate data entry, non standardized data Interface wasn’t user-friendly Wasn’t coherent easy way to compile data for future analysis

Workflow Wildlife Technician collects GPS points GIS Technician/GIS Specialist enter GPS data into GIS database Enter Tabular Data into Google Docs Reconcile Tabular and Spatial Data

Conversion to current system Created an ArcSDE geodatabase located on a virtual server in the Denver Data Center Database is highly relational Implement versioning to enable simultaneous multiuser editing

Web Application Development Development started in 2012 Created authoritative database Implementation of ArcGIS Server Feature Services Created web application apps.html apps.html

New Work Flow – Data Entry

Some biological data is strictly spatial Minimal information collected with a spatial location Date Species

Work Flow – Spatial to Tabular Data

Add Tabular data to existing spatial location

Lessons learned Steep learning curve to use the database compared to Google Docs Two competing visions of what the database should look like Field Staff Programmers Trying to get exact questions from management for reporting functions

Positive Outcomes Central authoritative database in Denver allowed us to reduce in house versions of databases Utilize ArcGIS online and NPS Portal to create quick online maps to visualize management areas (internal and public facing) Useful for non-GIS users Once field staff knew the workflow, they liked being able to view the data spatially

What’s Next? Upcoming field season, easy GPX file uploads by field staff Enables quick verification of correct point locations Incorporation of legacy data Ideally, collect data directly in the field without paper form

Any questions? National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior