EEA-USEPA Research linkages meeting September 23, 2004 Setting the scene: The Research and Environmental Policy Context What is the challenge? The Office of Environmental Information and The Office of Research and Development

Meeting Objectives Support coherent policy/decision making in crosscutting environment and sustainability issues by Identifying research areas & linkages of common interest, and Pursuing joint implementation, coordination and dissemination, under the ECOinformatics initiative.

Access, Services ^ Capacity Building ^ Forecasts ^ Indicators ^ > Increasing Sources Of Data v Data To Useful Information v >

ITS ALL ABOUT ! ! ! ! !.... ECOINFORMATICS.... ???? 26 January 2010 Gary J. Foley, PhD Co-Chair, GEO User Interface Committee Earth Observation Systems Executive Senior Advisor to the EPA Chief Scientist Office of the Science Advisor, EPA

Its All About Decision-Making EPA makes decisions, requires some through regulations & policies to make decisions, and enables/empowers many to make voluntary decisions. Accountability starts with improved decision- making and ends with metrics showing the resulting Societal Benefits Research improves decision support tools and delivers data/information systems

Its Starts and Ends with the Users i.e. the Decision-Makers It starts with the engagement of a spectrum of relevant Users (decision- makers) to learn about what they do and what could help them do it better It ends with feedback from the Users on whether decision-making improved and the anticipated impacts/benefits were realized

THE SPECTRUM OF USERS Earth observations & earth system models Data-to-Information archiving & services Decision support tool development Decision making Assessment of benefits Earth system scientists and modelers Earth system service providers Environmental process modelers & researchers Policy Makers & Environmental managers Public officials, advocacy groups & the Public From observations systems To societal benefits User requirements well known Not aware that observational Requirements are even needed

Its Starts and Ends with the Users i.e. the Decision-Makers It starts with the engagement of a spectrum of relevant Users (decision- makers) to learn about what they do and what could help them do it better It ends with feedback from the Users on whether decision-making improved and the anticipated impacts/benefits were realized

Communities of practice are … Etienne Wenger Richard McDermott Bill Snyder Cultivating Communities of Practice, Harvard Business School Press, 2002 Groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic by interacting on an ongoing basis

A GEOSS Users Community of Practice The Public & Public Officials

What are the Missing Pieces? Lets use AirNOW as one case study Lets use the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) as another case study

About AIRNow Began in 1997 Funded by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Diverse stakeholder community – Federal, state, provincial, tribal and local air agencies (120+) – Scientific and health research organizations (15+) – Media and public outreach groups (30+) Education and outreach Substantial growth and data exchange International activities State and Local Air Agencies ObservationsForecasts AIRNowDataManagementCenter Internet Media DecisionMakersandPublic Data Maps and Forecasts

AIRNow Products Real-time, hourly maps and data Forecasts (300+ cities) News stories, e.g. wildfires Web cams (air quality) Seasonal air comparisons

AIRNows Human Side Its not just a system, its a community Annual conference Regional cooperation Daily interaction with stakeholders Support during air quality events, emergencies Leveraging state, local, and federal resources by collecting and distributing data back to partners, as well as to media outlets

From AIRNow to GEOSS The AIRNow experience has taught us several lessons –Community is KEY – 40% technology, 60% people –The public wants environmental information, but depends upon the community to interpret it –The community provides the context that lies between the data and the public, e.g. Shanghai pilot

A vision of GEOSS for Air Quality Decisionmakers Data Needs Ambient Meteorology Emissions Models Satellite Decision Makers Policy maker assessing intercontinental transport AQ manager assessing an exceptional event Public planning activities today and tomorrow Decision-makers depend on common observations and data

Three characteristics are crucial: A group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Etienne Wenger Domain... the concern, interest or passion Community... who value the interactions, often practitioners Practice... sharing familiar experiences, building a shared knowledge and learning

Usability Testing and the GCI Almost no one was testing the three GEO Portals and the GCI – WHY? Usability testing was sponsored by the UIC at ISRSE-33, via webex, at GEO-VI and at ESIP Winter meeting Almost 250 testers; good feedback Reports to the IOC, the Portal Providers and the ADC with feedback

THE SPECTRUM OF USERS Earth observations & earth system models Data-to-Information archiving & services Decision support tool development Decision making Assessment of benefits Earth system scientists and modelers Earth system service providers Environmental process modelers & researchers Policy Makers & Environmental managers Public officials, advocacy groups and the Public From observations To societal benefits Requirements well known Not aware that observational Requirements are even needed NOVICE USERS

The Novice User science-to-policy analysts, decision makers, public officials, & the public working/interested in specific issues that fall within one or more SBAs not SOA- or GEOSS-experienced looking for any and all observational data relevant to their issues want to easily find it and view it

The Novice User For the Novice User, EPA believes The GEOSS Common Infrastructure is not YET user friendly Metadata is important, but not useful Components (data/services) need to provide sample data sets for easy viewing geographically

GEOSS Ontology – Missing! Searches using the Portals do not work! The Standards underpinning the GCI did not include using a standardized ontology/vocabulary/thesaurus-based set of keywords The components, services and clearing- houses are not search engine friendly

GEOSS Components GEOSS Services GEOSS Standards GEOSS Special Arrangements expose reference may become nominate offer GEOSS Registries U.S.A. IEEE UDDIebRSCSW SRU Web UI USER Applications What do they do? USER Types Who are they? USER Requirements User Engagement UIC EPA/NASA/IEEE/ECMWF/ERG/U Nevada GEO Task US-09-01a Gathering Observational Priorities EXISTING NEW

GEOSS Components GEOSS Services GEOSS Standards GEOSS Special Arrangements expose reference may become nominate offer USER ENGAGEMENT Registries U.S.A. IEEE UDDIebRSCSW SRU Web UI USER Applications What do they do? USER Types Who are they? USER Requirements User Engagement UIC EPA/NASA/IEEE/ECMWF/ERG/U Nevada GEO Task US-09-01a Gathering Observational Priorities EXISTING NEW USER-FRIENDLY GCI ENTRY POINT

A vision of GEOSS for Air Quality Decisionmakers Data Needs Ambient Meteorology Emissions Models Satellite Decision Makers Policy maker assessing intercontinental transport AQ manager assessing an exceptional event Public planning activities today and tomorrow Decision-makers depend on common observations and data

Its All About.... Decision Making, i.e.... Engaging the Novice User A User-friendly engaging GCI entry point Building a Community... Supports DMs Understanding Decision Support An Information Delivery System > Maps/GIS Based on a GEOSS Ontology, etc. Regular usabilitiy testing and feedback