SE Coastal Network Water Quality Inventory & Monitoring Program Database Development Wade Sheldon & John Carpenter Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia

Project Background NPS identified need to compile information on long-term monitoring of water quality in SE coastal waters In Fall 2007 we proposed to:  Conduct workshop to gather input, info on regional activities  Compile database of long-term monitoring program metadata  Produce report summarizing monitoring in region  Develop interactive web applications for querying database

Database Design Process - Research Reviewed other environmental monitoring database efforts  International: GTOS TEMS (  Regional: Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (  OOS, regional consortia (SECOORA), … Reviewed monitoring program/observation metadata standards  MMI ( – various schemas, drafts  EPA STORET (parameters) – legacy metadata  NEIEN (EPA/States/Tribes)  Environmental Data Standards Council (2006 standards/schemas)  Water Quality Exchange (WQX) – STORET replacement  NWQMC - Water Quality Data Elements

Database Design Process - Evaluation Concluded huge amount of work going on to standardize and coordinate metadata/data exchange  Regional consortia, EON/IOOS  New NSF programs (INTEROP, FEON) Differences in approaches, progress  Detailed schemas & standards -> basic metadata content recommendations without implementation tools -> plans in development  Some controlled vocabularies, but not widely applied Common threads  Geospatial query/visualization (Google Maps API common)  Thematic searches at varying granularity (topics, programs, parameter types)

Database Design Process - Approach Decide on initial scope  NPS goal: Water Quality monitoring in SE coastal zone (NC,SC,GA,FL)  Geographic bounds  Initial monitoring programs to target Design, prototype relational database to support thematic and geospatial queries for targeted content  Support relevant metadata content standards (EDSC, NWQMC)  Flexibility for adding new metadata fields, varying completeness  Support varying granularity in searches (broad-to-narrow), hierarchies

Geographic Scope: Defining the Coastal Zone

Initial Monitoring Programs USGS National Water Information System  Large amount of relevant, long-term data (water quality, streamflow, groundwater)  Excellent support for data mining (XML reports, RDB data)  Use STORET parameter codes (basic groupings, units, methods) NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve SWMP  Relevant, medium-long-term data  Support for mining stations, parameters via SOAP EPA STORET  Problem: many sites without locations, complete metadata “In house” programs (GCE-LTER, NPS)

Prototype Relational Database Draft completed in May 2008, implemented in SQL Server 2000 Basic structure: Research Projects Monitoring Programs Monitoring Stations/Sites Parameters/Methods Scalable metadata model used for projects, monitoring programs  Some fixed fields (title, desc., dates, web url)  Additional editable lists of available fields with web display options Developed administrative forms (MS Access) Prototype web interfaces under development (demo’d here)

Administrative Forms – Metadata Fields

Administrative Forms – Projects

Web Forms Interface

Next Steps Gather workshop feedback on:  Overall approach  Metadata content to survey  Queries, output formats to support  Controlled vocabularies, hierarchies for parameters Complete web interfaces for interactive input, queries, map display Solicit metadata from other groups Continue to develop automated ingestion approaches  XML/XSLT/SOAP  Spreadsheet templates Prepare NPS report

Map Visualizations – Draft Google Earth Display

Spatial Query – Google Maps & Place Names

Web Access This workshop:  Router: SSID = GCRC (passphrase = Water Quality)   Register or use username = nps_workshop, pw = nps_workshop After the workshop:  Background materials:  Database design (ERD)  Candidate parameter list, hierarchy  GIS resources for coastal zone determination