Data Management in your National Parks

South Florida Natural Resources Center

Data Management in your National Parks

Erik Stabenau, PhDOceanographer & Coastal Ocean ModelerEverglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas National [email protected]: 305.224.4209

mailto:[email protected]

Everglades National ParkSouth Florida Natural Resources Center

National Park Service Mission“…conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such

means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations…”

-National Park Service Organic Act, 1916


Yellowstone National Park


Yosemite National Park


Mount Rainier National Park


Thomas Edison National Historic Park


San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park


Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg


Dry Tortugas National Park


How Many National Parks Are There?

401

85 Ocean and Great Lakes Parkswith

11,000 miles of coastsand

2.5 million acres of water


National Park Service Mission“…conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such

means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations…”

-National Park Service Organic Act, 1916

At its core, it’s a clear, well-focused, mission.

Features: • Unimpaired was interpreted as ‘unchanged’ (The Leopold Report)• Balances preservation and access• Recognizes significant of both natural and cultural resources


The Leopold Report’s Impact

1963 Leopold ReportKey feature:

“A national park should present a vignette of primitive America…if the goal cannot be fully achieved it can be approached. A reasonable illusion of primitive America could be recreated, using the utmost in skill, judgment, and ecologic sensitivity.”

• Snapshot, frozen in time• Illusion is acceptable, if needed

2013 Leopold RevisitedKey feature:

“The overarching goal of NPS resource management should be to steward NPS resources for continuous change that is not yet fully understood, in order to preserve ecological integrity and cultural and historical authenticity, provide visitors with transformative experiences, and form the core of a national conservation land- and seascape”

• Provide for change• Recognize connections across park

boundaries


Resource management

• Primarily a data-related effort– Balancing need of visitors, natural systems– Recognizing climate change– Recognizing connectivity – Benefiting from the expertise of non-NPS

scientists and resource managers• Goal oriented

– Support diversity and ecosystem function


Environmental data-related items in NPS FY14 Budget

CLIMATE CHANGE

New climate change adaptation data and decision tools relating to:• predicting and anticipating wildland fire trends,• predicting the spread or introduction of invasive species, and• tracking changes in wildlife abundance and distribution;• Integrated vegetation surveys representing the entire lower 48 states; and• Creation of a web-based searchable database

PROJECTS (examples)

UC-Berkley spatial data development related to carbon storageAlaska – Interferometric synthetic aperature radar mapping dataPark-wide – improved GIS coverage of park assets in centralized GIS catalogs

FEDERAL PARTNERS

USGS, EPA, USACE, NOAA

INTERNAL PROGRAMS

Inventory and monitoring – NPS effort to systematically record environmental data, managed in divisions by discipline and/or region

GIS support – improved GIS coverage for selected park units each year, data incorporated into centralized GIS data catalog

Soundscapes, Water Resources, Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program


Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA @ NPS)

Data storage and retrieval with services for machine-to-machine query

Portal to access multiple independent data tools

Key feature: Data store with both web search and REST services


{searchTerm} GET

advancedSearch GETsavedSearch/{id} GETschemas/BasicSearchResult GET

schemas/ReferenceFull GETschemas/ReferenceProfile GETupdatedSince/{yyyymmdd} GETurlOptions/detail GETurlOptions/format GETurlOptions/paging GETurlOptions/searchField GETurlOptions/type GETurlOptions/typegroups GET

IRMA @ NPS REST services endpoint

checklist/{unitCode}/{categories=null} GET

detaillist/{unitCode}/{categories=null} GET

fulllist/{unitCode}/{categories=null} GET

schemas/SpeciesListItem GET

urlOptions/categories GET

urlOptions/format GET

Supports HTTP ‘get’ requests and JSONP responses

Limited set of options but expanding based on user feedback

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/FetchReferencesByQuickSearch

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/FetchReferencesByAdvancedSearch

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/FetchReferencesBySavedSearch

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowBasicSearchResultSchema

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowFullReferenceProfileSchema

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowReferenceProfileSchema

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/FetchReferencesLastUpdatedBy

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowDetailOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowFormatOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowPagingOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowSearchFieldOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowRefTypeOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/datastore/help/operations/_ShowRefTypeGroupOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/FetchSpeciesListChecklist

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/FetchSpeciesListFullListWithDetails

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/FetchSpeciesListFullList

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/_ShowSpeciesListItemSchema

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/_ShowCategoryOptions

http://irmaservices.nps.gov/v3/rest/NPSpecies/help/operations/_ShowFormatOptions


IRMA and the Aquarius Database


IRMA and the Aquarius Database


Big Cypress

1974

Biscayne

1968

Everglades

1934

Dry Tortugas

1935

South Florida National Parks


Everglades Mission“…shall be permanently reserved as a

wilderness, and [nothing] shall be undertaken which will interfere with the preservation

intact of the unique flora and fauna and the essential primitive natural conditions now

prevailing in this area…”

-Everglades National Park Enabling Legislation, 1934






Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP) Data Integration Efforts• Primarily document sharing services

(submit, check-out, update, return)• Project based approach

– Each project has definite start/end dates– Multi-year projects stored as separate

datasets– Limited use of standards and those that are

used are often modified as-needed


• USGS – primarily SOFIA (South Florida Information Access) database and products– Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) depth maps

• SFWMD – internal database with web based query– Extensive use of DBKeys, breakpoint data, and aggregation for large

data requests– Separate search routes for current vs. historic data

• USACE – funding and contract based data requirements– Supporting others but has $ so influences data sharing and storage

Comprehensive Evergaldes Restoration Program (CERP) Data Integration Efforts


S. Florida NPS Monitoring Network

Everglades National Park

Biscayne National Park

Big Cypress National Preserve

Dry Tortugas National Park (not shown)

… and, we are not alone.


Partners involved in Everglades Restoration Initiatives in South Florida:

NOAAUSGSSFWMD

(Water management)Miami-Dade County

(Environmental Quality)UniversitiesNon-profit organizationsState FWCFederal FWS


Data Collection Platforms, Marsh• Primary emphasis on data

to ‘get the water right’, meaning…– Quality, quantity, and timing

of freshwater – Mostly 2 parameter stations:

stage and rain– Sustainability


Data Collection Platform, Marine

• Expansion of management effort– Recognition of management

influence on coastal regions– Multiple parameters:

• stage, rain, conductivity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll A, turbidity, wind….

– Remote data transmission (GOES, RF, cellular)

– Sustainability


NPS - Data Management at EVER• MySQL based system with web

interface– GOES and RF data delivery systems

with hourly/daily updates– Monthly site visits and rigorous

validation– Excellent searching, stats, and 2D

plotting capabilities– Web interface allows database design

and management dependent on access rights

– Data back-up and off-site archiving

• Currently behind NPS firewall– One-way data sharing to ftp– Multiple custom data downloads– Always initiated by NPS system

RF (poled):Marsh Network

Parse & LoadTo MySQL databaseWith basic QA/QC

Internal BrowserInterface

DataForEVER(NPS employees)

External FTPTransfer

toNOAAUSGS

SFWMDothers

GOES (timed): Marine Network




Products

Station Datatype Elevation Threshold YearWetting Event Count

Discontinuous Minimum Average Maximum

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 1999 3 302 9 100.7 216

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2000 6 265 1 44.2 99

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2001 3 208 9 69.3 181

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2002 3 268 16 89.3 223

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2003 3 281 16 93.7 245

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2004 4 272 1 68.0 181

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2005 3 227 7 75.7 213

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2006 4 239 4 59.8 160

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2007 8 216 1 27.0 182

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2008 1 183 183 183.0 183

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2009 2 253 26 126.5 227

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2010 5 240 13 48.0 162

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2011 2 188 77 94.0 111

NP205 stage 6.07 6.07 2012 3 252 7 84.0 229

Period 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Minim

umAvera

geMaximum

JAN 27.31 37.06 26.14 33.45 29.81 42.44 32.22 33.20 29.52 36.67 32.55 33.33 32.60 26.14 32.79 42.44

FEB 30.22 36.00 28.06 33.01 32.53 40.18 33.89 33.47 32.81 39.13 31.37 33.97 33.39 28.06 33.69 40.18

MAR 31.53 39.45 29.72 34.44 33.46 37.37 36.39 35.10 37.99 40.31 33.14 36.76 33.26 29.72 35.30 40.31

APR 36.59 43.46 32.25 36.93 37.02 39.99 39.33 37.08 36.75 44.06 35.33 41.29 35.69 32.25 38.14 44.06

MAY 40.12 42.69 36.83 37.77 37.28 44.88 41.86 40.79 41.81 45.56 37.54 43.12 33.47 33.47 40.29 45.56

JUN 41.88 47.40 35.11 36.87 43.06 45.83 39.10 37.14 45.29 42.68 39.82 45.12 33.35 33.35 40.97 47.40

JUL 42.99 46.34 29.15 38.14 49.57 43.83 36.86 35.06 44.68 39.52 38.53 44.85 32.52 29.15 40.16 49.57

AUG 44.51 39.56 28.54 39.12 40.94 45.89 37.64 38.78 44.54 40.78 39.82 40.46 32.37 28.54 39.46 45.89

SEP 45.48 36.54 28.73 35.78 38.14 35.52 30.92 40.65 38.53 40.69 35.57 37.74 31.00 28.73 36.56 45.48

OCT 36.56 29.35 28.78 30.81 39.42 29.89 30.50 30.26 34.72 38.24 26.75 36.97 30.02 26.75 32.48 39.42

NOV 34.95 24.36 28.90 25.36 43.25 27.87 31.07 27.29 34.17 37.13 27.60 32.35 29.99 24.36 31.10 43.25

DEC 34.94 25.12 31.72 25.28 44.19 30.35 32.53 28.11 35.22 34.69 29.71 30.34 30.89 25.12 31.78 44.19

Average 37.26 37.28 30.33 33.91 39.06 38.67 35.19 34.74 38.00 39.96 33.98 38.02 32.38 28.80 36.06 43.98


Case: Evaluate agricultural drawdown impact on salinity in Biscayne National Park

Challenges: • Data required collected by different agencies

and stored in different systems• Incomplete data – human observations not

recorded or stored• Short timeline and requires analysis of current

conditions

Assessment: • Manual search through web interface to

determine database keys• Data grab and load to local database• Produce products• Human dimension, a primary driver of the

operation in question, is ignored.


Case: Evaluate agricultural drawdown impact on salinity in Biscayne National Park

Working solution: • Still requires current data as input so manual

data agglomeration • Model output is manually extracted and

graphical products are built in ArcGIS• Fairly simple relationships (flow vs salinity)

calculated manually

Slow, politically complex, process that requires extensive documentation and persistence.


• Predicting ecosystem response under several climate change scenarios

• Managing access to Florida Bay to minimize seagrass damage

• Assessing impact of water management actions on salinity in Florida Bay relative to paleo-records

Additional case studies


National-level NPS data management systems

• Integrated product has to provide functionality that meets or exceeds the local interim solution

• Interface has to be familiar • System must be stable and fast• System must support machine-to-machine

communication


SummaryIndividual NPS units have extensive data management needs.

The variety across the park service has acted as a barrier to centralized solutions to park-level issues.

New efforts, aimed at recognizing NPS units as part of corridors of connectivity, require improved data sharing.

NPS response to climate change has brought data sharing and long term data management to the forefront.

Anticipate changes in NPS data management systems within the next decade.


For further information:[email protected]

Data Requests:[email protected]

Presentation would not have been possible without the helpful input of many NPS employees, including:

Kevin Whelan and members of the South Florida/ Caribbean Network offices of NPS. Jeff Seleck, NPS, CO Editor of Park Science. Thom Curdts, NPS, CO. Cliff McCreedy, NPS, WASO.



Documents

Data Management in your National Parks