1. 1 Development and Implementation of a Sustainable GIS at the West/Rhode Riverkeeper Organization by Timothy Love, MGIS Student Penn State University With Charles Andy Cole, Advisor PSU Department of Landscape Architecture

2. 2 Presentation Outline Project Objectives About the W/R Riverkeeper Background W/R Gap Analysis GIS Components Project Subtasks Personnel Timeline Risks Links

3. 3 Project Objectives Develop and implement a core, sustainable GIS within the West/Rhode Riverkeeper Organization of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Promote continued, long-term GIS activity, developed such that similar watershed organizations can adopt these spatial techniques. Focus on a core set of parameters to be used by W/R to provide value-added Report Card type analyses. Create sharable spatial information for public and non-profit organizations as well as other scientific agencies

4. 4 West & Rhode Rivers of The Chesapeake Bay Rhode West Washington Baltimore

5. 5 W/R Mission –Protect families and communities by stopping pollution –Strive for healthy and safe rivers and streams –Work together with communities to enforce environmental law, promote restoration, and advocate for better environmental policy. –Monitor water quality data and provide analyses Partners –Neighbor Riverkeepers –Chesapeake Bay Foundation –Smithsonian Environmental Research Center –Maryland Department of Natural Resources The West / Rhode Riverkeeper

6. 6 Project Background Recently changed jobs from technical to management Significant Other has volunteered at W/R for the past 5 years Recognized the potential for implementation of GIS technologies at W/R Chance to contribute in a meaningful way, applying GIS principles to a real-world situation

7. 7 Lack of spatial maps for analyses Difficult to read tabular data Tabular data difficult to use for other purposes Discontinuous data insufficient for entire audience Minimal experience with GIS software & techniques Areas of Possible Enhancement Within W/R

8. 8 Planning of all aspects Database creation and maintenance Scripting & Automation for product creation Interpolation of parameters Cartography & symbology of map templates Documentation and Metadata creation Training of W/R staff GIS Activities Involved in this Project

9. 9 Project Components

10. 10 Decisions are mutually dependent Factors to consider: –Cost, initial and ongoing Funding options: Grant, Base Fund, Donation, Non-Profit –Functionality Hardware –Convenience for users/staff; Portability & usability; Laptop vs. desktop –Specifications: Memory, Storage, Graphics, Processor Software –Ability to meet requirements to support project goals –Compatibility with hardware (operating system) –Availability of support: technical & troubleshooting –Compatibility with existing infrastructure Database; Operating system; Software –Existing user knowledge W/R Staff; Partners; Self Analysis & Procurement Software / Hardware

11. 11 Sources: –W/R Riverkeeper –Smithsonian Environmental Research Center –George Mason University (GMU) –Chesapeake Bay Program –MD Department of Natural Resources Parameters –Dissolved oxygen, Water clarity, Bacteria, Water salinity, Water temperature –Near-real time & historical records –Data formats Inventory of Available Data

12. 12 W/R Water Quality Monitoring Locations Some sites automated; most manually recorded ~25 active monitoring sites Many accessible from land; some by water only

13. 13 To focus on storage of the core set of parameters Critical pre-existing spatial layers will also be included Determination of spatial format will be required Fields, attributes defined to minimize disk space Physical placement of database –W/R Server; Multiple desktops/laptops –Versioning considerations –Geodatabase type: shared, personal, enterprise… Geodatabase must work seamlessly with other project subtasks (data conversion, interpolations, archival) Geodatabase

14. 14 A template to be used by W/R staff for their primary GIS activities/analyses –Must be user friendly, or at least easy to learn –Should be solid and concise, rather than elaborate and unmanageable Thoughtful symbological definitions for all layers Other tools created within this project will likely reside here Must link with geodatabase Operational Software Template

15. 15 Goal: Create a tool for users to quickly convert near-real time or archived data to spatial format Considerations to determine: –Programming/scripting language –Method to begin conversions –Input/output data formats Likely Input Formats –tab, csv, txt, xls Likely Output Formats –shp, tif, grid, csv Data Conversion Automation

16. 16 Goals –Determine the most appropriate methodologies for estimations of core parameters –Develop a tool to allow W/R users to quickly create interpolations –Provide input to location of monitoring stations Considerations –Research of primary techniques: idw, kriging, nearest neighbor, … –Scripting language/methodology –Initialization Interpolation Automation

17. 17 Goal: Create a tool or method for W/R users to quickly export spatial products to graphical format Potential formats: png, gif, tif, jpeg Additional considerations –Scripting technique/language –Process initialization –Web page integration –For W/R Report Card and other publications Graphic Production Automation

18. 18 George Mason Univ. group is developing a plan to increase usability of water quality monitoring program –Enhanced accuracy of parameter measurements –Reduced data transmission latency –Re-evaluated monitoring station locations My goal is to ensure that their project effectively incorporates GIS aspects of W/R End result will likely be redistributed monitoring station locations as well GMU Team Interaction

19. 19 Report Card summarizes the state of water quality in the W/R rivers To provide value-added spatial analyses and graphical products Will be a primary final deliverable of this project Inputs to 2008 W/R Report Card

20. 20 Provide sufficient documentation for W/R personnel to understand, run, and maintain all project deliverables Deliver information of GIS concepts useful to W/R Structure docs in such a manner to appeal to other Riverkeeper organizations Provide relevant Metadata for each spatial field Deliver a final report and presentation describing the project in detail Documentation

21. 21 The ultimate goal is for sustainability Will be based on accompanying documentation Will focus on hands-on spatial applications and operational theory Primarily 1-on-1 with associated small group sessions as warranted Target audience will be W/R organization and GMU associates –Secondary: Partner Riverkeepers and other Bay organizations Training

22. 22 Myself Project Advisor W/R Riverkeeper W/R Webmaster W/R Staff Required Personnel Picture here

23. 23 Timeline

24. 24 Lack of time to complete Unavailable Webmaster support Insufficient feedback Unavailable data from outside agencies W/R data unavailable in proper format Expected Risks

25. 25 W/R Riverkeeper: –http://www.westrhoderiverkeeper.org/ Penn State Geography Department: –http://www.geog.psu.edu/ George Mason University Systems Engineering: –http://www.seor.gmu.edu/ Chesapeake Bay Foundation: –http://www.cbf.org/ Links

26. 26 Stacie Bender: W/R Volunteer Andy Cole: Penn State Dept. of Landscape Architecture Beth King and Doug Miller: Penn State Dept. of Geography Chris Trumbauer: W/R Riverkeeper Thanks!

27. 27 Questions & Comments?