USGS Community for Data Integration Session 2

Presenter #4: Tara Chesley-Preston, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center & Montana State University (406.994.7158; [email protected]), Robert Diehl, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, and Todd Preston, Parallel, Inc.
Title: Summarization of National NEXRAD Data for use in Biological Applications

Abstract:

The US network of weather radars known as NEXRAD (NEXt generation RADar) is one of the largest and most comprehensive terrestrial sensor networks in the world with the ability to detect the movements and densities of hundreds of species of birds, bats, and insects. These radars have been shown to provide biologically useful data related to the ecology, behavior, conservation, and management of flying animals. Such data often includes but is not limited to altitude-specific measures of speed, direction, orientation, and the intensity of the movement. Currently, however, considerable post processing is required to enable the biological potential of these data, and this has limited their accessibility to the wider biological community. This project proposes a proof-of-concept to advance methods of processing, summarizing, and distributing biological radar data of flying animals in a form more accessible and meaningful to the larger biological science community. Processed and summarized data will be integrated into ScienceBase, an interdisciplinary data server and repository, where it will support current and future biological research applications. We are currently working with collaborators to develop algorithms to automate the collection and processing of NEXRAD datasets, which will initially be done manually using CDI funds. Manual summaries, in addition to providing biologically relevant NEXRAD data for the two fall migratory seasons covered, will provide a valuable resource to QA/QC algorithm performance prior to complete automation.

Presenter #5: Laura Ellison, Ecologist, USGS Fort Collins Science Center (970.226.9494; [email protected]); Lance Everette, Information Technology Specialist USGS Fort Collins Science Center (970.226.9225; [email protected]); Anne Ballmann, Wildlife Disease Specialist, USGS-National Wildlife Health Center, (608.270.2445; [email protected]); Suzanne Peurach, Collection Manager, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Smithsonian Institution (202.633.1277; [email protected]); Jeremy Coleman, National White-Nose Syndrome Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (413.253.8223; [email protected])

Title: North American Bat Data Integration

Abstract:

Bats are essential to the health of our natural world. They help control pests and are vital pollinators and seed-dispersers for countless plants. Bat populations are in trouble, however. Since 2006, more than 5 million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-nose Syndrome (WNS). At the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. This project will integrate two important datasets into an online web application called the USGS Bat Population Data (BPD) Project so that they are available to bat researchers and can inform conservation efforts for bats. The first dataset is WNS diagnostic data, which are used to better understand the distribution and spread of WNS, as well as the fungus that causes the disease. The second dataset is the Bat Banding Program files. For 40 years, the U.S. Government administered a bat banding program and the files have never been consolidated and entered into a searchable database. There is much interest in the bat conservation community for easy access to these historical records of banding at sites now infected with WNS or potentially threatened by wind energy development and climate change. This project will also develop the application programming interfaces (APIs), data services, and data management workflows to share the public government bat data and metadata with BISON (Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation) and Sciencebase.  

Presenter #6: Ryan Longhenry, USGS EROS Data Center (605.594.6179; [email protected])
Title: Adopt a Pixel – Data Infrastructure

Abstract:

Adopt a Pixel is a ground-reference data acquisition system engaging citizen scientists to serve operational and research needs of the Landsat science community. CDI funding will support the establishment of the data infrastructure within the Operational Science group of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Currently, the Adopt a Pixel initiative resides in a pilot state. CDI funding will be utilized to create a user upload capability, a data ingest process and a data management system for storage of imagery and metadata; and to enable incorporation into the USGS Earth Explorer web-based user interface for the query and download by the end user. Once the system is developed, tested, and released, users will be able to efficiently search and download numerous USGS-supported remote sensing datasets with the addition of linked ground reference photos provided by the user community.