Barrow Area Information Database

Last updated

The Barrow Area Information Database (BAID) is designed to support Arctic science with a special focus on the research hubs of Barrow, Atqasuk, and Ivotuk on the North Slope of Alaska.

Contents

The BAID Internet Map Server (BAID-IMS) is freely available to scientists, land managers, educators and the local community. Users can navigate to areas of interest and explore or query information about field-based scientific research. Current and historic research sites are shown as points with links to details about project investigators, discipline, funding program, year, related web sites, site photos and other information. Users can print or export maps for presentations and export tabular information.

BAID-IMS currently includes the locations of over 7000 research plots and instrument locations. This ongoing effort incorporates both new research locations and sampling sites dating back to the 1940s. BAID-IMS includes satellite imagery and other remote sensing products, topographic maps, land ownership information and local infrastructure that facilitates research and science communication.

History

The Barrow Area Information Database (BAID) was initiated in June 2000 as a cooperative project between Michigan State University's Arctic Ecology Laboratory and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC). The project had humble beginnings as a Microsoft Access database which was used to centralize information about research plots mapped with BASC's new DGPS system. In 2003, BASC's Digital Subcommittee saw an opportunity to visualize the BAID database with Internet Map Server (IMS) technology and commonly requested base maps. The BAID-IMS prototype was soon released. On September 1, 2005 NSF awarded funding for the project to continue through August 30, 2009.

BAID-IMS currently includes the locations of over 7000 research plots and instrument locations. This ongoing effort incorporates both new research locations and sampling sites dating back to the 1940s.

In order to facilitate the documentation of field research sites in the Barrow area, the University of Texas at El Paso Systems Ecology Laboratory provides Differential GPS support to National Science Foundation researchers during the peak Summer field season (June 1 - August 15). Support for historical studies and for other agencies working the vicinity of the Barrow Environmental Observatory also provided.

Capabilities

BAID-IMS can be used to mine information about research locations, project descriptions, photographs and contact information.

Metadata that meets the standards of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is available (or under development) for many data layers in BAID-IMS. Data that is considered unrestricted can be downloaded at the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Data Coordination Center (ADCC) at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) located at University of Colorado at Boulder.

BAID-IMS is linked to the Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network and efforts to develop an Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Technical details

BAID-IMS is hosted at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The application was designed with ESRI's ArcIMS 9.2 software. BAID-IMS currently integrates geospatial data from SDE databases, shapefiles, GeoTiffs and ERDAS Imagine files. Testing is underway to migrate the application to an ArcGIS Server Web Mapping Application. Dell blade server technology is employed to host the IMS application and associated database. Bulk purchases agreements and educational discounts available to UTEP have been leveraged in the acquisition of computer hardware, software, mapping grade GPS units and digital cameras in support of this effort. Support for Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards are enhanced with each upgrade to the application. An OGC Web Mapping Service (WMS) and a KML for use in Virtual Globes, such as Google Earth are also planned for release in 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geographic information system</span> System to capture, manage and present geographic data

A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database, however, this is not essential to meet the definition of a GIS. In a broader sense, one may consider such a system also to include human users and support staff, procedures and workflows, the body of knowledge of relevant concepts and methods, and institutional organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esri</span> Geospatial software & SaaS company

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., doing business as Esri, is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company headquartered in Redlands, California. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 40% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ArcIMS</span>

ArcIMS is a Web Map Server produced by Esri accessible through a web browser. It is a GIS that is designed to serve maps across the Internet. Sometimes these maps are just static images allowing simple panning and zooming, while others are more complex pages. Examples of interactive maps served with ArcIMS include maps with layers that can be turned on and off, or with features containing attributes that can be queried.

A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, analyze, and visualize geographic data, that is, data representing phenomena for which location is important. The GIS software industry encompasses a broad range of commercial and open-source products that provide some or all of these capabilities within various information technology architectures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manifold System</span>

Manifold System is a geographic information system (GIS) software package developed by Manifold Software Limited that runs on Microsoft Windows. Manifold System handles both vector and raster data, includes spatial SQL, a built-in Internet Map Server (IMS), and other general GIS features.

A Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 1999 for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet. These images are typically produced by a map server from data provided by a GIS database.

ArcSDE is a server-software sub-system that aims to enable the usage of Relational Database Management Systems for spatial data. The spatial data may then be used as part of a geodatabase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ArcGIS</span> Geographic information system maintained by Esri

ArcGIS is a family of client, server and online geographic information system (GIS) software developed and maintained by Esri.

gvSIG Desktop application for working with geographic data

gvSIG, geographic information system (GIS), is a desktop application designed for capturing, storing, handling, analyzing and deploying any kind of referenced geographic information in order to solve complex management and planning problems. gvSIG is known for having a user-friendly interface, being able to access the most common formats, both vector and raster ones. It features a wide range of tools for working with geographic-like information.

ArcGIS Server is the core server geographic information system (GIS) software made by Esri. ArcGIS Server is used for creating and managing GIS Web services, applications, and data. ArcGIS Server is typically deployed on-premises within the organization’s service-oriented architecture (SOA) or off-premises in a cloud computing environment.

Digital Earth is the name given to a concept by former US vice president Al Gore in 1998, describing a virtual representation of the Earth that is georeferenced and connected to the world's digital knowledge archives.

Geospatial metadata is a type of metadata applicable to geographic data and information. Such objects may be stored in a geographic information system (GIS) or may simply be documents, data-sets, images or other objects, services, or related items that exist in some other native environment but whose features may be appropriate to describe in a (geographic) metadata catalog.

The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens is a cultural history and natural history museum on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas, United States.The museum was built in 1936 to commemorate the centenary of Texas independence, making it the oldest museum in El Paso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web mapping</span> Process of using the maps delivered by geographic information systems (GIS) in World Wide Web

Web mapping or an online mapping is the process of using, creating, and distributing maps on the World Wide Web, usually through the use of Web geographic information systems. A web map or an online map is both served and consumed, thus, web mapping is more than just web cartography, it is a service where consumers may choose what the map will show.

Distributed GIS refers to GI Systems that do not have all of the system components in the same physical location. This could be the processing, the database, the rendering or the user interface. It represents a special case of distributed computing, with examples of distributed systems including Internet GIS, Web GIS, and Mobile GIS. Distribution of resources provides corporate and enterprise-based models for GIS. Distributed GIS permits a shared services model, including data fusion based on Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web services. Distributed GIS technology enables modern online mapping systems, Location-based services (LBS), web-based GIS and numerous map-enabled applications. Other applications include transportation, logistics, utilities, farm / agricultural information systems, real-time environmental information systems and the analysis of the movement of people. In terms of data, the concept has been extended to include volunteered geographical information. Distributed processing allows improvements to the performance of spatial analysis through the use of techniques such as parallel processing.

The Open Geospatial Consortium Web Coverage Service Interface Standard (WCS) defines Web-based retrieval of coverages – that is, digital geospatial information representing space/time-varying phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GIS and aquatic science</span> Implementation of Geographic Information System

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has become an integral part of aquatic science and limnology. Water by its very nature is dynamic. Features associated with water are thus ever-changing. To be able to keep up with these changes, technological advancements have given scientists methods to enhance all aspects of scientific investigation, from satellite tracking of wildlife to computer mapping of habitats. Agencies like the US Geological Survey, US Fish and Wildlife Service as well as other federal and state agencies are utilizing GIS to aid in their conservation efforts.

Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network (CEON) is a network of terrestrial and freshwater observation platforms, science experts and network partners promoting the collection and dissemination of environmental data from the Arctic. CEON observation platforms include land and freshwater observatories, research infrastructures, former research sites where retrospective analyses are being or can be undertaken, data and image archive centers and community monitoring programs.

Baid or BAID may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web GIS</span> Technologies employing the World Wide Web to manage spatial data

Web GIS, or Web Geographic Information Systems, are GIS that employ the World Wide Web to facilitate the storage, visualization, analysis, and distribution of spatial information over the Internet. The World Wide Web, or the Web, is an information system that uses the internet to host, share, and distribute documents, images, and other data. Web GIS involves using the World Wide Web to facilitate GIS tasks traditionally done on a desktop computer, as well as enabling the sharing of maps and spatial data. While Web GIS and Internet GIS are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different concepts. Web GIS is a subset of Internet GIS, which is itself a subset of distributed GIS, which itself is a subset of broader Geographic information system. The most common application of Web GIS is Web mapping, so much so that the two terms are often used interchangeably in much the same way as Digital mapping and GIS. However, Web GIS and web mapping are distinct concepts, with web mapping not necessarily requiring a Web GIS.

References