Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Tucson, Arizona » SWRC » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #223125
Title: Archiving and Distributing Three Long-Term Interconnected Geospatial Data Sets

Author
item Moran, Mary
item HUTCHINSON, B. - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
item MARSH, S. - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
item MCCLARAN, M. - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
item OLSSON, A. - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Submitted to: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/14/2008
Publication Date: 1/23/2009
Citation: Moran, M.S., Hutchinson, B., Marsh, S., Mcclaran, M., Olsson, A. 2009. Archiving and Distributing Three Long-Term Interconnected Geospatial Data Sets. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 47(1): 59-71.

Interpretive Summary: Scientists often come together for intensive field experiments to use satellite and aircraft imagery for studies of hydrological and ecological processes. The result is a valuable data set of images and on-site measurements that extend over decades covering the experimental site. There is a movement by government and academic institutions to preserve these long-term data for the benefit of both local scientists and the larger international body of students and researchers. This report presents three case studies describing unit efforts to archive and distribute data over a multi-decadal period for a location in southeastern Arizona. The challenges included interconnecting the data distribution systems and sustaining the archiving and distribution process. The case studies present multiple approaches to meeting these challenges within the constraints of government and academic units. Each of the example cases had impact in the form of publications, budget savings, outside recognition, student research, registered users, data downloads and new research. Results should guide other local efforts to archive and preserve long-term scientific data and distribute them online.

Technical Abstract: Repeat remote sensing field campaigns at experimental sites result in a valuable set of remote sensing data resources, geographic information systems (GIS) data sets, digitized maps, and tabular data that are tied to specific locations. Archiving and distributing these geospatial data generally becomes the responsibility of local universities and federal research centers with few resources dedicated to the task. Developments in archiving and distributing geospatial data are presented through the description and discussion of three interconnected case studies of data preservation at government and academic units in southeastern Arizona. The main challenges were associated with data archiving, developing online data distribution systems, interconnecting the data distribution systems, and sustaining the archiving and distribution systems. The case studies present multiple approaches to meeting these challenges within the constraints of government and academic units. Results should guide other local efforts to archive and preserve long-term geospatial data and distribute them online.