ARS | Publication request: DATA FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MODELS: ROLE OF DATA/INFORMATION SYSTEMS.

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 1, 2003
Publication Date: November 1, 2003
Citation: STEINER, J.L., GOODRICH, D., HARDEGREE, S., BURKHART, M.R., STRICKLAND, T.C., BRYANT, R.B., ALONZO, C.V., WELTZ, M.A. DATA FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MODELS: ROLE OF DATA/INFORMATION SYSTEMS. CD-ROM. MADISON, WI: AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRONOMY. 2003.

Technical Abstract: Knowledge gaps relating to water supply, quality, and cycling processes have been identified as critical obstacles to improved water resource management in recent assessments. One critical gap identified was lack of adequate data to evaluate climate and hydrologic processes, particularly variability associated with climate and hydrology that affects management responses. The USDA, Agricultural Research Service operates long-term research watersheds in major physiographic regions of the US. These watersheds provide under-utilized opportunities to evaluate interactions of land use change, management practices, and climate variability in national assessments. A pilot project is underway in ARS to develop a common platform to access watershed data from multiple locations. The overall objective is to provide improved access to the watershed data for internal and external researchers, while retaining local control of and responsibility for the data. This pilot project will be presented as a case study to illustrate information technology design and management issues relevant to complex, disperse data bases, such as development of metadata standards, quality assurance procedures, and establishment of data sharing and management policies. Well designed data management systems are critical as a component of model systems for natural resource analyses and problem-solving.