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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409464
Research Project: Science and Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Western Rangeland Systems

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Data management tools to support standardized monitoring

Author
item REDECKER, NATHAN - Bureau Of Land Management
item DIETRICH, CHRIS - Bureau Of Land Management
item BROWNING, DOUG - Bureau Of Land Management
item ROCK, MIKE - Bureau Of Land Management
item NAFUS, ALETA - Bureau Of Land Management
item McCord, Sarah

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2023
Publication Date: 2/29/2024
Citation: Redecker, N., Dietrich, C., Browning, D., Rock, M., Nafus, A., McCord, S.E. 2024. Data management tools to support standardized monitoring. Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Data management can be one of the most challenging aspects of establishing and maintaining a monitoring program. The BLM Terrestrial AIM program overcomes many of these challenges through centralized and standardized data collection and data management. Through the utilization of the ESRI ArcGIS Online suite of tools the BLM can collect and manage the data across the Western United States. The AIM program uses a combination of ESRI’s mobile applications Survey123 and Field Maps to collect the data offline and submit it to the cloud. ESRI Dashboards, Map Viewers, and Experience Builder enable multiple parties to view, review and perform QAQC on the data at the field office, state office or national office. All data is collected using the same standard that can be read by the R package terradactyl, developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada which allows for standard indicator calculation. These indicators are reviewed by national data management staff prior to final data cleaning and ingestion into the final database. The AIM data workflow improves data quality through automation, where possible, and improves efficiency for end of data collection processing. As a result, data are available more quickly to the BLM to support decision making processes and available for use by partners and the public through portals like Landscape Data Commons (https://landscapedatacommons.org) and BLM Geospatial Business Platform HUB (https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/aim). Since the AIM data workflow relies on publicly available ESRI and R tools, they can be used by other individuals or organizations seeking to collect core methods data compatible with AIM and then compare those results with AIM and other standardized monitoring datasets.