Getting Started in Desktop GIS and Data Management Strategies

Getting Started in Desktop GIS and Data Management Strategies Sean Browning - GIS Specialist USDA – NRCS Sean.browning@oh.usda.gov 740-349-1478 Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources March 24-26, 2003 – Columbus, Ohio What is Geospatial Data? A collective term for all geographically located data structured in raster, vector, triangulated irregular network (TIN), and other formats Often referred to as Geodata Derived from primary and/or secondary sources Typically includes data from GIS, GPS and Remote Sensing Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Why is Geodata Extra Spatial? Contents of files are very cryptic unless other identifying information is present Data files are often very large making them difficult to move and requiring large amounts of storage space Large numbers of files are often produced and/or accumulated Users must decide if new data will be managed as a separate dataset or merged into an existing dataset Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Why is Geodata Extra Spatial? Requires a concerted effort to ensure accompanying metadata is kept current and accurate Data is often difficult and expensive to collect, producing a constant challenge to acquire, and maintain the currency of the data Often obtained from a variety of sources which requires users to know the sources and maintain linkages to those sources Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources What is Geodata File Management? A comprehensive, well-defined set of policies, procedures, protocols and standards designed to efficiently and accurately collect, store, retrieve, transmit and maintain geospatial data. Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Considerations Long range geospatial technology goals Size and scale of the operation Accessibility and distribution Capability of users Type of applications used Nature of data being used and/or created Technological limitations Type of software employed Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources “Mr. Scott, I need Geodata File Management!” Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources “I'm givin’ her all she’s got Captain!” Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Geodata Management Components Geospatial Folder Structure Geospatial File Naming Conventions Metadata Requirements Roles and Responsibilities for Geospatial Data Management Geospatial Data Stewards Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Folder Structure - Suggestions Use a shallow directory structure minimize the number of folders a user must traverse Create a core set of standard folder names - others can be added ‘as needed’ Use underscores ‘_’ not spaces - some software packages do not like folder names with spaces Use ‘geodata’ as the primary data folder Add subfolders by category Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources USDA Folder Structure - Examples – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Air_quality Cadastral Census Climate Common_land_unit Conservation_practices Cultural_resources Disaster_events Ecological Elevation Endangered_habitat Environmental_easements Geographic_names Geology Government_units Hazard_site – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Hydrography Hydrologic_units Imagery Land_site Land_use_land_cover Map_indexes Measurement_services Ortho_imagery Project_data Public_utilities Soils Topographic_images Transportation Wetlands Wildlife Zoning Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources ODNR Data Category - Examples – – – – – – – – – – – Administrative Biological Cadastral Demographic Geologic Hydrologic Infrastructure Land_use_land_cover Recreation Topographic Transportation Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Folder Structure - Benefits Promotes movement of data between computers within an office/organization Provides consistency as staff change locations Facilitates the automation of key tasks e.g. backups and versioning Promotes sharing of data among organizations Facilitates the distribution of utilities and tools for file/folder maintenance Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources File Naming - Suggestions Create standard file naming conventions Use unique file names Use the minimum amount of information needed to accurately identify the file but make the file name unique Use lower case letters a-z, numbers 0-9 and the underscore ‘_’ character Make the first character a letter (a-z) Limit the total file name length to 30 characters or less Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources USDA File Naming - Example Hydro_l_oh035.shp File Extension – as applicable Location – State code (2 letter abbreviation) followed by three digit county FIPS code Feature Type – a code indicating the type of data contained in the file: p – point e – enhanced l – line d - database a – area x – GPS points (no differential correction) t – table xd – GPS points (with differential correction) y – photography Theme Name - can be the full name, a short version, or an acronym used to represent the business name of the dataset, e.g. precip, soil, huc, etc. Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources File Naming - Benefits Promotes movement of data between computers within an office/organization Provides consistency as staff change locations Facilitates the automation of key tasks e.g. backups and versioning Promotes sharing of data among organizations Facilitates the distribution of utilities and tools for file/folder maintenance Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources General - Suggestions Develop and store ‘final’ area-wide (e.g. county, township, etc.) data sets Create and use a designated folder for ‘working’ and/or ‘temporary’ files Develop individual customer or project folders that contain subset or resultant datasets specific to that project Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Metadata - Suggestions Make metadata part of your operation Review Federal Geographic Data Committee (www.fgdc.gov) and/or other metadata standards Know your organization’s metadata policy and requirements Promote, develop and implement metadata standards in your organization Consider using a subset of core metadata elements that meet your organization’s needs Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Metadata - Suggestions Prepare metadata as soon as the data file has been saved - do not wait! Store the metadata as a separate file (e.g. text, html, xml and/or xls file) Store it in the same folder with the data Save the metadata file using a file name similar to its data Develop and use a metadata file naming convention Use metadata templates if available Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Roles and Responsibilities Define clear roles and levels of responsibility for geodata maintenance and administration Develop and implement file permission levels for geodata users and administrators - as needed Develop and implement backup procedures and protocols Inform users of your organization’s geospatial data plan Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Geospatial Data Stewards Data steward - the person who is responsible for the content of the data and database – – – – They establish definitions and domains for data elements Set procedures for data collection and metadata Certify data and metadata meet established standards Manage the storage, maintenance and distribution of the data and metadata Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Data Stewards - Suggestions Develop and implement policy, procedure and protocol for data stewards Communicate the policy, procedures and protocol to data stewards Train and educate data stewards as needed Provide clear areas of responsibility for data stewards Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Sources Federal Geographic Data Committee www.fgdc.gov U.S. Department of Agriculture http://www.itc.nrcs.usda.gov/toolkit/IT_Up dates.htm#geospatial_manual Ohio Department of Natural Resources http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/gims/ Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources Implementing Geodata File Management Places You in the Captain’s Chair! Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources FIN Sean Browning - GIS Specialist USDA – NRCS Sean.browning@oh.usda.gov 740-349-1478 Ohio Geospatial Technologies Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources March 24-26, 2003 – Columbus, Ohio