South Florida Information Access

Project Proposal for 2001

CONTINUING PROJECT WORK PLAN - FY 2001

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
Project title: South Florida Information Management, Metadata Management and Maintenance
Project Chief(s): Jo Anne Stapleton
Email: jastapleton@usgs.gov
Phone: 703 648-4592
Fax: 703 648-4614
Mail address:
U.S. Geological Survey
521 National Center
Reston VA 20192
Program(s): Place-Based Studies
Other Participating Program(s): none
Ecosystem: South Florida
Project start date: 1996
Project end date: To be determined

BACKGROUND NARRATIVE
The South Florida restoration effort requires multidisciplinary information relating to present and historical conditions for use in responsible decision-making. Numerous data sets have been created as a result of USGS research conducted in support of the South Florida restoration effort. Metadata provide information for discovering, assessing, and accessing the data sets. Searchable metadata provide a valuable tool for scientists, managers, and the public. The project will expand the USGS project metadata inventory to include metadata on every data set. The South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) database is the cornerstone of information management for the South Florida place-based science program. The data are available to Federal, State, and local agencies through a web interface and can be retrieved from the SOFIA database.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS, OUTCOMES, AND PRODUCTS

FY 2000 scientific accomplishments:

• A short list of theme keywords and subkeywords relating to data in South Florida has been developed. Project metadata continued to be updated to reference the 6 subregions designated by the South Florida Restoration Task Force and the short list of theme keywords and subkeywords are being added to data set metadata as it is created. The project and data set metadata is made available to the FGDC Clearinghouse site for searching using the Isite software.
• A meeting was held with representatives from various agencies on Florida (including Broward County DPEP, Dade County DERM, Florida DEP, Florida FWC, SFWMD, ENP, NOAA, USACE, the Seminole Indian Tribe, and USGS disciplines) to discuss data sharing and metadata for the data and integration of the data into the South Florida GeoDE interface.
• Contacts were made with other agencies to discuss methods of metadata creation and requirements.

FY 2000 outcomes:

• As in past years the biggest impact is getting information about projects and data sets and updates on changes to the projects.

FY 2000 products completed or nearly completed:

• Metadata for the USGS projects are being review for any changes in direction, personnel, or scope.
• Metadata for individual data sets continued to be created.
• Existing data set metadata was reviewed for any changes or updates.
• Updated and new metadata was provided to the FGDC Clearinghouse for public access.

FY 2000 stakeholder meetings or other outreach activities:

• Demonstration of the SOFIA web site and metadata during Community Day at the 11th Annual Holiday Train Display in Reston, VA December 21, 1999
• Meeting with personnel from the Florida Marine Research Institute regarding metadata software and joint project to test the transfer of metadata among agencies and different format requirements, St. Petersburg, FL February, 2000
• Presentation of poster and demonstration of the SOFIA web site and metadata at the IALE 2000/2nd Conference of the Walter Dineen Society, Ft. Lauderdale, FL April, 2000

Bibliography:

Stapleton, Jo Anne and Heather S. Henkel, 2000, South Florida Information Access (SOFIA), [abs.]: in 15^th Annual Symposium, U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology & the Second conference of the Walt Dineen Society, Proceedings, p. 149.

Geiger, Linda; Stapleton, Jo Anne; Sonenshein, Roy; Boozer, Tim; and Henkel, Heather, 1999, South Florida Ecosystem Database Development, [abs.]: in U.S. Geological Survey Program on the South Florida Ecosystem, Proceedings of South Florida Restoration Science Forum, pp. 22-23.

Stapleton, Jo Anne; Bell, Herta; Sonenshein, Roy; and Pendygraft, Scott, 1997, South Florida Ecosystem Database Development, [abs.]: in U.S. Geological Survey Program on the South Florida Ecosystem - Proceedings of the Technical Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida August 25-27, 1997, USGS Open-File Report 97-385, pp. 89-90.

WORK PLAN
FY 2001 activities:

• Continue entering data set metadata for USGS research projects
• Maintain/update existing metadata records for USGS projects
• Generate metadata for any new USGS projects
• Document relevant historical USGS data sets with metadata
• Support outside (non-USGS) clients for metadata by providing minimum metadata for data sets and/or assistance in generating and validating metadata
• Continue to work with WRD on the data exchange/database for USGS data sets to integrate metadata and data
• Continue to support the South Florida Webmaster and web site to provide public access to metadata and data
• As necessary participate in training customers in the use of the web site, metadata, data exchange/retrieval, and graphical interface to the data
• As appropriate participate in conferences, etc. to describe the South Florida web site, metadata, data exchange, and GIS applications

FY 2001 deliverables/products:

• Individual data sets available through the data exchange or database will be documented with metadata.
• New USGS projects will be documented with metadata.
• Research and document historical data sets with FGDC-compliant metadata.
• Continue to work with other agencies to produce project and/or data set metadata for searching through SOFIA.
• As needed, develop training material or provide training or assistance in metadata creation to scientists involved in research in support of the South Florida restoration effort.
• Promote multi-agency participation in using SOFIA as the entry point for South Florida data.

FY 2001 outreach:

• Work with other divisions in USGS to create metadata.
• Present paper/poster at the G.E.E.R. Science Conference in Naples, FL December 2000
• Participation in other conferences as appropriate to describe the metadata, data exchange, and database for South Florida.

New directions or major changes for FY 2000 (if applicable):

None

PROJECT SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS

Personnel:
No additional personnel will be funded to work on this project

Major equipment/facility needs: None

Metadata: None anticipated. Possible software requirements include purchase/upgrade of metadata creation software (less then 1K anticipated).

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