Project Summary Sheet

Study Title: South Florida Information Access Environmental Database Development and Maintenance
Study Start Date: 10/1/1995 Study End Date: 9/30/2005
Web Sites: http://sofia.usgs.gov
Location (Subregions, Counties, Park or Refuge): Total System
Funding Source:
Principal Investigator(s): Roy Sonenshein
Study Personnel: Cortney Mills (contractor), Tarla Toomer (student)
Supporting Organizations: none
Associated / Linked Studies: SOFIA web site project

Overview & Objective(s): The primary objectives of the project are to 1) provide a central location for the archive of all products and data collected as part of the USGS PBS program and related work for the restoration of the South Florida Ecosystem; and 2) provide a means for customers to obtain the archived information. The database has been developed using PostgreSQL, an open source relational database management system. PostgreSQL was selected because it is freely available, widely used, actively maintained and supported, and runs on all modern UNIX-like and Windows based computer systems. As projects are completed or data sets are made available to the public, the data is loaded into the database. To provide easy access to the data, the data sets are also loaded onto the SOFIA Data Exchange web site. The Data Exchange is a partial solution to the data access, however, as the number of data sets grow, it becomes more difficult to locate data on the Data Exchange. A search engine will be developed that allows the user to locate data sets and other products posted on SOFIA. Data that is available on other USGS public databases, such as NWISweb, is generally not entered into the SOFIA database. However, the data may be inventoried in the database and will be accessible through the search engine. Products, such as publications and maps, that are available on the web, either on the SOFIA web site or other USGS web sites, are also being inventoried in the database, allowing the user to search for this information.

A future goal is to integrate data provided by other DOI agencies that have no alternative means to archive and serve their data sets.

Status: The database structure has been completed and a significant portion of the data available on the SOFIA data exchange has been loaded into the database. The database structure is being documented. We are in the process of developing a user interface to easily enter new data into the system. The next step will be to develop an interface to produce integrated data sets by data type that can be loaded on the data exchange. Currently, data on the data exchange is served by project, not by data type

Recent Products: A geospatial database has been developed to store products completed as part of the PES and other relevant USGS data sets.

Planned Products: An interface to the database will be produced that will allow for the searching of the various data sets and products that are available on the data exchange. A geospatial interface will be released this FY. A web site will be available this FY which will allow for download of data stored in the geospatial database.

Specific Relevance to Information Needs Identified in DOI's Science Plan in Support of Ecosystem Restoration, Preservation, and Protection in South Florida (DOI's Everglades Science Plan) [http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/reports/doi-science-plan/]:

The SOFIA database provides a long-term solution to archiving USGS data and provides a means for customers to access the data and products stored in the SOFIA database and on the SOFIA website. This provides support for all aspects of the DOI science plan.

Key Findings: NA