A new approach to the management of environmental information
Date
2018-01-05
Authors
King, Blair Antony
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Abstract
Environmental science is a growing field that draws data from a broad range of
disciplines. These data represent the intellectual and financial efforts of countless
individuals and institutions and are invaluable for continued research on the environment.
This thesis details three case studies that center on providing users with improved access
to environmental data and suggest an information model. Users will be better served by
environmental information systems that provide detail on the strengths and limitations of
data in archives, and that give direct access to individual measurements accompanied by
metadata. Metadata provides the required, essential summary of the applicability of data.
The first case study describes the creation of a prototype metadata system CODIS (the
Continental and Oceanographic Information System). It examines the creation of an
effective database organization for a multidisciplinary information system and the
generation of conventions and techniques to assemble and structure multidisciplinary
data. These conventions included the requirement for input using previously prepared
lists and the development of parallel data structures between disciplines to facilitate data
entry and searching. This improved database organization was demonstrated to decrease
the time needed for data entry while reducing error rates in the entered data.
Data in CODIS are appraised for reliability using discipline-specific protocols. The
protocols are based on a dichotomous, decision tree format accompanied by detailed
guidelines. The output from the appraisal process is a non-hierarchical assessment based
on a five-point scale and comments from appraisers. These products inform users about
the reliability of the included data. The protocols were examined for repeatability and
replication between appraisals. The outputs from the appraisal processes were
demonstrated to be comparable to peer review.
Contextual evaluation, developed in the second case study, provides insight into the
potential applicability of data in databases. The NCIS (National Contaminants
Information System) study examines the development of a system to create contextual
metadata to be stored with archival data. Contextual evaluation is carried out by
examining and documenting each step in the experimental process. This study entailed
developing a set of protocols for the assessment, and creating educational tools to ensure
their effective implementation. NCIS groups datasets as either experiments or surveys,
with only experiments being evaluated for context. It was necessary to develop a unified
organizational scheme to classify diverse research and monitoring activities into defined
categories. The process was reviewed and a refined version is currently in use across
Canada in the implementation of NCIS. The case study highlighted difficulties
associated with the division into experiments and surveys.
The third case study examines the censoring of data, a practice that involves reporting
values as unknown or undetected when their existence is known. This study of the
British Columbia, Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Management System (EMS)
examines the limitations placed on secondary users and metadata systems by storing
censored data in archives. It includes a survey of current practices in environmental
analytical laboratories and investigates the statistical tools used to remediate censored
data. The case study concludes that censoring of data severely limits the secondary use
of otherwise high-quality data.
A gap-analysis of the studied systems leads to a set of recommendations and
responsibilities that highlight the critical insights derived from the case studies and
emphasize shared responsibility by all partners in the data-to-decision process. The
thesis then presents a three-tiered conceptual model for a general environmental
information system. In order to facilitate this task three new information elements are
proposed and defined: datasets, infosets and metasets. It is anticipated that this work may
serve to influence the direction of environmental data management practices by providing
a model for future environmental information systems.
Description
Keywords
Environmental sciences, Information services, Management information systems