Construction of a Clearinghouse of Sediment Data for the Texas Coast (TxSed)

By Daniel Gao

Transcript

1. Construction of a Clearinghouse of Sediment Data for the Texas Coast (TxSed) Daniel Gao, Ph.D.; Ray Newby, P.G.; Jeff Perkins; and Laura Wisdom, M.I.S. Texas General Land Office Jerry Patterson, Land Commissioner
2. Design and Building of TxSed •  Why GLO is doing this? (Ray) •  What is TxSed? (Daniel) •  How is TxSed designed and being built? Database design and data processing (Daniel) Mapping Viewer (Jeff) Data scanning (Laura) •  Lessons learned (Laura)
3. GLO and the Texas Coast: •  State Land Managers – Submerged Land out to 10 Miles •  Lead Agency for Texas Coastal Management Program •  Administrating Agency for Texas Open Beaches Act •  Adopt-a-Beach Program for Beach Cleaning •  Coastal Oil Spill Program •  Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA)
4. Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA) •  Texas Legislature passed CEPRA in 1999 •  Currently in 7th 2-year funding cycle •  Cycle 7 extends through 8-31-2013 •  Goal is to protect the natural resources and economic future of the Texas Gulf Coast •  Partnerships with local, state, and federal entities to leverage resources
5. Types of CEPRA Projects: •  Beach and Dune Restoration Jamaica Beach Dune Restoration, Galveston Island
6. Types of CEPRA Projects: •  Marsh Restoration Jumbile Cove Marsh Restoration, Galveston Island
7. Types of CEPRA Projects: •  Shoreline Protection Beach Drive Revetment, Surfside Beach
8. Types of CEPRA Projects: •  Beneficial Use of Dredged Material South Padre Island Beach Nourishment
9. Why Sediment Data is Needed: •  Quantify the percentage of sand / silt / clay content of sediment bodies •  Assess compatibility of imported sediment •  Evaluate existing and past geomorphic conditions •  Determine engineering qualities of foundation conditions •  Map the distribution of geologic features
10. Problem: Where are the sediment data? •  Legacy analog data are buried in Publications Unpublished reports Field notes Maps Engineering drawings •  Scattered among institutions Universities Research institutions Governmental agencies Engineering firms •  More recent data reported in digital format ESRI Shapefiles, Excel Spreadsheet, PDF, etc.
11. Solution: A clearinghouse for data consolidation & accessibility - TxSed •  A repository of sedimentary sampling data in digital format •  A geospatial and relational database •  An online mapping interface for viewing, searching and downloading
12. Similar Projects (federal and state) •  Offshore Surficial Sediment Data – usSEABED (U.S. Geological Survey) •  Marine Geology Data (NOAA-National Geophysical Data Center) •  Louisana Sedimentary & Environmental Database - LASED (USGS) •  Reconnaissance Offshore Sand Search - ROSS (Florida Dept of Environmental Protection) •  Offshore Alabama Sand Information System - OASIS (Geological Survey of Alabama) •  Louisana Sand Resources Database - LASARD (Louisana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration)
13. Past Projects (for Texas coast) •  Rice University Coastal Research Group Sand Resources in East and Central Texas (2002-2003) •  UT-BEG Coastal Studies Group Submerged Land Geologic & Environmental Atlases (1983-1989) Sand Resources in Southeast Continental Shelf (2001-2003) •  USACE/Coastal Planning &Engineering, Inc./GLO Sabine Pass to San Luis Pass Shoreline Erosion Feasibility Study (2001-2008)
14. Challenges for TxSed •  Legacy data finding •  Variety in data source, availability and quality •  Diversity in data reporting format/medium •  Limited resources (personnel, time, funding) •  Vision, leadership, collaboration, coordination and communication are also crucial
15. Database Design Considerations •  Start with sampling data (core, grab, etc.) •  Focus on geotechnical data (grain size info) •  Find the “Common denominator” for attribute/ field •  Preserve and present original data “as is” (no interpretation added)
16. Technologies Used for TxSed •  ESRI ArcGIS •  Adobe Acrobat Professional •  Xerox DocuShare •  Internet
17. Component and Work Flow •  Data Processing (local): A: Geo-coding - Shapefiles/Personal geodatabase B: Data scanning •  Enterprise Database (internal network): A: Geospatial: SDE feature dataset B: Document: DocuShare file collections •  Web Interface (public): ArcGIS Server Mapping Viewer
18. Geocoding Quality Control •  Not liable for the quality/reliability of original data •  Clearly defined work flow and responsibility Raw Data – Processed Data – QA – GDB - QA – SDE •  Using the best available reference data •  Cross-checking or referencing when possible •  Proper documentation
19. TxSed Viewer •  Utilizing ArcGIS Server 10.0 (10.1 soon) •  ArcGIS Viewer for Flex (uncompiled) •  IDE: Adobe Flash Builder •  WebServer : Microsoft IIS •  Microsoft SQL with SDE •  Workflow – ArcGIS-ArcMap to develop the data •  Python : to automate geoprocessing, data load, stop and start ArcGIS Server services. •  Xerox – DocuShare: for document management.
20. Building the Viewer •  Keep it SIMPLE! Less is better.
21. Building the Viewer (cont.) •  Utilize as much of the screen as possible.
22. Building the Viewer (cont.) •  As few clicks as possible.
23. Building the Viewer (cont.) •  Have basic mapping functions. Search, ID, Print, Draw, TOC, Pan and Zoom.
24. Building the Viewer (cont.) •  Utilize hyper-linking to display documents.
25. Data •  3 type of samples: Core, Jet Probe, & Grab. •  Core and Jet Probe have document
26. Data (cont.) •  3 type of samples: Core, Jet Probe, & Grab. •  Core and Jet Probe have document
27. Data (cont.) •  3 type of samples: Core, Jet Probe, & Grab. •  Grab Sample – no document, but has sand, silt, clay, & gravel composition breakdown in graph.
28. Data and Scanning for TxSed How to get the data from analog boxes to digital on a budget?
29. Lessons Learned from Scanning •  Equipment and work space is important •  Unless your files are perfect you don’t want to scan everything •  95 hours to scan and process each box •  Interns are invaluable
30. In a nutshell • This is a complex project and we had one shot to get it right. • The key ingredients: • Data •  Money •  Documentation •  People
31. Acknowledgements Many of contributed and shared in the solution we are presenting and still working on I am hesitant to define the collaboration for fear of over looking someone. However, this illustrates the immense collaboration and energy making this idea that is now over 10 years old, a reality. •  Dr. Juan Moya for making the database a reality by selling the idea, securing funding and bringing people together, he got this going. • Lori Thomas’ and her team at the Corps Galveston District that coordinate with the GLO regarding data. • Michael Sterling at the Corps – Galveston District who is helping us with longevity • Many others at the Galveston office at the Corps of Engineers • Luis Sanez retired from the Corps of Engineers Galveston District • Dr. John Anderson at Rice University • Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas • Texas A&M and Dr. Dellapena and his wonderful interns
32. Acknowledgements (cont.) • GIS Interns at the General Land Office, extraordinaire! • Temporary Employee Maria Sanez who has made a significant contribution in a few months • General Land Office for allowing us to do this project • GIS and Information Systems, • Keith Corkran – Database Administrator • Deputy Steve Paxman – IS – support and vision • Director Sheri Land - Coastal for support getting us more money • Coastal Resources staff • Tony Williams in Professional Services, who gets and returns data on his trips to Galveston! • Communications for making a video about this project (still in the works) • Engineering firms for support and feedback
33. For additional information, contact: Daniel Gao, Ph.D. daniel.gao@glo.texas.gov (512) 475-1967 Ray Newby, P.G. ray.newby@glo.texas.gov (512) 475-3624 Jeff Perkins Jeff.perkins@glo.texas.gov (512)463-5257 Laura Wisdom, M.I.S. laura.wisdom@glo.texas.gov (512) 463-7397 Or visit us on the Web: http://glo.texas.gov http://gisweb.glo.texas.gov/txsed/