Conceptual Structures, Database Design, and Visualization for Forest Canopy Ecologists. Our Vision

Transcription

1 Conceptual Structures, Database Design, and Visualization for Forest Canopy Ecologists Anne C.S. Fiala, Judy B. Cushing, Nalini M. Nadkarni, Lee Zeman, and Students, The Canopy Database Project The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, USA Talk presented at 5 th International Conference on Ecological Informatics Project funded by: National Science Foundation DBI , CISE , BIR , , 96-3O316, Our Vision Database and visualization technology can ease the ecology research process BUT Researchers aren t programmers, so Tools must be easy to use & research productivity 1

2 Physiology Light transmission Natural History & Conservation Ecosystem Processes Forest Structure Remote Sensing Forestatmosphere interactions Nutrient cycling Modeling Wildlife habitat 2

3 Ecoinformatics Questions 1) Which conceptual structures do forest ecologists use? 2) How can databases best reflect these? 3) How might ecologists visualize their data? Ecoinformatics Prototypes 1. Big Canopy Database (BCD) 2. DataBank 3. CanopyView 3

4 Big Canopy Database canopy.evergreen.edu/bcd/ Database design tool Forest canopy templates as database components Attribute & table level metadata Java, & interacts with MS Access Access databases Online Study Center data repository 4

5 Ecologists Measure Different Aspects of Forest Structure Physiology Light transmission Ecosystem Processes Structure Remote Sensing Forest-atmosphere interactions Natural History & Conservation Nutrient cycling Modeling Wildlife habitat CONCEPT PRACTICE Stem data Location (x,y) Species Height Diameter Branch data Diameter Slope Azimuth Height Organizing Data Database Design with Templates Template: The forest canopy component & its set of attributes Templates help Make database design easier Some allow for visualization 5

6 DataBank Templates 1. Entities = structural components of the forest canopy Branch length perpendicular to stem Branch length along branch 2. Observations = measurements taken on an entity How Do Measurements Translate to Templates? Stem Diameter Height ENTITIES OBSERVATIONS Branch Length Spread 6

7 Templates are Customizable 1. Entity 2. Add observations Branch length perpendicular to stem Branch length along branch How Do Templates Translate to Databases? Stem Diameter Height 1 Many Branch Length Spread 7

8 DataBank Screenshot Green = entity Blue = observation Templates in Data Design Green = entity Blue = observation 8

9 MS Access DataBank Design DataBank Products.HTML File Documentation Document 9

10 DataBank Products.HTML File.mdb file Documentation Document MS Access Database Forms DataBank Products.HTML File.mdb file.xls file Microsoft Excel.lnk Documentation Document MS Access Database Forms MS Excel Spreadsheet 10

11 DataBank Products.HTML File.mdb file.xls file Microsoft Excel.lnk Ecological Metadata Language document *_eml.xml Documentation Document Forms MS Access Database MS Excel Spreadsheet Other Metadata Software DataBank Products.HTML File Documentation Document MS Access Database.mdb file.xls file Microsoft Excel.lnk *_eml.xml Forms MS Excel Spreadsheet Other Metadata Software Your database design for re-opening in DataBank _workspace.xml 11

12 DataBank Products.HTML File Documentation Document MS Access Database.mdb file.xls file *_eml.xml _workspace.xml Forms MS Excel Spreadsheet Other Metadata Software.CVState File CanopyView DataBank Study Center 12

13 CanopyView Data-driven visualization tool Examines DataBank datasets to see which visualizations are possible Selection & combining of multiple visualizations Java, & Visualization Toolkit (VTK) Sumida et al Van Pelt & Nadkarni 2004 Screenshots 13

14 Visualizations Based On Templates Stem Diameter Height Branch Length Spread Stem Diameter Height Branch Length Spread Arc Power of Visualization 1) Identify Data Errors Easily 14

15 2) Identify Patterns Shaw et al ) Superimpose multiple observations 15

16 Ecoinformatics Questions 1) Which conceptual structures do forest ecologists use? Forest structure is the building block 2) How can databases best reflect these? DataBank 3) How might ecologists visualize their data? CanopyView Future Work Build better user-interfaces More visualizations CanopyStat - Build parameterized queries for standard R scripts Promote data synthesis 16

17 Project funded by: National Science Foundation DBI , CISE , BIR , , 96-3O316,