Finding the Forest in the Trees The Challenge of Combining Diverse Environmental Data (1995) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 12-17
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From page 12... ...
These developments have encouraged researchers to retrieve and combine data sets in ways not previously attempted. Scientists can now perform environmental research that increases our understanding of the Earth system at all spatial scales, enhances resource management and environmental decision making, and improves our capabilities for predicting significant changes in the environment.
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From page 13... ...
Because data from each discipline and subdiscipline are organized into data sets and databases that frequently possess unique or special attributes, their effective interfacing can be difficult. Sound practices in database management are required to deal effectively with problems of complexity in global change studies and other large interdisciplinary research and assessment projects.
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From page 14... ...
It was particularly interested in complex, interdisciplinary studies in which a combination of physical, chemical, and biological measurements were taken and then integrated into composite data sets from which various conclusions could be drawn. The focus was on evaluating the data management activities in each case study rather than the research itself.
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From page 15... ...
The committee focused its review on the data management and interfacing activities related to the Aquatic Processes and Effects portion of the total program. The types of data collected included water chemistry and biology, wet deposition of acidic air pollution compounds, meteorology, hydrology, and episodic response of water bodies to acid deposition.
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From page 16... ...
The research goals of FIFE, which was conducted by NASA and several other agencies at a 3,400-hectare site in Kansas in 1987 and 1989, were to determine whether our understanding of biological processes on small geographic scales can be integrated over much larger scales to describe interactions appropriate for climate models, and to determine whether selected biological processes or associated states can be quantified over appropriate scales for climate models. The operational goals of FIFE included the simultaneous acquisition of satellite, atmospheric, and surface data; multiscale observations of biophysical parameters and processes controlling energy and mass exchange at the surface to determine how these are manifested in satellite radiometric data; and provision of integrated analyses through a central data system.
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From page 17... ...
These chapters are all similarly structured, with sections conta~rung the relevant background, the variables measured and the sources of data, the major data management and interfacing elements and issues, and the lessons learned. Some of the more complex case studies, notably the Impact Assessment Project for Drought Early Warning in the Sahel arid the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, have a number of additional sections.
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