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Environmental Information Systems
The goal of information systems is to establish facts and distribute
information products needed by users. Some information systems are
designed to fulfill a single purpose, either scientific, commercial or oper-
ational (see Box 3.1~. Such systems are optimized for satisfying that
specific purpose. Others capitalize on shared interests and serve a variety
of user groups. The downside is that such multi-purpose systems are
sometimes less flexible, always require extensive consultation and more
complex decision making, and may compromise on quality for some
particular purposes.
Where the environment is concerned, practical reasons frequently
dictate the creation of shared information systems that serve the five
stakeholder groups scientists, government agencies, private-sector
enterprises, policy makers, and the general public. Scientists are
interested in obtaining as many measurements as possible and want to
share the data collected for operations and decision making purposes;
government agencies are seeking to stretch limited resources by building
partnerships with other organizations; and private-sector organizations
can more readily recover costs by exploiting technologies developed by
the government or by building onto systems that have already been paid
for. In addition, many environmental data can only be obtained locally
but must be interpreted in a national or global context. Thus, many
different nations also have an interest in shared systems. This chapter
uses the analogy of a tree and, by extension, clusters of related trees to
describe the attributes of each part of the information system and the
roles of the different stakeholders.
29
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
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Environmental Information Systems
31
TlIE ENVIRON1\IENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM TREE
Elements of the Information System
As outlined in Chapter 1 the environmental information system tree
consists of four parts: roots, trunk, branches, and leaves (see Figure 3.1~.
Data collection takes place in the roots. Because a wide variety of
information is needed to address environmental issues, environmental
information trees have many roots, each representing a different instru-
ment or observing system. The organizations collecting these data are
distributed around the world and include federal, state, and local
government agencies, universities, private-sector companies, nongov-
ernmental organizations, international programs, and volunteer networks
(see Box 3.2~. Data collection is typically the most expensive part of the
information system because it is both labor intensive (particularly the
collection of in situ observations) and includes remote-sensing
instruments that are expensive to design, deploy, and operate.
The synthesis of all sources of information gathered by the roots
takes place in the trunk of the tree. The primary output of the infor-
mation system is core products that are generated by (1) assembling the
data into one location; (2) validating and cross-checking the data against
other sources; and (3) synthesizing the information into products that
typically have greater information content than the data Dom which
For example, the national stream gauge network operated by the U.S.
Geological Survey and its state and local government partners includes about
7,000 stations and costs approximately $89 million per year to operate (USGS,
1998, A New Evaluation of the USGS Streamgaging Network. A Report to
Congress, 20 pp.). For comparison, Landsat-7 cost $700 million to design, build,
launch, and collect data (Will the U.S. bring down the curtain on Landsat?
Science, v. 288, p. 2309-2311, 20004.
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
Dishibution ~
&Use ~=
-
Models &
Integration & Analysis Centers
Validation
Observations &
Data Collection
-
~ ~ 1
End ~
Users my_
~ ~ I
An__
-
Synthesized Core Products
Archive
A-----------_____,
l
Private Sector I
, Development
Under
'Gil
to
Quality Assurance
_ ~ /~ ~
W1.1
::
._
-
cr
c,
c'
I>
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National
Supplements
1:
International
Networks
Measurement
Systems
Legend
End user
(public)
End user
(private)
Distribution
(fill & open)
.=
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_ _ .
Distribution
(proprietary)
_ Public
data
Data
buy
FIGURE 3.1 Tree-like structure of environmental information systems. The
roots represent data collected by government agencies operating observing
systems funded by an individual country (national supplements) and by
government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and research scientists
participating in international networks. These observing systems are
supplemented in some cases through data purchases from commercial
companies (dashed lines). The data are gathered, validated, checked for quality,
and synthesized into core products in the trunk by public-sector modeling and
analysis centers. Distribution of these core products and the development of
specialized value-added products to serve specific user communities is carried
out by organizations in both the public and private sectors. Value-added
products may be in the public domain (gray branches) or be proprietary (stippled
branches). Both distribution avenues serve a wide range of uses (leaves),
including research, commercial activities, government operations, and policy
making. Users set the requirements for what core products are needed, and
hence what data are collected (downward arrows), and the data are transformed
into useful information and ultimately knowledge (upward arrows) through the
trunk.
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Environmental Information Systems
33
they were derived. The archetypal core product is the output of a large
computer model that underlies a readily understandable weather map.
Another type of core product is exemplified by data derived from a
single rain gauge that has been accurately calibrated, fully maintained,
not tampered with, and cross-checked against other sources of
information to provide confidence in the results. Finally, the archive of
products of the information system is itself a core product, oriented
toward the anticipated needs of future generations of research scientists
and other users. Each information system yields a limited number of core
products based primarily on its own root system. Specification of the set
of core products is a central management issue for the tree as a whole,
because it determines the balance between the needs of users and the cost
of meeting those needs.
Core products are created on behalf of a wide spectrum of user
groups by modeling and analysis centers in research universities,
government agencies and, under special circumstances, private-sector
companies. Users may make substantial business, scientific, or personal
investments on the assumption that the information in a core product will
continue to be available. Hence, core products require a Tong-term
commitment and a degree of care and attention that will yield a high
degree of reliability and trust by a large group of users.
Although core products are useful in some sense to the broader
environmental community, each distinct user group needs an add-on to
the core products in the form of (~) reprocessing to make the products
more accessible to that particular community; (2) combining the core
products with other information special to that community; or (3)
distribution and/or communication in a convenient manner or format.
Every branch on the tree represents a value-added product or service
that meets the needs of a distinct group of users. Value-added products
and services are provided by government agencies, national data centers,
libraries, scientists, and private-sector vendors. For example, weather
information is disseminated to the public by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) because of health and safety
considerations. However, many farmers prefer to obtain weather
information from private-sector vendors (e.g., Kavouras Data Trans-
mission Network), which gather the NOAA data into a single, convenient
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
place.2 Scientists may repackage the same government data into weather
products to facilitate teaching. '
The uses of value-added products and services are represented by the
leaves of the tree. The range of uses is broad and includes resource
extraction, tourism, government operations, and research (see Box 3.3~.
Indeed, every human being uses some form of environmental infor-
mation. The requirements for which data are collected are ultimately set
by the users, who thus Dive the evolution of the information system.
Briefing to a committee-sponsored workshop by S. Goodman, director of a
USGCRP-sponsored pilot project on a National Environmental Change
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Environmental Information Systems
35
The Cycle for Updating Environmental Information Systems
Information systems build on existing capabilities, and participants at
all levels determine which incremental changes should be made.
Refining the system is a cyclic process of (1) users setting priorities for
the output requirements; (2) designing a system to satisfy as many of
those requirements as possible; (3) implementing the system; (4) gaining
practical experience from operating the system and generating products;
and (5) going back to the users and refining their statements of
requirements. The cyclic nature of the system is driven by technological
Information System, on December 5, 2000.
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
advances, which enable tasks to be performed better or less expensively
than before, and by new opportunities or understanding, which change
user priorities over time and thus change the demands that they put on
the core products. Such refinement depends upon and should contribute
to a healthy infrastructure of scientific research and development that is
providing new understanding for data interpretation, more capable
instruments, and new useful products. On the other hand, keeping up
with changes in the core products will pose a challenge to all users,
including private-sector organizations, which will have to update their
business plans regularly.
The trunk, roots, and branches on an environmental information tree
have to work together in an efficient and cost-effective manner to serve
the needs of end users. For example, the need to synthesize data and
information into knowledge places three requirements on the system: (1)
the tree must have multiple roots (i.e., a wide range of data taken at
different temporal and spatial scales); (2) the data collection must
optimize the development of core products; and (3) the products must be
useful and accessible to the users. The responsibility for assuring such
coherence rests ultimately with the government agencies who are
funding the bulk of the operation. A significant managerial challenge is
to entrain at each stage individuals with the appropriate range of
experience and vision to facilitate communication between the groups
responsible for ongoing implementation, system funding, needs
assessment, and scientific and technical redesign. A key decision in each
cycle is the specification of core products.
Conclusion. Because core products serve the needs of multiple
stakeholders, a clear process by which such needs are
articulated and represented in decision making is critical to the
success of the information system.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
environmental information
