Maintenance, development and innovation of the Barrow Area Information Database and Internet Map Server (BAID-IMS)

• Investigators: Patrick J. Webber, Craig E. Tweedie, Allison Gaylord
• Funding Agency: US National Science Foundation ARSL0454996
• Project Length: September 2005 – August 2008
• SEL Participants: Adrian Aguirre, Ryan Cody, Walker Johnson
• Web sites with more information on this project: www.baidims.org.

Summary:

The key objective of this proposal is to maintain, develop and innovate the prototype Barrow Area Information Database and Internet Map Server (BAID-IMS) that we initiated in 2003-04. BAID-IMS is a user-friendly web-based science, logistic and educational informational portal that allows users to access, view and interact with a wide range of spatial data and remotely sensed imagery focused on the Barrow area in northern most Alaska. The area of interest for BAID-IMS spans 280,000 km2 and extends from 100km offshore and north of the city of Barrow, east to Deadhorse, west to the native village of Point Lay and south to the Brooks Range and the village of Anaktuvuk Pass. The application encompasses over 100 data layers in total and includes a range of air-borne and satellite imagery as well as thematic data. Thematic data includes USGS topographic maps, administrative boundaries, infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and native subsistence cabins, nearly 4000 active and historic research sites, vegetation, topographic and hydrographic maps, and distribution/sensitivity maps for select fauna. Users can employ standard Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to zoom, pan, measure distance, identify waypoints for uploading into Global Positioning Systems (GPS), query a range of attribute data layers and make and print their own maps. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard metadata has been compiled for most data layers and provides links to data centers where users can obtain copies of BAID-IMS data for more advanced analysis. A help guide is provided for all tools in the application.

This award will increase the longevity and the functional and operational capacity of BAID-IMS. Specifically, we will (1) Continue acquisition of image, thematic and site data to improve the utility of BAID-IMS; (2) Expand the informational technology and server hardware backing BAID-IMS to enhance operational capacity; (3) Continue to train graduate and undergraduate students in the maintenance and development of BAID-IMS, and continue education and outreach activities illustrating the use of BAID-IMS; (4) Publish, present and advertise the functionality and technical underpinning of BAID-IMS and engage community input in the development of BAID-IMS; (5) Encompass new technologies and opportunities as these arise, including the development of wireless technologies for real time access to BAID-IMS in the field, improved cross-browser compatibility, data export capabilities to hand-held GPSs, and fly-through capabilities to enhance the visualization capacity of BAID-IMS data.

Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merits of this award both exemplify and satisfy needs identified by the international Arctic science community engaged in the Arctic GIS initiative. Momentum for the implementation of an improved and integrated circum-arctic environmental observatories network is building within the Arctic science community and there will soon be a fundamental need for establishing interactive and web-based regionally focused geospatial information portals and spatial data infrastructures. BAID-IMS provides a template for such a regional and community-driven initiative.

Broader Impacts: The broader impacts of this award include the career development of two young PI.s, the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students, the rescue of historical data and the creation of a legacy information portal that has the potential to provide advanced and sustained integration of informational data in the Barrow area. BAID-IMS also provides significant community education and outreach opportunities, especially in local and primarily native villages on the north slope of Alaska. On several instances BAID-IMS has served as a tool for cross-cultural community integration and has assisted in resolving conflicts between traditional native communities and research activities. In addition, BAID-IMS reduces the need for duplication of effort by linking to established, external and specialized informational databases.