National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Data Portal: Continued Collaboration from Concept to Version 2.0

Cunningham, William L.

National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Data Portal: Continued Collaboration from Concept to Version 2.0

Wednesday, May 7, 2014: 11:35 a.m.

Blake (Westin Denver Downtown)

Jessica M. Lucido , Center for Integrated Data Analytics, U.S. Geological Survey, Middleton, WI

Nathaniel L. Booth , Office of Water Information, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Daryll A. Pope , New Jersey Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrenceville, NJ

William L. Cunningham , Office of Groundwater, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Robert P. Schreiber, PE, BCEE, D.WRE , Water Resources Division, CDM Smith - Vice President, Cambridge, MA

The development and implementation of the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN), spearheaded by the Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) of the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information, serves as a shining example of collaboration and cooperation. The Network’s data portal stands as a key product of the collaborative effort, which included groundwater professionals from federal and state government agencies, professional organizations, private sector firms, and academic institutions. The Data Portal facilitates access to groundwater data through one seamless web-based application from data providers in partner agencies. A pilot scale portal was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Center for Integrated Data Analytics (CIDA) in 2011, which functioned as a proof of concept for enabling the retrieval of and access to groundwater data on an as-needed basis from multiple, dispersed data providers in a standard format. The system was also designed to allow the data to continue to be housed and managed by participating data providers, who hold the responsibility for data quality and maintenance, while being accessible for the purposes of the Network. The success of this pilot testing led to the rollout of Version 1.0 of the NGWMN Data Portal for wider use, including the addition of data providers as facilitated by the USGS in states with prior data collection and sharing arrangements. Subsequently, the developers at CIDA conducted usability testing in order to inform improvements to the portal and its underlying infrastructure, resulting in the recent release of Version 2.0 (http://cida.usgs.gov/ngwmn). The production portal now features enhanced search and download capabilities as well as improved stability and reliability. In the face of federal government budget appropriation difficulties and other challenges, the SOGW continues to press forward with its multi-sector collaborative approach toward full implementation of the Network, and further improvement of the Data Portal.

Jessica M. Lucido, Center for Integrated Data Analytics, U.S. Geological Survey, Middleton, WI

Jessica Lucido graduated from the University of Illinois in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. She then obtained a master's degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 2010. She also completed a certificate program in Global Health and focused in the areas of drinking water and wastewater treatment, water chemistry, engineering for the developing world, public health, and sustainable development. Lucido is currently employed by the USGS and is part of the Center for Integrated Data Analytics in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Nathaniel L. Booth, Office of Water Information, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Nathaniel Booth holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since 1997 he has worked as a Project Chief and Information Technology Specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He has managed development of the National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse system including database infrastructure, web-based analytical applications, and web services. Booth is currently building data systems for national mercury research and nutrient runoff modeling and has managed development of the joint USGS/USEPA web services specification to accommodate data sharing between the agencies and is actively involved with the Open Geospatial Consortium data exchange standards.

Daryll A. Pope, New Jersey Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrenceville, NJ

Daryll Pope has a B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University and a master’s in Contaminant Hydrology from Oregon Graduate Institute. He has worked on groundwater studies and groundwater modeling throughout his career. Pope has been the Groundwater Specialist at USGS New Jersey since 1995 and has been involved with the groundwater monitoring networks of the Science Center.

William L. Cunningham, Office of Groundwater, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

William Cunningham is the Acting Chief of the Office of Groundwater at the U.S. Geological Survey and a Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Groundwater for the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information.

Robert P. Schreiber, PE, BCEE, D.WRE, Water Resources Division, CDM Smith - Vice President, Cambridge, MA

Robert Schreiber has more than 36 years of experience in water resources engineering and computerized engineering analysis. He is a senior technical leader specializing in groundwater flow and contaminant studies, and serves as a company-wide resource in this area. Schreiber currently serves as ASCE representative to the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information, and co-chair of ACWI's Subcommittee on Groundwater, which is spearheading the design, piloting, and implementation of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network in the United States. He is also serving as vice chair on the board of NGWA's Scientists and Engineers Division.