Poster: Assessment of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study as a Prototype Environmental Field Facility for an Engineering Analysis Network
 
Claire Welty, Michael P. McGuire, and Michael Piasecki

 
The Engineering Directorate of NSF is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research (CLEANER) composed of a network of instrumented field and laboratory sites across the U.S., with an emphasis on utilization of cyberinfrastructure technology. Cyberinfrastructure refers to the set of components required to transmit information from a measurement point in the field to a user's computer screen for analysis and visualization. The Baltimore Ecosystem Study was chosen by NSF as a prototype field site to aid in this evaluation. This poster will present results of our ongoing assessment, which involves: (1) inventorying the BES science questions and corresponding core data sets being collected to address each question; (2) characterizing the identified data sets in terms of completeness, form, QA/QC, and archiving methods; (3) evaluating the metadata system used to document the data sets; (4) documenting the current status of use of sensors and sensor networks within the BES; (5) analyzing a number of sensor protocols to determine which best fits required applications; (6) evaluating alternatives for data delivery from a wireless sensor network to a data repository site; (7) conducting an on-line user survey to identify desired characteristics for data visualization and analyses; and (8) illustrating a prototype cyberinfrastructure system design by evaluating the data, sensor, communication, and data processing requirements of a hydrologic- ecologic model to predict nitrogen fluxes from Gywnns Falls watershed to the Baltimore Harbor.