Overview Description of GIS and Data Management

Because of the size, complexity and number of cooperating partners in the Rouge Project, the need for an effective data management system was evident early on in the undertaking. It was clear that the data being generated must be easily accessible for use in any needed analysis and for reporting purposes. The Rouge Project has established an integrated geographic information system (GIS) and data management system that is structured to support the many and varied operations of the project.

The objectives of the Rouge GIS and Data Management systems were to support the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration project technical activities. It started as a primary mapping and data storage tool for support to the monitoring program, the modeling effort, the nonpoint source control project, and the public information and education programs. Maps were built and data was managed and provided for use by the technical teams.

The basic components of the Rouge GIS and Data Management systems are shown in the figure to the right. The total system consists primarily of two computer servers - one called the GIS and Database Server and the second called the Novell Administration Server.

The Rouge GIS / Data Management environment was started in April 1993 with the selection of the ESRI ArcInfo GIS software and the ORACLE relational data base management software. By the end of 1993 the Rouge GIS was functional, storing monitoring and modeling data, producing maps and conducting spatial analyses for the Rouge technical teams, such as calculating land use and soil parameters for each of the over 340 subareas throughout the watershed. The basic Rouge GIS and data management environment consists of the following components:

• An accurate watershed wide base map - obtained from the state of Michigan and updated for project use as a consistent base map for the entire Rouge watershed. River network information from the EPA River Reach file was also added. All the data is maintained in the NAD83 Michigan South State Plane coordinate system. To see an example of the Rouge River watershed base map go to Rouge_Base_Map.
• New project related data layers were developed to represent locations of monitoring sites, locations of nonpoint source control (BMPs) projects, CSO basins, and many others. Go to GIS_Layers to see the list of data layers.
• A GIS software environment to house the spatial information plus a relational database to store all the non-spatial information related to the technical aspects of the project. The database contains over 10 million records of monitoring data ranging from 15 minute time series data for rainfall, flow, dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature to grab samples describing bacteria levels, sediment contaminants and other special data sets.
• A project team of GIS and data management professionals dedicated to the GIS and data management needs of the project. The Rouge River watershed GIS and data management team consists of the following types of technical staff:
• GIS Manager
• GIS Analyst
• Applications Manager
• Database Administrator
• GIS Technician
• Project data management applications for managing monitoring data sets include the following:
  
  

  Data Loader - reads and prepares the raw incoming field information for loading into the Oracle database. The Data Loader application performs a series of quality control checks to evaluate the incoming field data. Once the data is loaded into the Oracle database it is considered preliminary until future quality control checks are completed. Go to RPO_Loader to learn more about Data Loader.
  
  Flagger / Editor - reads the preliminary information from the Oracle database and provides a suite of functions for Rouge staff to finalize the data. The quality control flags are updated and the data is considered final, once the field monitoring staff (data owner) completes the process. Go to RPO_Flagger to learn more about Flagger Editor.
  
  Query - retrieves data from the Oracle data base based upon a series of parameters such as date, site identifier, parameter, etc. This information can be submitted to a report or to working files for use by the end user. Go to RPO_Query to learn more about RPO Query.
  

• The Rouge project has developed applications that are provided to watershed communities for use in managing their watershed activities. These applications include:
  
  

  DataView - The DataView application provides Rouge Project monitoring data on a CD-ROM that can be distributed to individuals interested in analyzing the data. DataView data sets are generated from the final monitoring data on an annual basis. The monitoring locations are also displayed within DataView. DataView is a user friendly data exploration tool developed for the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project to support routine analysis of large time series data sets. DataView's flexible data structure allows it to work with a variety of data types including analytical, continuous water quality, flow and rain. DataView is composed of six major functional components:

  1. Tabular Data Viewing - displays data in a cross tabulated spreadsheet like grid.
  2. Data Plotting - creates on-screen plots of selected data.
  3. Summary Statistics - displays summary statistics including mean, minimum, maximum, sum, standard deviation and variance.
  4. Spatial Display - display a map showing locations of sampling sites.
  5. Non-numeric Data Association - provides for the spatial association and display of non-numeric (graphics, photographs and text files) information.
  6. Data Export - allows for the creation of ASCII text files to facilitate the movement of data to other software packages.

  
  DataView comes bundled with a complete set of RPO sampling data (aggregated to hourly intervals) for the years 1994-2002. Included with DataView is a complete Reference Guide to assist users in the installation and operation of the DataView program. There are many useful documents related to the DataView application. These useful links are:

  • The DataView Users Guide can be seen here
  • DataView Training Manual is available here
  • If you wish to order the DataView Data CD, click here and enter order number DATA-DV

  
  Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) - The IDEP application was designed and built to support the watershed management activities associated with field investigations of illicit or illegal connections to the storm drainage network. The IDEP application facilitates the tracking, management, display and reporting of information relating to the identification and elimination of illicit discharges to rivers, streams and storm water conveyance systems. Non-spatial data is managed through an MS Access database while spatial data (complaint, investigation and sampling locations) are managed using ArcView GIS software. The user has the option of operating the application with or without the ArcView spatial component. A graphical user interface (GUI) facilitates application use and provides data integrity checking.
  
  
  The IDEP application consists of three main modules:



1. The Complaint Module records information received regarding potential illicit discharges such as date, time, location and type of complaint.
2. The Investigation Module manages information related to the investigation of a complaint including sampling data, photographs, observational data, recommended actions and investigation status.
3. The Report Module provides for the creation of standard reports based on the stored complaint and investigation data.


For more information on the IDEP application, click here to see an IDEP_Training presentatoin.

 

 

 

Watershed Management Model (WMM) for Windows - WMM for Windows is the latest version of the WMM originally developed by CDM. WMM was developed specifically to estimate annual/seasonal nonpoint pollutant loads from direct runoff on watersheds and subbasins and was modified to address watershed management needs. WMM estimates loads based on local hydrology and non-point loading factors (Event Mean Concentrations - EMC) which relate land use patterns and percent imperviousness in a watershed to _per-acre_ pollutant loadings. Options are also available for calculating CSO and point source loads. WMM for Windows provides a more robust and user friendly interface than the previous version of WMM and functions as a stand alone application requiring no additional software.

For more information on the Watershed Management Model for Windows, click here to see a brief presentation.

To download WMM, click here.

Please address all comments and suggestions about the contents of this Web page to rougeweb@co.wayne.mi.us.

The Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project is funded, in part, by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grants #XP995743-01, -02, -03, -04, -05, -06, -08 and C-264000-01.