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Data Management and Synthesis

---Part 2 of a 6-Part Series---

An essential task in the Brown Marsh Project was establishing and maintaining a data information management system (DIMS), an effort that is being led by Scott Wilson, an electronics engineer with USGS. In brief, the DIMS is serving as the central clearinghouse for all the information products that the project generates, including datasets, reports, and photographs.

Because the primary purpose of the DIMS is data exchange, standardization of data formats has been a key in achieving a sense of data "transparency" for the wide variety of users. And in addition to serving as a data clearinghouse for all researchers involved, the DIMS also has a public access side. As of this writing, some 20 project tasks have posted findings and datasets on the public side.

One of the most important aspects of any DIMS is the degree to which users are able to search through and find the data it houses. Of course, if users are already aware of the datasets they are looking for, this search process does not generally present a problem. However, in a project of this size and scope, knowing exactly what resides in the fully-fledged DIMS-even for those most familiar with the project-will be next to impossible. And that's where "metadata" comes into play.

According to Helena Schaefer, a USGS metadata coordinator heading up this facet of the DIMS, metadata is a database management tool that "helps document and describe all aspects of a dataset without actually being a part of the data itself." It does so by means of a set of standardized terms and formats that allows users to seek out data they may be unaware of. After Schaefer has gleaned all the crucial parameters of dataset, she then uses uniform terms and format at her disposal to create a record that accurately describes what users-those familiar with the study or not-will find within that data.

This description allows users to search out datasets with great specificity, filling specific search fields, for example, with terms such as "Spartina alterniflora," "fungi," "mortality," and even latitude and longitude constraints. And although the number of datasets available through the DIMS does not yet warrant a query function, USGS is prepared to put one in place as the deluge of finalized data begins to pour in.

Also falling under the rubric of the Data Management and Synthesis subproject are a paired set of tasks producing impact reports. One task examines the potential long-term consequences the dieback would have upon land loss, plant, and animal communities while the other focuses on the socioeconomic repercussions of the dieback. In charge of the former effort is Charles Sasser, a wetland habitat ecologist working with Jenneke Visser and Elaine Evers, all with LSU. Working from maps produced by USGS, Sasser explains that the "rate of land loss is the fundamental driver, the foundation that allows the vegetation and animal analyses to take place."

Along with USGS maps, Sasser and his colleagues are using seasonal, time-series maps dating back to the 1950s to investigate the land loss problem with respect to landscape patterns such as the size and shape of water bodies, ridges, canals, and configuration. This historical analysis will then help formulate the likely progression of the brown marsh phenomenon were it to continue unabated, or if it were to slow, halt, or reverse completely.

The loss of marshes equates to the loss of protective fish nursery grounds, and an enormous revenue loss in both the commercial and recreational fishing sectors would most certainly follow.

Although analysis of the potential vegetative decline is largely following the land loss figures, the potential impact upon animal communities requires a separate layer of input. Through a survey of the existing literature and datasets, Sasser and his team are compiling a comprehensive list of salt marsh species in the Barataria-Terrebonne estuary and their zoned, density-per-acre figures. From there, plugging these numbers into the land loss scenarios will give the analysts good working estimates of the dieback's potential impact on a wide variety of animal communities.

The task of studying the socioeconomic impact of the dieback is being led by Kim Barton, an applied science project manager with Coastal Environments, Inc. As with Sasser's analysis, her analysis springs from the work being done by the USGS mapping team. In addition, her group is also getting critical land-loss projections from Sasser's group itself.

Perhaps more than any other task in the entire Brown Marsh Project, Barton's effort is aimed at the public, intending, as it does, to explain both the actual and potential impact of the smooth cordgrass dieback to residents in and around the afflicted areas. The finished report, according to Barton, will base its findings on two scenarios: the impacts given a full recovery and the impacts should there be a complete dieback of the afflicted areas. Relying heavily upon federal records, especially data from the 2000 census, Barton's group is looking at population, age, and employment types in the region, and they have learned that the families populating the region have not only lived there for generations but also tend to make their living from the land.

Aside from this localized cultural dislocation, however, the potential economic impacts to the entire state of Louisiana in the "complete dieback" scenario will likely be chilling. For instance, the loss of marshes equates to the loss of protective fish nursery grounds, and revenue loss in both the commercial and recreational fishing sectors would most certainly follow. In addition, given the role of marshes as the coastal region's first line of defense against hurricanes and tropical storms, the complete dieback scenario will no doubt project severe spikes in both property loss and, accordingly, insurance rates.

Also included in the Data Management and Synthesis effort are a series of milestone meetings and project reports. For example, in Spring 2003 researchers from every task within the project convened to give presentations on their efforts to date. More than a venue for interim reports, the meeting of the entire project team allowed gaps in the data collection process to emerge and the teams best equipped to fill these data gaps to be identified.

In addition, two comprehensive reports are slated to be published in the spring of 2003. Heading up these reports is Dianne Lindstedt, a biologist with LSU. As Lindstedt explains, the first document her group will produce will be a technical report, a comprehensive overview-written with a scientific audience in mind-of the history, method, data, and reports of each task within the Brown Marsh Project. The technical report will then be condensed into a public report, with the emphasis placed on communicating how the crisis was dealt with, what was learned in the process, and the degree to which the state is prepared to respond to any future occurrence of the phenomenon.

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