EEA-USEPA Research linkages meeting

September 23, 2004

Setting the scene: The Research and Environmental Policy

Context

What is the challenge?

The Office of Environmental Information andThe Office of Environmental Information andThe Office of Research and DevelopmentThe Office of Research and Development

Meeting ObjectivesMeeting Objectives

•Support coherent policy/decision making in crosscutting environment and sustainability issues by

•Identifying research areas & linkages of common interest, and

•Pursuing joint implementation, coordination and dissemination, under the ECOinformatics initiative.

Access,

Services

^

Capacity

Building

^

Forecasts

^

Indicators

^

>

Increasing

Sources

Of Data

v

v

v

Data To Useful

Information

v

>

IT’S ALL ABOUT . . . . . . . . . ! ! ! ! ! . . . . ECOINFORMATICS . . . . ????IT’S ALL ABOUT . . . . . . . . . ! ! ! ! ! . . . . ECOINFORMATICS . . . . ????

26 January 2010 Gary J. Foley, PhD

Co-Chair, GEO User Interface Committee

Earth Observation Systems Executive

Senior Advisor to the EPA Chief Scientist

Office of the Science Advisor, EPA

It’s All About Decision-Making

• EPA makes decisions, requires some through regulations & policies to make decisions, and enables/empowers many to make voluntary decisions.

• Accountability starts with improved decision-making and ends with metrics showing the resulting Societal Benefits

• Research improves decision support tools and delivers data/information systems

It’s Starts and Ends with the Usersi.e. the Decision-Makers

• It starts with the engagement of a “spectrum” of relevant Users (decision-makers) to learn about what they do and what could help them do it better

• It ends with feedback from the Users on whether decision-making improved and the anticipated impacts/benefits were realized

THE SPECTRUM OF USERS

Earth observations & earth system models

Data-to-Information archiving & services

Decision support tool development

Decision making

Assessment of benefits

Earth system scientists and modelers

Earth system service providers

Environmental process modelers & researchers

Policy Makers & Environmental managers

Public officials, advocacy groups & the Public

From observations systems

To societal benefits

User requirements well known

Not aware that observational Requirements are even needed

It’s Starts and Ends with the Usersi.e. the Decision-Makers

• It starts with the engagement of a “spectrum” of relevant Users (decision-makers) to learn about what they do and what could help them do it better

• It ends with feedback from the Users on whether decision-making improved and the anticipated impacts/benefits were realized

Communities of practice are…

Etienne WengerRichard McDermottBill Snyder

Cultivating Communities of Practice, Harvard Business School Press, 2002

Groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic by interacting on an ongoing basis

A GEOSS Users Community of Practice

The Public &Public Officials

What are the Missing Pieces?

• Let’s use AirNOW as one “case study”

• Let’s use the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) as another “case study”

About AIRNowAbout AIRNow

• Began in 1997• Funded by United States Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA)• Diverse stakeholder community

– Federal, state, provincial, tribal and local air agencies (120+)

– Scientific and health research organizations (15+)– Media and public outreach groups (30+)

• Education and outreach• Substantial growth and data exchange• International activities

1997

2007

120+ State and 120+ State and Local Air Local Air Agencies Agencies

ObservationsObservations

Forecasts Forecasts

AIRNowAIRNowData Data

Management Management CenterCenter

InternetInternet

MediaMedia

DecisionDecisionMakers Makers

and and PublicPublic

Data Data

Maps and Maps and Forecasts Forecasts

AIRNow ProductsAIRNow Products

• Real-time, hourly maps and data

• Forecasts (300+ cities)• News stories, e.g.

wildfires• Web cams (air quality)• Seasonal air

comparisons

AIRNow’s “Human Side”AIRNow’s “Human Side”

It’s not just a system, it’s a community

• Annual conference• Regional cooperation• Daily interaction with stakeholders• Support during air quality events,

emergencies

• Leveraging state, local, and federal resources by collecting and distributing data back to

partners, as well as to media outlets

From AIRNow to GEOSS

• The AIRNow experience has taught us several lessons– Community is KEY – 40% technology, 60% people– The public wants environmental information, but

depends upon the community to interpret it– The community provides the context that lies between

the data and the public, e.g. Shanghai pilot

A vision of GEOSS for Air Quality Decisionmakers

Data Needs

Ambient Meteorology

Emissions Models

Satellite

Decision Makers

Policy maker assessing intercontinental transport

AQ manager assessing an exceptional event

Public planning activities today and tomorrow

Decision-makers depend on common observations and data

Three characteristics are crucial:

• “A group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

Etienne Wenger

• Domain . . . the concern, interest or passion• Community . . . who value the interactions,

often practitioners• Practice . . . sharing familiar experiences,

building a shared knowledge and learning

Usability Testing and the GCI

• Almost no one was testing the three GEO Portals and the GCI – WHY?

• Usability testing was sponsored by the UIC at ISRSE-33, via webex, at GEO-VI and at ESIP Winter meeting

• Almost 250 testers; good feedback• Reports to the IOC, the Portal Providers

and the ADC with feedback

THE SPECTRUM OF USERS

Earth observations & earth system models

Data-to-Information archiving & services

Decision support tool development

Decision making

Assessment of benefits

Earth system scientists and modelers

Earth system service providers

Environmental process modelers & researchers

Policy Makers & Environmental managers

Public officials, advocacy groups and the Public

From observations

To societal benefits

Requirements well known

Not aware that observational Requirements are even needed

NOVICE USERS

The “Novice” User

• science-to-policy analysts, decision makers, public officials, & the public

• working/interested in specific issues that fall within one or more SBAs

• not SOA- or GEOSS-experienced• looking for any and all observational

data relevant to their issues• want to easily find it and view it

The “Novice” User

For the Novice User, EPA believes

• The GEOSS Common Infrastructure is not YET user friendly

• Metadata is important, but not useful

• Components (data/services) need to provide sample data sets for easy viewing geographically

GEOSS Ontology – Missing!

• Searches using the Portals do not work!

• The Standards underpinning the GCI did not include using a standardized ontology/vocabulary/thesaurus-based set of keywords

• The components, services and clearing-houses are not search engine friendly

GEOSSComponents

GEOSSServices

GEOSSStandards

GEOSS Special Arrangements

exposereference

maybecome

nominateoffer

GEOSS Registries

U.S.A. IEEE

UDDI ebRS CSW SRU Web UIWeb UI

USERApplications

What do they do?

USERTypes

Who are they?

USERRequirements

User EngagementUIC

EPA/NASA/IEEE/ECMWF/ERG/U Nevada

GEO TaskUS-09-01aGathering

ObservationalPriorities

EXISTIN

G

NEW

GEOSSComponents

GEOSSServices

GEOSSStandards

GEOSS Special Arrangements

exposereference

maybecome

nominateoffer

USER ENGAGEMENT Registries

U.S.A. IEEE

UDDI ebRS CSW SRU Web UIWeb UI

USERApplications

What do they do?

USERTypes

Who are they?

USERRequirements

User EngagementUIC

EPA/NASA/IEEE/ECMWF/ERG/U Nevada

GEO TaskUS-09-01aGathering

ObservationalPriorities

EXISTIN

G

NEW USER-FRIENDLY

GCI ENTRY POINT

A vision of GEOSS for Air Quality Decisionmakers

Data Needs

Ambient Meteorology

Emissions Models

Satellite

Decision Makers

Policy maker assessing intercontinental transport

AQ manager assessing an exceptional event

Public planning activities today and tomorrow

Decision-makers depend on common observations and data

It’s All About . . . .

• Decision Making, i.e . . . .• Engaging the “Novice” User• A User-friendly “engaging” GCI entry point• Building a Community . . . Supports DMs• Understanding “Decision Support” • An Information Delivery System > Maps/GIS• Based on a GEOSS Ontology, etc. • Regular usabilitiy testing and feedback