VISualizingTerrestrial-Aquatic Systems...

VISualizing Terrestrial-Aquatic Systems

(VISTAS)

software & visualization to

better understand & communicate

Grand Challenge Environmental Science

http://blogs.evergreen.edu/vistas, [email protected]


(VISTAS)

software & visualization to

better understand & communicate

Grand Challenge Environmental Science

http://blogs.evergreen.edu/vistas, [email protected]

•Motivation

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011 July 2011 – 2014, BIO/ABI 1062572

•Motivation

• The project

• Prior work leading to award

Barbara Bond, Denise Lach, Mike Bailey

John Bolte, Christoph Thomas

Oregon State University

Susan Stafford

University of Minnesota,

M. Stiegliz, Georgia Tech

Ed Rastetter, Woods Hole

Evergreen Faculty?

Computer Scientists from UW, PSU, OSU,

Willamette….


(VISTAS)http://blogs.evergreen.edu/vistas

[email protected]



[email protected]

Project Overview (Motivation & Goals)

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011

Project Overview (Motivation & Goals)

Current Status / Visualizations

Ancillary Activities and Broader Impacts….

Prior Work Leading to the Award….

CanopyDB &CanopyView

(Why Evergreen as VISTAS’ Home Institution?)

*BIO/ABI 1062572



[email protected]



[email protected]

HJAs Cyber- and Digital- Forests create a LOT of data….

…not unlike the data deluge facing all scientists….

These data have tremendous research potential,

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011 BIO/ABI 1062572

These data have tremendous research potential,

But scientists are (already) drowning in data….

Could data visualization help?

… intuit testable hypotheses?

… refine models?

… validate data?

… communicate results?


VISTAS


VISTAS“Map-based visualizations and charts…communicate results well

to scientists, but this is less true for other stakeholders [dl2].”

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011 4

Duncan, Sally and Denise Lach. 2006.

Privileged Knowledge and Social Change:

Effects … of Using GIS … in Natural Resource Management.

Environmental Management 38(2): 267-285.


(VISTAS)


(VISTAS)

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011 BIO/ABI 1062572

Eco-hydrologic modeling on Complex Topography:

Integrate & Scale Up Data from Plots to Region,

from Days to Centuries

VISTAS Project Overview VISTAS Project Overview


VISTAS Research Goals VISTAS Research Goals

Computer Science R&D Env.Science Research Social Science Inquiry

Judith Cushing, Evergreen

Michael Bailey, OSU

Barbara Bond, HJA

Bob McKane, EPA

Marc Stieglitz, Ga. Tech

Christophe Thomas, OSU

Denise Lach, OSU

Study Co-development &


Christophe Thomas, OSU

Ed Rastetter, Woods Hole

….

Co-develop Visualizations and Software

Study Co-development &

Ask: Which

Visualizations Work?

With whom? Why?

Northwest Computer Science Consortium to Enhance the Study of Climate Change

Burnett, Delcambre, Maier, Orr, Shapiro, Suciu

Outreach to Practitioners

Susan Stafford, U. Minn

VISTAS Current Status / Visualizations VISTAS Current Status / Visualizations


forest stand

catchment

basin

VISTAS Current Status / Visualizations VISTAS Current Status / Visualizations

Soil moisture


High values are blue, low values, red.

March 2, 1994 March 10, 1994

soil moisture & dissolved inorganic

nitrogen side-by-side.

VISTAS Current Status / ArchitectureVISTAS Current Status / Architecture


Ancillary Activities & Broader Impacts…. Ancillary Activities & Broader Impacts….

• Survey Visual Analytics at LTER Sites

• Integrate use of LTER Ecology Data into Teaching QM

• Use visualizations for science outreach?

• Deliver interdisciplinary CS/Ecology Undergrad Curriculum

• Interest Middle School Girls by Ecology Visualization


• Interest Middle School Girls by Ecology Visualization

• Work with Native Americans and “Science Stories”

• Raise CS Awareness of “Interesting” Ecology Problems

• Bring recent CS research to bear on this problem

• Describe dynamics of scientific software development….

Prior work (inspiring &) leading to awardCanopyDB, CanopyView

Grasslands Data Integration, EEON

Nalini Nadkarni, Lee Zeman, Nik Molnar,

Anne McIntosh, Dylan Fischer, Carri Leroy


And, Evergreen Interdisciplinary

Prob lem Oriented Curricular Approach

Data

Collection

Data

Archiving

Ecology Data Management (traditionally)

Long Term Data

for

Climate Change

Research &

Mitigation,

&


&

Resource

Management

ECOLOGICAL DATA MANAGEMENT …alternatively

ARCHIVE

Cushing – VISTAS Overview August 2011 14Data Collection/Generation Stockpile

ARCHIVE

Data

Metadata

Information Entropy over TimeInformation Entropy over TimeIn

form

ati

on

Co

nte

nt

Time of publication

Specific details

General details

Information usefulness at 10 years, 20

years, 30 years…


Time

Info

rmati

on

Co

nte

nt

Retirement or

career change

DeathAccident

after Michener et al., 1997

From knb.ecoinformatics.org

Canopy Database Project VisionCanopy Database Project Vision

Database technology can ease your data management, data entry, validation,

archiving, metadata provision, and data mining for synthesis


Researchers aren’t programmers, so…

The tools must be easy to use &

research productivity….

Access is “pretty easy”…..

Researchers aren’t programmers, so…

The tools must be easy to use &

research productivity….

Access is “pretty easy”…..

BUT

A Relational Database ExampleA Relational Database Example


Each “place” has one or more stems (1..m relationship)

Each “stem” has one or more branches.

How do you know which place a particular stem is associated with?

Each “place” has one or more stems (1..m relationship)

Each “stem” has one or more branches.

How do you know which place a particular stem is associated with?

“Our Database”“Our Database”


An Even More Complex Example!

(real world dataset)

An Even More Complex Example!

(real world dataset)


Canopy DataBank: From Database Technology aimed at archiving…

Canopy DataBank: From Database Technology aimed at archiving…

Study

Design

Field

Work

Data

Entry &

Verification

Data

Analysis

Data

Sharing

(w/in Group)

Journal

Publication

Data

Archive

Data

Mining

Metadata Generation


Data and metadata capture

Data validation (against metadata)

Data Visualization

Database and Protocol Design

Research Reference Tools

Archive in Lab(common types)

Information Synthesis

Metadata Generation

Statistical analysis

…to CanopyView:Data Visualization & Analysis: Data Analytics

…to CanopyView:Data Visualization & Analysis: Data Analytics

Study

Design

Field

Work

Data

Entry &

Verification

Data

Analysis

Data

Sharing

(w/in Group)

Journal

Publication

Data

Archive

Data

Mining

Metadata Generation


Data and metadata capture

Data validation (against metadata)

Database and Protocol Design

Research Reference Tools

Archive in Lab(common types)

Information Synthesis

Metadata Generation

Visual analytics

Visual analytics

CanopyViewCanopyView

Canopy View


CanopyView… sometimes 2D is better....CanopyView… sometimes 2D is better....

Canopy View


Yosemite Animations….What’s different?

Yosemite Animations….What’s different?

Modeled Data, and LOTS of it

Field Data over time


Field Data over time

Complex Topography (DEMs)

Visualizing Processes….

VISualizingTerrestrial-Aquatic Systems...

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