Informatics
The overall purpose of this Work Package is to ensure a high standard in data management and analysis, combined with easy web-access to results, across the whole of the Survey. This dedicated team is necessary because of the diversity and quantity of data being collected, as well as the depth of the time-series involved (ie. dating back to 1978).
The main objectives of the Informatics Work Package are to:
- Support the field survey teams through software and hardware maintenance and a helpdesk system
- Provide data management support to ensure security, availability and quality assurance of all Survey data
- Provide support for automated analysis and reporting of results across Work Packages
- Develop systems for detailed exploration and analyses of results in line with the requirements of WP5: Integrated Assessment and Reporting
- Develop a Countryside Survey data access service to allow provision of data on request from all areas of the Survey database, in accordance with relevant data policies
More detail:
The Informatics Work Package is responsible for bringing together data from past and present Surveys in a database that allows consistent validation and analysis. It also provides analysis tools to enable the hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of analyses required to detect trends across the time-series, dating back to the original Survey in 1978.
Accessing Data from the Survey
The results of analyses will be made available in November 2008 via a range of web-based facilities, in line with the Countryside Survey Data Policy (see section on Data & Analysis). This will include ensuring that data from the Survey can be discovered through web-searches and is accessible from the following websites:
- Countryside Survey
- Countryside Information System (CIS)
- Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC)
- Defra Spatial Information Repository (SPIRE)
- EDINA Data Gateway
- National Biodiversity Network
- Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Datasets will be made available in a variety of formats for geographical information systems (GIS) and statistical packages.
Where appropriate, data from the Survey may be linked with external datasets to allow interpretation with other national-scale environmental information – for example, relating to agri-environment schemes, or the distribution of pollutants such as pesticides.
Countryside Survey data will continue to be maintained after the completion of the 2007 Survey through the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Environmental Informatics Programme.