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AAIR Project No PL 94-2392
This Task has required the participation of all project members in defining the project areas they are working upon in a more systematic manner than that set out in the Technical Annex of the Project Proposal. This Task has identified what is required for the modelling work within the project. In particular, the data and software funtionality that is required for the geographic modelling. An integral part of the Task has been to provide a mechanism for recording an initial assessment of the accuracy of the Tasks' products and the reliability of the input data to each Task.
The outcome of the discussions of the Planning meeting and the subsequent completed record forms, have been analyzed to identify the directions of flow of information and the types of information transfer. Therefore, potential problems in the transfer of data have been ideintiied and can be addressed. Analogous problems associated with the linking of models could not be fully identified and will have to be dealt with in separate Tasks. Any issues that appear to be unresolved have been recorded for subsequent discussion.
The Programme Planning task is designed to coordinate the project objectives by following a planning methodology which explicitly addresses the questions of information production, accuracy and linkage between tasks. The outcome of Task l is a Reference document for use during the project which contains information on the requirements of each of the Sub-Tasks. This is to assist in coupling together the work and products of each Participant and provide some guidance on the accuracy of the products, the scale, resolution or accuracy of the data required in the production of each Deliverable and one means of tracking sources and magnitudes of error in the modelling.
The results of the Task are presented based upon information available at 30th June 1995. In the course of the project, there may be changes in the software, hardware and data transfer options of some of the participants. Therefore, the summaries of the Tasks and the resources available will be updated as information becomes available. The Task Report provides a documented basis for discussing issues relating to Task linkage and coupling the different models into a single framework within Task 6.
This analysis is based on information supplied by project organisations during 1995 and from a project planning workshop held betweeen 23-25th February 1995 at Centro Nacional Informacao Geografica (CNIG) in Lisbon, Portugal. The workshop was itself a fundamental component of this planning study which should properly be considered as a process. The results presented here are, therefore, a summary of the main points established during the workshop; the discussion at the workshop is as important as the completed information products and the benefits from this will be manifest during the course of carrying out the project tasks. For the duration of the Task the Chairman was Dr Richard Aspinall of MLURI. Rapporteur and minute secretary were Dr David Miller and Mr Christopher Quine respectively. The documentation from the meeting plus the forms completed by the Participants comprise the materials for this Task.
Objectives
The objectives are to:
The objectives of this report are to:
Information Product
...a formal description of outputs
required from analysis with GIS or other modelling or analytical software,data needed, functions used, frequency of production, database linkages needed, error tolerances, and costs and benefits
Information Products
The planning process is based on description and analysis of the types of information required by individuals and groups; each description is presented as an Information Product.
An information product contains :
i) a sample portion, to scale and fully annotated, of any maps that are required;
ii) a specimen portion of any list or tabular output required showing caption headings and typical results in maximum field widths needed to present the headings and typical results in maximum field widths needed to present the output;
iii) a list of the datasets needed to make the information product;
iv) a detailed description, using standard, generic terms, of GIS and other functions which are applied to the datasets to make the information product;
v) a list of linkages needed between the datasets in the database;
viii) estimates of tolerance of the information product to different types of error; and
An information product description is written by the individual who requires to use the product. The information product is a tool which serves as both a planning and management tool.
The primary use of an Information Product description is part of this project planning process. A set of information product descriptions collectively define the system capacity, functions and data needs (hardware, software, and data) required and indicate options for its establishment and management (operation and maintenance).
The information product description also has a role as a management tool. This benefits individuals and the group. The information product description, through its structured expression of intended analysis, provides a documented account of the stages involved in information product generation and thereby helps with directed and efficient interactions. The information product also eases communication by providing a documented account of intended use in a common format. Project management should be improved.
The generation of product descriptions for this study also served an eduction purpose introducing individuals to the intended work of colleagues and associate tasks at an early stage of the research investigation.
Results
The February meeting produced Task linkage charts which indicate the direction and nature of the flow between participants in each Task. A tabulation of the exchange formats between Participants in each Task was also constructed. The links are identified in terms of either the Deliverable that is transferred or information relating to a Sub-Task upon which Participants are collaborating. These charts will be available on the WWW and ftp sites as described under Task 8.1. In certain cases the exact nature of the link between participants within the same subtask has not yet been defined.
The second component of the Task has been the completion of the Project Description forms. Most of the Sub-Tasks have had at least one form completed. The results from these forms indicate the exact product that is required, the data and models that will be used or needed and the desired or required accuracy, scale or resolution of the data.
From those forms that were completed it has been possible to identify which formats or media will be required for each data transfer between Participants. The most commonly available GIS package is Arc/Info; the database packages are Oracle and dBase; numerical modelling is undertaken across a broader range of packages and further discussion will be undertaken to identify any problems that this may pose. Computer hardware usage is PC, Sun and Integraph facilities of which PCs are present is every Participating group and direct or indirect access to a Sun (Unix or Solaris) facility is available to every Participant. Data transfer is most commonly:
ASCII files using "ftp" for Tasks 1 to 4 and 8;
Arc/Info export format (Version 7) for map data in Tasks 5 to 8;
Erdas 7.5 for raster data (Digital Elevation Models or satellite imagery) from Tasks 4 to 8;
Word Perfect or Word for report documents. Diagrammatic software has still to be assessed;
Electronic transfer is the most widely employed media and means.
These formats and means of transfer may change in the duration of the project
Considerable discussion will be required with respect to the use of programming languages and modelling/statistical packages. The most widely used programming language is FORTRAN but this is not appropriate for all models and interface formats between packages will require to be standardized (eg. between NRS and Joensuu).
The use of macros and scripts (such as those for Arc/Info) are likely to be widely used in Task 6. Such scripts should be transferrable to all partners with possible exceptions of AU and UG until ArcView 2 is available to those Participants.
Model development will probably be most effectively undertaken on the software of the host Participant, for their own Tasks. Relatively little model development work is shared between participants and sites. The principal exceptions are the tree breakage model between NRS, Joensuu and Umea, in which case a certain amount of transfer of data files may be facilitated across the internet for testing on the software at each site. Further discussions will be required to identify whether there is an issue relating to running models at a central location.
Further work in Task 1.2 will refine the nature of the sources of uncertaintyin the data and models and the implications of such uncertainty on the products
Task Summaries.
Task 1 Project Planning
Task 1.1 Planning design
The details of this Task are outlined above.
Deliverables:
1. Report (this document);
2. Product Description;
3. Documentation on standards and protocols;
Links:
To all Tasks in the project.
General Inputs. Proceedings of Planning meeting in February and contents of the Programme Planning forms.
General Outputs. Documentation of Tasks, their data and models and linkages with other Tasks. Identification of issues to be addressed relating to data, models or presentation.
Data transfer in Word Perfect or ASCII, via ftp to all Participants.
Issues: Not each Sub-Task has a completed Product Description may require revising in light of later submissions of Product Descriptions. In addition, the technical basis for some of the Sub-Tasks may alter during the time of the project and consequently, the conclusions in this report may be revised during the following 30 months.
Task 1.2 Scale
Deliverables:
4. Guidance on levels of certainty.
Links:
To all Tasks in the project.
General Input. Documented estimates of the scale and accuracy and the Deliverables.
General Output. Recommendations on the scale or resolution (This sub-Task runs in parallel with Task 6).
Data transfer in Word Perfect or ASCII, via ftp to all Participants.
Issues: Not each Sub-Task has a completed Product Description information will be drawn up in the course of the project. Links between Tasks were expressed in terms of Deliverables of the Task Report. Some additional links may be identified (or existing ones terminated) in due course.