Sharing Environmental Data, Our Experiences at EPA presentation by Dr. Peter Mooney Research Fellow EPA & Dept of Computer Science NUI Maynooth at Dublinked Environment DubMeet May 2014

1. Sharing Environmental Data
Our experiences at EPA
Dr. Peter Mooney
EPA Research Fellow
Dept of Computer Science, NUIM

2. As of .. May 26th
2014

3. The EPA and Environmental Data
and Information
Generator and
Collector
(monitoring, position as
legal entity, etc)
Facilitator and
enabler
(through R&D
programmes)
Manager and
distributor
(Water Framework
Directive....)

4. Providing ‘open-data’ as PDF reports:
knowledge distribution - but not actionable
“like funding James Cameron to make Avatar, and
then releasing it in a black and white flip book.
We are missing all the good stuff”
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/oct/21/development-open-data-action

5. The EPA have committed
significant resources to making
GIS data available

10. Envision

11. Pre-packaged data downloads

12. Service-based access to
geospatial data

14. WFS, WMS and REST Services

15. Envision Download Services

16. EPA Research

17. Over 700 fundedOver 700 funded
projects (> €10K)projects (> €10K)
since 2002since 2002
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33280166@N02/5354725682

18. EPA Research Programme has
been operating an open access
approach over the last 6 years
All EPA funded research projects must provide
“significant outputs”
(datasets, info resources, etc)
for public access via SAFER
Crucially and innovatively, this couples the final
reports/papers with the actual data/information
used to generate the findings/recommendations

19. SAFER -Secure Archive for
Environmental Research Data

20. High rates of download

21. SAFER has driven excellent resource
efficiencies in EPA Research
● AQ PM10 Data Archive
Open Access
● 2300 downloads (May 2013)
● 2300 X 6 minutes per request = 13,800 minutes
● 13,800 / 60 = 230 hours
● 8 hour working day
● TOTAL 28.75 days SAVED
Example

22. Several key EPA dataset archives
are available on SAFER
http://erc.epa.ie/safer/resourcelisting.jsp?oID=10206&username=EPA%20Drinking%20Water

23. SAFER is beginning to offer some
web-service access

25. The open nature of the Catalogue
has exceeded our expecations

26. EPA Air Quality

27. The Air Quality
Index for Health
(AQIH)
Launched May 2013
The AQIH was developed through
collaboration between EPA, HSE, Met
Eireann, and other public bodies and
experts

28. The AQIH is true real-time open
data from the EPA
Monitoring
Network
Ongoing Sampling
EPA Servers and
Databases
Processing and
Analysis
Delivery to the
public and
stakeholders
Example
Sampling between
09:00 and 10:00
Receive from monitoring
stations (09:00 – 10:00)
Storage in Databases
Processing and analysis
10:00 – 11:00
Data from the periods
including 09:00 –
10:00 is now
available for access

29. AQIH Map Access
Screenshot taken at 14:33 on 26-May-2014

30. AQIH Twitter
Automated tweets @ 08:00 and 17:00 each day – hourly if AQIH becomes poor
in one or more regions

31. AQIH Web Pages for Stations

32. AQIH as JSON Open Data

33. AQIH JSON (wget call)

34. We get lots of request for the raw
hourly data from individual
monitoring stations
This type of data requires expert
interpretation – so the AQIH is
made available openly instead

37. SAFER contains the entire archive
of validated AQ data from EPA
http://erc.epa.ie/safer/resourcelisting.jsp?oID=10136&username=EPA%20Air%20Quality

38. Summary of thoughts

39. Our advice is to L.E.A.R.N
Listen
Engage
Activity/Actions
Research
New/Innovate
https://www.flickr.com/photos/arichards-gallery/8358810783

40. The unbounded evolution of InternetThe unbounded evolution of Internet
technologies has completely changed thetechnologies has completely changed the
data playing field and rules of engagementdata playing field and rules of engagement
10 Years Ago
“Fear of being open”
Today
“Fear of not being open”
DRIVERS CHANGE
INSPIRE,
SEIS,
PSI Directive,
Open Data,
Initiatives, etc
Open Internet,
Social Media,
User-generated
content,
“The Internet
Generation”, etc

41. Open Data is high on the EPA
agenda for future work
● AQIH: Make historical archive available (JSON)
● Up-to-date AQ data: AQ Directive changes are
being implemented – potential to make
INSPIRE-compliant AQ UTD available
● Explore potential linkages to DUBLINKED:
Are there datasets/services which can be
shared?
● Upgrading tools such as SAFER: Investigate
adding more web-services (pull of information)

42. Emphasis on delivery of mobile-
focused applications

43. The EPA must carefully consider
open-data on a case-by-case basis
Concerns about data misuse or
misinterpretation
The resource costs
– making open data
available isn't free
Working with stakeholders –
when data has been
generated or owned by
several parties
Privacy and
security issues
– particularly in
point-based
geospatial
datasets

44. Dr. Peter Mooney
email peter.mooney@nuim.ie and
p.mooney@epa.ie