71st SWCS International Annual Conference July 24-27, 2016 Louisville, KY

1. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
The Great Lakes to Gulf Virtual
Observatory
Ted Kratschmer (ekratsch@lc.edu)
National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
SWCS Annual Meeting
Louisville, Kentucky
7/27/16
www.greatlakestogulf.org

2. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
NGRREC
The Center’s Scholars and Scientists study the
ecology of great rivers, the watersheds that feed
them and the ties to the communities that use
them

3. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
The Watershed

4. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
The Challenges
Multiple functions served by the river , from agriculture
to transportation, to wastewater conveyance & river
management combine to degrade the water quality.

5. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Water Quality Monitoring
• Multiple local, state and federal agencies,
NGOs, academic institutions, conduct regular
water quality monitoring and data collection.
Most of the data is made available to the
public through multiple databases and
websites.

6. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
The Response
Identifying a need to consolidate the
available data, identify gaps in data
and better communicate water
quality science the National Great
Rivers Research and Education Center
partnered with the University of
Illinois’ National Center for
Supercomputing Applications and
Illinois‐Indiana Sea Grant to develop
the Great Lakes to Gulf Virtual
Observatory.
www.greatlakestogulf.org

7. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
The Mission
• To assist our understanding of
large river ecology and facilitate
decision making through an
interactive geospatial
application that integrates and
visualizes relevant data from
respected sources.
Data Knowledge Policy

8. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
GLTG Virtual Observatory
• Powered by the NCSA’s
GeoDashboard, the
Observatory provides access
to environmental monitoring
data collected throughout
the Mississippi River
Watershed.
• It provides a new resource
for stakeholders to inform
their research and decisions
on how the functions of the
river are managed and
sustained.
http://www.greatlakestogulf.org/

9. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
HOME
On the Home page, users have access to all of the Observatory’s available
data points. The available data is organized by data source and river reaches
and watershed
On the Home page, users have access to all of the Observatory’s available
data points. The available data is organized by data source and river reaches
and watershed

10. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center

11. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Explore the Data

12. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
View Data

13. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center

14. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center

15. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center

16. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Search
• On the search page users are able to create unique data sets for the
specific sites, sources, and parameters that interest them.
• Users can then download their selected data sets in common file formats
like CSV and JSON.
• On the search page users are able to create unique data sets for the
specific sites, sources, and parameters that interest them.
• Users can then download their selected data sets in common file formats
like CSV and JSON.

17. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Compare

18. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Future
After launching with a focus on nutrients and water
quality, the Observatory will expand to include
additional types of environmental monitoring data.

19. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Future
• Additional map context layers
• More data sets, parameters
• Near real‐time updating
• Focused watersheds
• Nutrient reduction strategies
• Temporal trends

20. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Acknowledgements
• Those who have given us feedback and tested
the site
• Data providers
• Funding

21. National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
National Great Rivers
Research and Education Center
Questions? Feedback?
• gltg@lc.edu
• ekratsch@lc.edu
• www.greatlakestogulf.org