Spatial data is essential for researchers and the public in order to understand physical attributes of the environment. Users without GIS training face challenges in acquiring spatial data because technical skills are often required to access, view, and use the data. For the last 25 years, the Konza Prairie (KNZ) Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) has made spatial data available to users via an online portal. Over time, the online spatial data system has become outdated and several key limitations have emerged. The system was not user-friendly, data was not searchable, and only some data could be previewed. Additionally, simultaneous viewing of multiple datasets was impossible, and data could only be downloaded one layer at a time. From the GIS administrator’s standpoint, uploading the data was laborious and required the use of programming languages. A new portal that provides both advanced and novice users the ability to access, view, and analyze spatial data has become necessary. This poster highlights progress made to date and plans for future development of the KNZ LTER Spatial Data Portal.
Results/Conclusions
The Konza Prairie Spatial Data Portal provides interactive access to more than 100 spatial datasets and creates maps and applications that can be accessed by anyone on any web-enabled device. Using Portal for ArcGIS, users can search, preview, analyze, and download data. Spatial data from KNZ LTER are stored in enterprise geodatabases (GDB) within SQL Server and are accessed using ESRI’s ArcGIS Enterprise software. These data are available via a database connection or can be downloaded in zipped shapefile (SHP), Keyhole Markup Language (KML), or GeoTIFF (TIF) formats. Printable PDF maps are also available. We have developed mobile-friendly web applications that enable users without GIS knowledge to access ready-to-use content for browsing, map making, field navigation, and analysis. In addition to hosting data, the system can also be used for more efficient field data acquisition using Collector for ArcGIS. By developing this new portal, we aim to increase the usability not only of the site’s data but also of the site itself, thus contributing to a better understanding of tallgrass prairie ecology for scientists and the public alike.