National-Scale Freshwater Research through Data Science

Assessing the health of the nation’s six million lakes and reservoirs at the continental-scale is limited because of data usability. This project will address that limitation by making large data repositories – the USGS Water Quality Portal, the Environmental Data Initiative, and continental datasets such as the National Hydrography Dataset – easier to use for the freshwater research community. These data can then be used to explore such questions as: What is the state of surface water in the United States? How do continental-scale changes in climate and land use drive water quality? How might global food and water networks influence the ecosystem services that surface waters provide?

Specifically, the project will lead to development or application of data management and storage systems, and a collaboration between faculty engaged in curating and making large datasets useful and available to the broader research community for further analysis.

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

Paul Hanson, Distinguished Research Professor at the Center for Limnology

 

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:

AnHai Doan, Professor of Computer Science

Hilary Dugan, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology

Corinna Gries, Senior Scientist at the Center for Limnology

 

COLLABORATOR:

Jordan Read, Chief of Data Science Branch at USGS Water Mission