Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) manages several spatial datasets that record the location and other attributes of state and federally listed species and species of concern. These data have been managed using computerized methods for approximately 25 years. Over that time, incremental or piecemeal enhancements to processes, applications, and data have been implemented to accommodate new requirements and utilize new technology. The system was characterized by inconsistently documented processes, highly denormalized data structures, applications written in a plethora of languages, and redundancy.
Working with the WDFW team, GeoNorth reviewed and analyzed 9 enterprise data sets for redesign and consolidation. In addition, existing business processes used to record, maintain and use information were also researched and documented. For each data set, a use case diagram and description was documented. Documented business processes were reviewed by WDFW staff for accuracy. Once recorded, existing data structures were diagramed. After completing the process and data diagramming, it was clear that there were significant areas where improvements could be made to reduce or eliminate data redundancy being maintained across the various datasets.
Using detailed documentation provided by WDFW, the results of the business process modeling, along with notes collected during phone interviews and meetings, GeoNorth was able to develop a single consolidated conceptual data model based on a hierarchical organizing principal theme discovered in many of the data sets and business processes. Additionally GeoNorth provided recommendations for moving forward with a Geodatabase design and recommendations for restructuring data collection procedures and improving data management. Additionally GeoNorth provided recommendations for future application development efforts, hardware and software, and training.
WDFW used the successful design and GIS Assessment Report findings as a guide to develop a consolidated complex physical data model and introduce changes in data collection and data management.
In 2005, GeoNorth was contracted again to develop a Prototype Data Entry Application for the Wildlife Survey Data Management (WSDM) program. This project produced a pilot application used by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to populate a large and complex geodatabase with new and legacy species survey data. The application, developed with ArcObjects and VB.NET, can support multiple users with different data display and entry requirements at the same time. This application was developed to replace a number of legacy applications the department was previously using. The application underwent additional under required modifications and is now in production supporting the department’s enterprise WSDM Geodatabase in ArcSDE.
Based on our past successes, WDFW again contracted with GeoNorth in 2006 to develop a conceptual design and data model that would support the complex process of Habitat Conservation Planning (HCP) for federally listed and other sensitive species that cover the 830,000 acres of wildlife areas WDFW owns and/or manages. Projects efforts centered on gathering data requirements, workflow, and analytical processing. GeoNorth developed a detailed report which included a complete conceptual database design to support HCP business needs and identified use cases. Moving forward, GeoNorth is now in the process of developing data collection and maintenance applications for managing species habitat areas and activities. As part of this effort a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and Software Design Specification (SDS) are being developed. These solutions are expected to greatly facilitate the data management efforts associated with HCP. The resulting data will be used by future analytical processes.
GeoNorth has helped streamline business at WDFW and determined that there were significant areas where improvements could be made to reduce or eliminate data redundancy being maintained across the various datasets. WDFW used the successful design and GIS Assessment Report findings as a guide to develop a consolidated complex physical data model and introduce changes in data collection and data management. GeoNorth was able to develop a single consolidated conceptual data model based on a hierarchical organizing principal theme discovered in many data sets and business processes.
Additionally GeoNorth provided recommendations for moving forward with a Geodatabase design and recommendations for restructuring data collection procedures and improving data management. GeoNorth provided recommendations for future application development efforts, hardware and software, and training. Through our consulting efforts on the HCP project, GeoNorth delivered an extensive conceptual data model tosupport planned HCP data management and analysis. This design was used to guide the subsequent application development efforts currently underway.
