Source: UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING submitted to
GIS APPLICATION ENHANCEMENT AND DATA AUTOMATION FOR USE IN MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING AT RESEARCH AND EXTENSION CENTERS IN POWELL, LARAMIE AND SHERIDAN, WYOMING.
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0227461
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
WYO-466-11
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2011
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2016
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Zalesky, D.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE DEPARTMENT 3434
LARAMIE,WY 82071-2000
Performing Department
Research & Extension Center
Non Technical Summary
Data collection, data management and effective use of historical and current data related to agricultural research or production is a tremendous undertaking. Combining all data relevant to research or production decisions requires the development of large and complex databases and subsequently the use of such databases requires the development of applications that integrate all available data and make it easily accessible. Currently, no applications using spatial information technologies are available that integrate all available data for an agricultural R&E center or an agricultural production operation into a decision-making tool based on that information. Development of appropriate databases that include existing historical and current data will be the initial undertaking. Once the appropriate databases have been developed, a web-based application that integrates all data from the databases will be applied. Within this application, tools will be developed to allow for iterative selection processes that will meet the specific needs of the individual R&E centers. Development and utilization of such technologies will enhance the management decisions made at R&E centers and application may be made to production agriculture operations.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1010199106020%
2051499106010%
2051599106010%
2051699106010%
9037110310050%
Goals / Objectives
The goals and objectives of the proposed project are to: 1) develop a GIS system for the research centers at Powell, Sheridan and Laramie that meet the needs of the centers and can be populated with existing historical data and currently collected data. 2) To enhance the existing web-based GIS application, to enable use of data to formulate management decisions and to extend use to the research and extension (R&E) centers at Powell, Sheridan and Laramie. 3)To train all potential users of the GIS application on entering data, accessing data and utilization of the web-based application to generate efficient and effective management decisions. The expected outcomes include research center specific databases that include historical and current information, a web-based GIS application that allows integration of database information and additional tools that will allow iterative selection processes that meet the needs of the R&E centers. All potential users of the web-based application will be trained to enter and access data as well as utilize the web-based GIS application.
Project Methods
Geo-database schema will be developed following discussion with center directors and researchers to ensure the design meets their needs. Databases will then be populated with existing geospatial, historical and currently collected data. Databases will be constantly updated with field data and practices. Initially version 1.0 of the web-based application will be implemented at the Laramie, Powell and Sheridan R&E centers utilizing existing data. During the length of the project WyGISC and center directors will begin development of version 2.0 which will include development of a user friendly interface and additional tools that will allow iterative selection processes that meet the needs of the R&E centers. Ongoing testing and enhancements to version 2.0 of the web-based application and tools will occur throughout the duration of the project. Training will be provided by WyGISC to all potential users on how to access the applications portal and the use of the customized application. Additional training will also be provided as requested. Utilization of the web-based application and tools to make management decisions will enhance facilitation of science and management activities at agricultural R&E centers.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Research and Extension Center Directors, farm managers and research faculty members in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources were the primary users of the SARRA application during this reporting period. The SARRA application is utilized by research faculty members to request resources needed for research projects, teaching or extension activities at the R&E Centers and they can also utilize the application to view historical information related to the resources being requested. The R&E Center Directors and farm managers utilize the application to review the requests for resources from faculty members to develop management plans for utilization of the resources available at each of the four research and extension centers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Numerous opportunities for training were made available to all users including: 1. Face-to-face trainings conducted at the annual AES planning conference. 2. Powerpoint presentations made avaialble for self-training on the system. 3. Several videoconference trainings throughout the 5 year project period. 4. One-on-one trainings as requested throughout the project period. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Updates to the SARRA application have been communicated to all users of the application through trainings and the annual AES Planning Conference. Additionally, timely emails and video-conferences were also utilized to disseminate new information and results. Those receiving the information included all users of the application including R&E Center Directors, farm managers and research faculty within the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The accomplishments for this project include: 1. Development and refinement of a GIS system application for use by research and extension centers located at Powell, Sheridan, Laramie and Lingle Wyoming that met the needs of the centers for use as a management tool for research resources and to populate the applications database with current and historical data and information. 2. Modification of the application throughout the project period to better meet the needs for resource management, data acquisition and data utilization at all of the research and extension centers. 3. All users of the GIS application were trained to efficiently and effectively utilize the application for data entry, data utilization and development of management decisions for the research resources present at each of the research and extension centers.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Research and Extension Center Directors, farm managers and faculty members in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources were the primary users of the SARRA application during this reporting period. The SARRA application is utilized by faculty members to request resources needed for research, teaching or extension activites and can also utilize the application to view historical information related to the resources needed or being requested. The R&E Center Directors and farm managers utilize the application to review the requests for resources from faculty members to develop management plans for utilization of the resources available at each of the four research and extension centers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One web-based training was conducted for R&E Center directors and farm managers. This session served to demonstrate updates to SARRA's functionality and to demonstrate new options and categories added at the request of users. In-person trainings on the SARRA application were also conducted for new staff and faculty. A brief update session was conducted for users at the annual Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station 2015 Planning Conference. A training video and power point presentation is avaialble (http://applications.wygisc.org) for individual training or refreshing of use of the SARRA application. Use of the SARRA application is in its fourth year by directors, farm managers and faculty to request resources and to develop management plans for the coming year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of the results, updates or changes related to the SARRA application was through web-based training and update sessions. One-on-one trainings and response to inquiries about the application are also done on a routine basis. Updates/trainings are also conducted at the annual Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Planning Conference. Use of database information within the SARRA application is available for use by faculty to garner historical information relative to resources they are interested in and by the Director of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station to quantify and classify projects being conducted at the four R&E Centers. R&E Center directors and farm managers can also access database information for use in planning and management at each of the centers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the upcoming and final year of this project, some refinement to the application will occur primarily in the area of uploading data directly from Strider tablet technology to the SARRA application database. During this past year that technology was incorporated into the application and some issues were identified by field staff that now need to be addressed to make the use of Strider technology more efficient. During this fifth year of the project, maintenance of the application will be the primary effort, however one additional call will be made to users to identify concerns or needs related to use of the SARRA application.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? During this reporting period, continued efforts were made to increase the efficiency and functionality of the SARRA applications. Improvements included an update to the list of tillage implement types, planting methods and harvest methods within the database schema. Application functionality was improved by adding the ability to export a project list as a .pdf or to copy the list to clipboard for import into a spreadsheet. This was added under the Review Tab and identified as Export List. Additionally under the Field Info/Assignment Tab, crops and fields were updated for 2015. Research and Extension Center field boundaries were updated with new GIS or other data. On January 1, 2015, all data and information form the previous year was archived. Trainings on the SARRA application were continued either via the web or in person for directors and farm managers to discuss updates or improvements to SARRA's functionality. A presentation was also made at the annual Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station annual planning conference to update users of the system.

    Publications


      Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

      Outputs
      Target Audience: Research and Extension Center Directors, farm managers and faculty members in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources were the primary users of the SARRA application. The SARRA application is utilized by R&E Center Directors and farm managers to develop management plans for utilization of resources at each of the four research and extension centers. Faculty members utilize the SARRA application to request resources needed for research projects and can also utilize the application to view historical information related to resources needed. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Two web-based training sessions were conducted for R&E Center directors and farm managers as well as research faculty to update users on improvements made to the SARRA application. One in-person meeting with directors, farm managers and faculty was also conducted to address specific questions and issues. A formal training session was also conducted at the annual Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station 2014 Planning Conference to update users of the applicationchanges and improvements made to the SARRA application. A training video and power point presentation is also available (http://applications.wygisc.org). Use of the SARRA application is now in its third year of use by directors, farm managers and research faculty to request research resources and to develop management plans for the coming year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The SARRA application and any improvements made to the application are disseminated to directors, farm managers and research faculty by web-based trainings, in-person meetings. An annualpresentation and training are conducted at thePlanning Conference of the Wyoming Agricultural Exepriment Station. Additionally, one-on-one meetings and trainings are avaialble to new indiviudals at the R&E Centers or new research faculty. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? A significant effort will be undertaken to develop methods to upload crop managment detail data to SARRA directly from the field utilizing technology such as Strider app equippedtablets. Efforts will be directed at developing an ability to interface the data collected on Strider tablet technology with the SARRA application. This will improve the efficiency of collecting crop management information and other resource data by allowing such information to be collected electronically in the field and subsequently downloading it into the SARRA application. This will eliminate the use of handwritten forms/notes that then need to be manually input into the SARRA application. As other issues or improvements are identified by users of the application, refinement of the application will be made.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? In this reporting period, additional improvements and refinement to the SARRA application were made and resulted in a new version of the application (SARRA, v. 101b) being released and implemented. Improvements and refinement to the SARRA application software has been an on-going effort since the initial release of the application on November 1, 2012 (http://www.uwyo.edu/uwexpstn/). Improvements made during this reporting period include refinement to the review function by archiving projects by calendar year and adding the ability to view previous calendar year projects. A filtering function was also added to allow listing of studies by year, station, study location, study type or researcher. Under the field information function, improvements were made to allow multiple station fields to be assigned to one study, ability of researchers to view crop management information, and to add weather data links from multiple sites to data layers. Improvements to the reporting function of the application now allows for division of results by differing sites at each R&E Center and additional reporting details for each principal investigator. The crop year planning function was improved to allow directors and farm managers to assign crops to fields for the upcoming year, to allow assignment of multiple crops to one field and identify crops as being irrigated or dryland. Crop management details can also now be entered as well. Additional improvements were also made to labeling features of the application.

      Publications


        Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

        Outputs
        Target Audience: Directors, farm managers and faculty members within the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources continue to be the primary users of the SARRA application and all continue to recieve update training. Directors and farm managers utilize the SARRA application to develop management plans for utilization of resources at each of the four research and extension centers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Three web-based training sessions were conducted for R&E center directors and farm managers as well as research faculty to update users on the improvements to the SARRA application. Additionally one-on-one meetings with directors, farm managers and faculty were also conducted to address specific questions and issues. A presentation and training session was conducted at the annual Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station 2013 Annual Planning Conference to update users on the functionality of the SARRA application. A training video and power point presentation is available as well (https://applications.wygisc.org). The SARRA application was utilized for the first timeby directors and farm managers in 2013 to develop management plans for the coming year and by research faculty to make resource requests. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Use of the SARRA application by center directors and farm managers to make management decisions and develop management plans for use of resources at each of the centers was presented to attendees of the 2013 Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Planning Conference. These presentations allowed for discussions of the use of the SARRA application among participants and to further refine the efficient use of resources. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The SARRA application will be used for the second time by directors and farm managers to develop management plans for resource use at each of the four R&E centers. The application will also be utilized by research faculty to request resources for projects at the centers. Refinement and improvements to the application will continue utilizing feedback from users to continue improving the functionality and efficiency of the application. Historic and current field data will continue to be downloaded into the database supporting the application. Training sessions will be on-going for the use of the SARRA application for new faculty and staff utilizing the application. These sessions will also be utilized to update users on any improvements or changes made to the SARRA application.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? During this reporting period, progress has been made to improve and refine the SARRA application.This has resulted in a new version of the application (SARRA, v. 101a) to be released and implemented. Since the initial release of theSARRA application (http://www.uwyo.edu/uwexpstn/)on November 1, 2012,improvements in functionality and efficiency have been incorporated into the application. More historical and current data has been loaded into the database that supports theSARRA apllicationincreasing its utility to query past and present uses of resources available at the four R&E centers. The SARRA application was utilized for the first time during this reporting period by research faculty to requestresources, and by directors and farm managers to formulate management decisions at the four R&E centers which extended the use of the resources for research and other activities. On-going training sessions were held through web-based systems (n=3)and one-on-one meetings with directors, farm managers and research faculty. These sessions provided the opportunity to update users on improvements to the functionality of the SARRA application and to gather input from users that would be used to make the system more efficient and functional.

        Publications


          Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

          Outputs
          OUTPUTS: Geo-referenced data for facility boundaries, field boundaries, plot boundaries, buildings, pasture and hay field boundaries were collected at the Powell, Sheridan and Laramie Research and Extension Centers. Additionally, historical crop production data, research project data and experimental treatment information was collected at each of the centers. These data were entered into a database to enable access to Geographic Information System (GIS) data for all centers. Creation of this database was an enhancement and extension of a pilot project from the previous year for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center located in Lingle, WY. An enhanced web based data automation application was developed. The application, Study Area Resource Request Application (SARRA) provides for field location and selection for upcoming field seasons, and access by research faculty and center directors and managers to historical data regarding experimental treatments and production. Three webinar sessions were conducted with center directors and operations managers for the purpose of developing an application that was user friendly and that met the needs of each of the research and extension centers. Additionally, a training session was provided for all potential users (research faculty) on accessing the web based application and its use in requesting resources for upcoming years. A training video and PowerPoint presentation was also developed. The SARRA application was released for use by the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station on November 1, 2012 and will be utilized by research faculty, center directors and operations managers in the upcoming field season. Research faculty will utilize the application to request resources at the various centers for research projects while center directors and operations managers will utilize the application to assign fields, plots and pens during the annual planning process. PARTICIPANTS: Provided information and data for database: Doug Zalesky, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Director, Laramie Research and Extension Center; Abdel Mesbah, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Director, Powell Research and Extension Center; Valtcho Jeliazkov, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof., Director, Sheridan Research and Extension Center; Jim Freeburn, Research Scientist, Director, James C. Hageman Sustainable Agricultural Research and Extension Center; Shay Davis, UW Masters Student. Development of web based SARRA application: Wendy Berelson, GIS Analyst, Wyoming Geographic Information Center; Shawn Lanning, Research Scientist, Wyoming Geographic Information Center; Phillip Polzer, Application Developer, GIS Analyst, Wyoming Geographic Information Center. TARGET AUDIENCES: Initial training sessions on accessing and utilizing the web based SARRA application have been provided to center directors and managers as well as faculty researchers. Faculty researchers within the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will be the primary users of the SARRA application for requesting resources to conduct research projects. Directors and managers located at the various research and extension centers will also be primary users of the SARRA application for the purposes of planning and assigning resources for research projects. Webinar sessions (n=4)along with the development of a training video and a power point presentation have been implemented and made available to all potential users of the SARRA application. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

          Impacts
          Implementation and adoption of the web based SARRA application will result in improved planning and utilization of resources at each of the four research and extension centers within the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. Utilization by research faculty will result in improved access to historical information on use of fields and plots along with knowledge of previous experimental treatments applied to fields or plots. Such knowledge will improve decision making by researchers in selecting fields or plots that will best serve their research needs for the coming field season. Additionally, data collected and treatments applied can be entered into the database from experiments conducted during a field season for use by researchers in the future. Access to data base information will allow researchers to make more informed decisions on resources needs and ultimately will improve research outcomes. Utilization of the SARRA application will significantly improve the decision making and planning process by directors and operation managers at the respective research and extension centers. Directors and managers will utilize database maps to make assignments for resources. Utilizing the requests obtained from faculty researchers, directors and managers can make more effective and efficient planning decisions for resource use at their respective centers. Directors will also have immediate access to information on individual fields or plots at their centers which will assist in planning and in providing information to not only researchers but clientele as well. The web based application will provide administrators with immediate access to information and data pertaining to resource use not only at each of the research and extension centers, but as an aggregate of all centers. Such access is valuable to administrators in developing reports for various federal and state agencies. It also allows administrators access to information in response to inquiries regarding resource use by individuals involved or interested in research being conducted at any or all of the centers.

          Publications

          • No publications reported this period