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 Jason Wimmer
Faculty of Information Technology, Smart Tools and Services
Thesis Title: Integrated Collection and Analysis of Ecological Field Survey Data.
Research Summary: Currently, environmental and ecological field surveys are largely conducted manually, with scientists making a range of observations, including assessment and analysis of vegetation structure, soil sampling and analysis, air quality analysis and surveys of species diversity and abundance. Although information technology plays a major role in manipulation and analysis of these data, there are still many elements of data recording, entry and processing that are repetitive and require high levels of manual input.
During recent collaborations between the Faculty of Information Technology and the Faculty of Science, a number of opportunities for automating many of these manual activities have been identified. These opportunities, viewed in isolation, have the potential to improve data capture and analysis activities. However, an integrated, flexible and extensible data collection and analysis framework could lead to significant improvements in both ecology survey processes and management of sensitive ecologies, through improved data capture, analysis and reporting systems.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the application of modern ICT to collection and analysis of ecological survey data. To this end, the research will focus on the development of an integrated, flexible and extensible framework to address issues and complexities associated with:
- Ecological survey data collection.
- Synthesis, manipulation and analysis of survey data.
- Reporting, federation and management of associated ecological survey information.
Specific research activities will focus on:
- Reducing manual data entry and data analysis tasks.
- Integrating manual and automated sensor network data (gap filling).
- Management, manipulation and presentation of temporal and spatial data.
- Management of survey data accuracy, uncertainty and data provenance.
- Providing greater flexibility in accessing, manipulating and analysing data, and reporting results.
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