1 CDI SSF Category: SSF Category 4: Community Innovation
USGS Site Safety Information Web Service and Prototype
Web/Mobile Application
Applicants/Principal Investigators:
Sonya Vasquez, USGS Nevada Water Science Center, 2730 N Deer Run Road, Carson City, Nevada 89703. Ph (775) 8867-7718. Email slvasque@usgs.gov
Brian Reece, USGS Texas Water Science Center, 1505 Ferguson Lane, Austin, TX 78754. Ph. (512) 927-3573. Email bdreece@usgs.gov
Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national real-time streamflow, water-quality monitoring, and other time-series hydrologic data networks are an essential tool for river forecasters, water and emergency managers and others, including the public. Though the focus of the networks are to collect and distribute water data, the operation of these networks also generates essential safety information and other site metadata which can be utilized throughout all USGS Mission Areas to keep employees safe and operating efficiently.
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Total funding amount requested: $36,000 Total in-kind funding: $11,000
Datasets:
U.S. Geological Survey, 2012, National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web at URL http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis.
U.S. Geological Survey, 2012, Site Information Management System available on the World Wide Web (internal access only) at URL http://sims.water.usgs.gov/SIMSHome.asp
Geographic/geologic/ecosystem/habitat/taxonomic/other context: Type of Product(s) Generated:
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Summary:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national real-time streamflow, water-quality monitoring, and other time-series hydrologic data networks are an essential tool for river forecasters, water and emergency managers and others, including the public. Our success lies in the water data we collect and distribute; and in the commission of our data collection operations essential safety information and site metadata are generated which can be useful to facilitate safe and efficient data collection operations by any USGS Mission Area employee.
To assure safe site data collection, the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires an assessment of each site to determine if hazards are present. The USGS integrates safety and health into the planning of every job through the document called a Job Hazard Analyses (JHA). JHAs are reviewed annually and include data such as nearest emergency medical facilities, emergency contacts, cell phone service availability, and other site specific conditions which may be potential hazards.
These data are stored within the Site Information Management System (SIMS), primarily operated within the Water Mission Area. SIMS serves critical gage operation details such as extensive site histories, extended location descriptions, data quality assessments, Job Hazard Analyses (JHA), Traffic Control Plans, and many more operational details all into a single web-enabled
application. In general, SIMS is an internal, complimentary piece of the NWIS framework used to assure overall NWIS data integrity and safe data collection operations.
This proposal seeks to develop a web service and prototype web/mobile application to expose this essential safety information to all USGS Mission Area employees to assure safe field operations. Information such as nearest emergency medical facilities and emergency contacts can be used by all USGS employees to supplement their safety in the field during routine field work as well as during times of emergency. USGS application developers can also use this information in outside applications that we may not be aware of.
CDI SSF Category: SSF Category 4: Community Innovation
Project Title: USGS Site Safety Information Web Service and Prototype Web/Mobile Application
Applicants/Principal Investigators: Name Organization Affiliation Mailing Address Phone Number Email Role Sonya Vasquez USGS NV WSC Carson City, NV
775-887-7718 slvasque@usgs.gov Project Lead
Brian Reece USGS TX WSC
Austin, TX 512-927-3573 bdreece@usgs.gov Developer Lead
3 Other Personnel Involved:
Name Organization Affiliation Mailing Address Phone Number Email Role
Joe Broadus SCA Safety Manager
Shenandoah, TX
936-271-5319
jbroadus@usgs.gov Bureau Safety Advisor Deanna Terry USGS TX WSC Austin, TX 512-927-3586 dterry@usgs.gov Developer
Total funding amount requested: $36,000 Total in-kind funding: $11,000
Datasets:
U.S. Geological Survey, 2012, National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web at URL http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis.
U.S. Geological Survey, 2012, Site Information Management System available on the World Wide Web (internal access only) at URL http://sims.water.usgs.gov/SIMSHome.asp
Geographic/geologic/ecosystem/habitat/taxonomic/other context:
Scope:
In the commission of data collection operations, the Water Mission Area collects essential safety information and site metadata which are stored within SIMS. The Bureau Safety Program has recognized the importance of these data and is providing, field level support to develop a more robust, user friendly safety program in SIMS. Enhancements meet Federal MUTCD regulations for all sites in SIMS and enable the safety component of SIMS to become part of records
processing and within the normal work flow of most field personnel. Safety data such as nearest emergency medical facilities, emergency contacts, cell phone service availability, and other site specific conditions which may be potential hazards can be used to facilitate safe and efficient data collection operations by any USGS Mission Area.
The goals this year by August 31, 2013 are to work with Bureau Safety Program personnel to develop a web service and prototype web/mobile application to expose this essential safety information to any USGS Mission Area to assure safe field operations.
4 Technical Approach:
SIMS is a well-established application utilized within the Water Mission Area to optimize gage operations including safety. It has a base funding and procedural steps to assure information can be kept current and complete by end users.
A web service will be developed that allows applications to retrieve information directly from the SIMS database instead of existing methods which require significant web scraping of SIMS html pages.
The service will be designed within the framework of existing SIMS services and will include the previously unavailable operational safety-related information. As with existing SIMS services, the new service will be programmed utilizing data from a MS SQL Server 2008 database backend, production MS IIS servers and programming under the .NET framework.
All interactions with the service will be developed with NWIS-compliance. Safety details in SIMS are tied specifically to NWIS sites. End users will be able to query the service based on location or NWIS site number.
Service specifications will also allow for specific safety categories available in SIMS including: nearest emergency medical facility, emergency contacts, dangerous or unsafe conditions in the vicinity of a gage
The prototype web application will demonstrate usage of these enhanced SIMS services for determining specific, required safety information needed for remote field operation preparation. The service and prototype will be tested for scalability, bugs, and utility by recruiting existing SIMS users, the USGS Regional Safety Managers, and users from outside the Water Mission Area as appropriate.
Documentation will be developed on best practices for services utilization and will be added to the upcoming SIMS services showcase page to facilitate adoption by internal USGS application developers.
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Project Experience:
The SIMS development team obtains base funding each year through the Water Mission Area to maintain SIMS and develop critical new capabilities. SIMS tracks extensive site-related
information for more than 40,000 active or recently active NWIS sites, with a strong emphasis on frequently visited real-time locations. SIMS has been in production throughout the Water Mission area since 2005 – 2006, is utilized by every USGS Water Science Center and had at least 1,500 transactional users annually with many more read-only users. The development team adds value to the SIMS framework by seeking out unique funding opportunities to enhance base funding. Successful proposals have yielded funding by the Office of Surface Water, and combining efforts of several Water Science Centers to develop applications to solve common problems, and most recently the Bureau Safety Program under the USGS Administration and Enterprise Information Branch.
SIMS developers have extensive experience with producing internal web application to meet operational needs of Water Mission Area users and producing services to meet the needs of external application developers.
We have recently engaged the USGS safety community and are working with all of the regional safety managers to fully prepare safety-related applications utilizing the overall SIMS framework. Safety managers utilize SIMS for monitoring safety documentation compliance with USGS field operations and Federal Regulations.
Commitment to Effort:
SIMS is recognized as the primary repository for managing safety-related and site metadata details and has a long-term operational commitment to facilitate Water Mission Area activities. Engaging the Bureau Safety program has added value to the SIMS framework by adding modules that facilitate safety reviews by the Regional Safety Managers and the Bureau Safety Team. As we work together to facilitate safe and efficient data collection operations for the Water Mission Area, we recognize safety data such as nearest emergency medical facilities, emergency contacts, cell phone service availability, and other site specific conditions which may be potential hazards are important to all USGS Mission Areas.
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Budget:
Budget Category Federal Funding
“Requested” Matching Funds “Proposed” 1. SALARIES: Personnel Brian Reece, 80 hrs at$100/hr $8,000 Sonya Vasuqez, 125 hrs at $75/hr $9,375 Deanna Terry, 200 hrs at $75/hr $15,000 Joe Broadus, 40 hrs at $77/hr $3,100
SIMS users/users outside the Water Mission Area 80 hrs at $100/hr $8,000
Total Salaries: $32,375 $11,100
2. FRINGE BENEFITS: Personnel
State Personnel (51%) Total Fringe Benefits:
3. FIELD EXPENSES:
One face to face meeting to facilitate development
Airfare for 2 people $2,000
Lodging Cost for 2 rooms @ $100/night $1,000
Per Diem – 2 people for 5 days $500
Vehicle Cost $100
Total Field Expenses:
4. OTHER DIRECT COSTS: (itemize) Total Direct Costs:
Indirect Cost (9.9%) GRAND TOTAL: $35,975 $11,100 Timeline: Tasks FY 2013 Q ua rter 1 Q ua rter 2 Q ua rter 3 Q ua rter 4
Task 1 – Proposal Submission
Task 2 – Develop Web Service And Prototype Web Application
Task 3 – Testing and Documentation
