NESP TWQ project submissions to the eAtlas
Each of the multiyear projects in the National Environmental Science Program Tropical Water Quality (NESP TWQ) hub is required to make a number of submissions to the eAtlas. These submissions are to ensure that the data generated by the hub are captured and well documented, enabling this data to be used by environmental managers and reused in future research. The schedule of submissions to the eAtlas is to help projects to meet the NESP data management guidelines. Short term projects less than 1 year should focus on submitting completed datasets.
Each NESP TWQ project has a schedule of milestones relating to submissions to the eAtlas. These consist of:
- Submitting photos and images.
- Declaring dataset outputs for the project.
- Submitting completed datasets and documentation for publication on the eAtlas.
This article provides more details about these milestones.
Milestone: Photo submission
Submit photos highlighting project activities along with their descriptions to the eAtlas and RRRC.
This shows a screenshot of the eAtlas Image metadata editor. It is a free desktop application (written in Java) that can be used to tag photos with a title, description, attribution, geotagging and licensing. This information is saved in the JPEG images themselves. This free tool can be used for tagging up photos prior to submission to the eAtlas.
by AIMS - eAtlasEach project should images that help to communicate the activities of the project and include any of the following types of images:
- Photos of experiments
- Photos of the environments, habitats or organisms being investigated
- Photos of study sites
- Images that are suggestive of the work being undertaken (useful for preview images)
The eAtlas is also keen to collect images that:
- Highlight a particular environmental process, habitat or species. These images should contain a good caption of the process shown in the image. Each of these images will be converted to their own photo page in the eAtlas and as a result be discoverable through a Google search.
- Photos that are collected as a dataset. This includes photo transect surveys. These photos should be treated and submitted as a dataset.
Projects should follow: How to submit photos and images to the eAtlas.
Milestone: Updated photo submission
Submit additional photos highlighting project activities along with their descriptions to the eAtlas.
This milestone is typically completed mid way through the project and involves providing additional project related photos or images to the eAtlas. The requirements for these images are the same as those for the first photo submission milestone.
Milestone: Photo submission and location of research maps (RPv5 projects)
Submit photos, with descriptions, highlighting project activities to the eAtlas and RRRC. Submit detailed location of research information.
This milestone involves submitting images with descriptions as described above in the photo submission milestone. Projects should follow: How to submit photos and images to the eAtlas.
Project also need to provide details or where they are performing their project activities. This information is intended to be a more detailed form of the information provided in the "Location of research" section of the project proposals. It will be used to create maps of where NESP projects are performing their activities and what activity is being performed. This will be presented on the eAtlas project pages and supplied to the Department of the Environment via the MARIS tool. The aim is to capture: Where is on-ground action being performed? Where are lab experiments / field work being performed? Where are the outputs of project intended to have impact or relevance?
A template will be provided to provide this information.
Milestone: Dataset management plan discussion
Discuss project data management and data products with the eAtlas team.
This milestone is to ensure that the project has thought through data management issues for the project and what some of the likely data products that will be produced by the end of the project. This early discussion on data products will allow stakeholders, other researchers and the eAtlas to understand what might be the expected as outputs of the project. Since this discussion will be done early in most projects (typically 6 - 12 months into the project) many projects will not know any specifics of what data products they will produce. In this case the discussion will focus on the expectations of data management for the NESP program and how they datasets will need to be prepared and provided to the eAtlas.
This milestone can be achieved in a variety of ways including a face-to-face meeting with the eAtlas team, a phone discussion, or an email discussion. The eAtlas team will be running training workshops on data management for NESP researchers. These would be a good opportunity to discuss your project.
Milestone: Data Management Plan submission
Submit a data management plan to the eAtlas outlining the expected datasets to be delivered by this project.
This milestone typically occurs in the last half of the project and is intended to provide a list of intended datasets that will be produced by the end of the project. This declaration will help stakeholders understand expected dataset deliverables and allow the eAtlas and RRRC to plan for and track submissions of datasets.
The data management plan template is available for download, along with some helpful examples. Complete the plan with a list of each expected datasets, along with relevant details for each dataset. Also provide the intended delivery date as some datasets might be ready before the end of the project and some might be delayed until after the project to line up with completion of PhDs, for example.
Milestone: Updated Data Management Plan submission (RPv5 projects)
Submit an updated data management plan to the eAtlas outlining the expected datasets to be delivered by this project.
This milestone applies to extension projects that already have developed a data mangement plan. This milestone is to revist the existing data management plan (or develop one if the original one was not developed). It should be updated with any changes to the planned project data outputs and include any new datasets that will be developed.
The data management plan template should be used for the planning process.
Milestone: Dataset delivery
Submit completed datasets and associated documentation for publication in the eAtlas. Submissions must meet eAtlas publication standards.
This milestone occurs in the last 6 months of projects and is intended capture all completed dataset ready for publication on the eAtlas. Each of the datasets should be submitted based on the guidelines below.
Note: Datasets can be embargoed for a period and so publication should not delay submission of the data to the eAtlas.
Milestone: Dataset delivery
Submit all project created datasets and associated documentation for publication in the eAtlas. Submissions must meet eAtlas publication standards.
This milestone includes submission of all datasets produced by the project and should include all of the declared datasets. If some datasets were changed or cancelled from the time they were described in the Dataset declaration milestone then an explanation for the change should be provided. Each of the datasets should be submitted based on the guidelines below.
Submission of data and metadata
All datasets that were developed as part of the NESP TWQ projects should be documented and made publicly available. These datasets will be a lasting legacy of the program and be used by managers and researchers in the future.
Projects only need to submit datasets that were a product of the project work itself (created as part of the project). If a project simply used a dataset from an external source than this dataset does not need to be submitted. However ideally the use and source of these external datasets should be described so that others may discover them.
The focus is to capture datasets that would be potentially useful for others and re-useable in other contexts.
eAtlas publication standards:
Each dataset submitted to the eAtlas must include:
- A clean set of data files that is potentially useful to others.
- Documentation explaining these data files with sufficient detail to allow others to understand and use it.
Submissions that do not meet this minimum standard of quality (in documentation) will not be published as full records, but will instead be added as a note to the project page on the eAtlas. Details of the documentation that should go with the dataset files can be found in Submitting data to the eAtlas.