2015 AIM Implementation Summary and Data Flow
Documenting the AIM implementation process and products are critical for ensuring data quality, informing
appropriate analyses, and improving implementation in future years. This document provides an outline of the
typical data and information flow between the NOC, State Office, Field Office, and Field Crew (Figure 1). This
document also provides a summary of which data and details should be transferred to the NOC for ingestion into
corporate data sets and archives.
Training Data Collection & QA
Field
Crew
Calibration data
Early DIMA
Field
Office
State
Office
QC
Field Data
•
DIMA
•
Photos
•
Actual plots
shp
•
Field season
summary
Office Plot
Evaluation
Sample Design
•
Plots
•
Strata
•
Study area
•
Project
design
worksheet
NOC
Jan
Feb
March
April
Use Data
QC Data
May
June
July
Aug
QC Data
Use Data
QC Data
Terradat
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Figure 1. Timeline of how terrestrial data will flow from throughout the field season, beginning with the sample design,
continuing through field data collection, quality control, and data analysis.
Within 1 month of the conclusion of data collection, we ask that each terrestrial AIM project lead provide the
NOC with:
1. A QC’d DIMA (latest version – currently 3.1). Create one DIMA for the entire project. The DIMA will
include:
a. GPS Locations – ensure coordinate system, datum, and zone are correct
b. Number and orientation of transects
c. Travel instructions to each plot
d. AIM data: line-point intercept, gap intercept, species richness, soil stability (if applicable, plant
density (if applicable), and interpreting indicators for rangeland health (if applicable)
e. Growth habits/duration assigned for all species encountered including if a species is considered
invasive
f. Documentation of any missing data or known errors
2. Photos
a. Use the following photo naming convention:
i. ProjectName_PlotID_Description_YYYYMMDD
1. Descriptions should be labeled as follows:
a. Transects: T1, T2, T3
b. Soil pits: Soil1, Soil2, Soil3, etc.
c. Miscellaneous: Misc1, Misc2, Misc3, etc
ii. Example: WhiteRiverFO_Alkali-1_T1_20140721
iii. PlotID’s should match the PlotID established in DIMA
b. Please limit photos to those that are relevant to monitoring (e.g., plot photos). No need to
include multiples of the same transect unless they add new information.
3. Sample Design Documentation
a. Project design worksheet which includes the project background, management and monitoring
objectives, strata descriptions, supplemental indicator documentation, sampling weights given
to each stratum
b. If NOC/Jornada did sample design, please send:
i. Completed SeasonEnd2015_XXXX geodatabase - please see attached documentation for
more detailed instructions on populating this geodatabase.
c. If you did the sample design (not NOC/Jornada), please send:
i. Completed SeasonEnd2015_XXXX geodatabase - please see attached documentation for
more detailed instructions on populating this geodatabase.
ii. Shapefile of strata boundaries
iii. Shapefile of study area (e.g., all BLM land within the project area)
4. End of Field Season Implementation Summary (2-3 pages)
a. Plan and fund (e.g., crew staffing, timeline, resource availability)
b. Design (e.g., project design worksheet, engagement with local resource staff and NOC/Jornada,
overall approach)
c. Training (e.g., trainings attended, recommendations for improvement)
d. Data collection (e.g., timeline, supplemental indicators, managing crews)
e. QA and QC (e.g., crew calibration timing and results, adequacy of QA/QC process)
f. Storage (e.g., experience working with DIMA and TerrADat)
g. Analysis and reporting (e.g., how are/will data be used, what analysis/reporting efforts have
been completed or begun, what tools would be helpful)
h. Feedback for the AIM team (e.g., organization, communication, technical support)
i. General (anything else?
5. Project Lead Transfer above data to the NOC.
a. The project lead should transfer the final data to the NOC. The location of the data transfer is a
folder accessible only to BLMers, so it will have to come through the project lead for final
approval.
b. Navigate to this location on the BLM servers: \\BLM\dfs\loc\EGIS\OC\Xfers\AIM (you can simply
copy this into the search bar). Once you are in this folder, navigate to the folder for your project
(if you don’t see one, please create one). Copy the DIMA, Photos, Sample Design
Documentation, SeasonEnd2015 geodatabase (and sample design shapefiles if required), and
the Implementation Summary into the folder for your project. Once the files are copied, please
send an email to Sarah Burnett (sburnett@blm.gov) to let her know you’ve transferred the data.
Questions?
Contact Sarah Lamagna (slamagna@blm.gov), or Sarah Burnett (sburnett@blm.gov)