DATABASE DEVELOPMENT
At the core of the Center is a relational database
that is used to efficiently and effectively store,
manipulate, and display geologic data representing over 60,000
unique explorations from across
the Puget Lowland. The
database includes fields for the “raw” data as well as fields for geologic
interpretations and for the “metadata” that carries information on
original source documents, original scale, and anticipated data quality.
Other databases exist, but they are typically limited to project-specific
areas or limited in the types and amount of data collected.
Our design objectives are to:
- Accommodate geologic data from a variety of sources
- Handle data in a number of different formats consistently
- Use common interfaces for entering and displaying data
- Accommodate current and future studies
We constantly identify locations where non-proprietary geologic data can be
added to the database in order to improve subsequent investigations. The database contains
information from thousands of borings
and outcrops, including depths, thicknesses, material types, geologic
unit, depth to water, and other pertinent subsurface properties and information.
Database Structure
Existing geologic and geotechnical data (primarily boring and test pit logs)
have been collected from from both public agencies and private-sector
consultants. The database accommodates both spatial and nonspatial data by following
a GIS-based approach. The database is designed to accept new data types as
they become available, and serves as a template as our project expands its
geographic coverage. We have adopted a basic three-level structure for the
core of the database, and a simplified listing of the main tables is shown below:
We have collected a wide variety of spatial
and nonspatial data that are accessed using ArcSDE with an Oracle
Database backend. We have
developed several customized data entry and viewing utilities for ArcView.
A limited subset of the database is currently available to the public
(read-only) from this web site. In the near future, will provide access to
the variety of Center's unique geospatial and digital map data.
|
