Highlights for December 4, 1998
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• USGS Scientists Help Assess Biological Impacts of Hurricane Mitch. As damage reports of Hurricane Mitch continue, biologists in the USGS have joined forces with geologists, hydrologists, and geospatial technology experts at the USGS Center for Integration of Natural Disaster Information (CINDI) in Reston to develop action plans for assessing impacts on biological systems in several Central American countries. Efforts have concentrated on producing early post-hurricane imagery, from both space and aircraft, and collecting information and data that can be used for loss estimates and recovery plans. Information gathering and Web page development are being coordinated through CINDI to minimize duplication of effort and to produce usable data and information as rapidly as possible. Contributions from the USGS Center for Biological Informatics and other Biological Resources Division centers, including the USGS National Wetlands Research Center, include specific recommendations for both general (medium scale) and specific (large scale) imagery needs, development of a Web page with links to existing information on data sources and studies of impacts of hurricanes on tropical ecosystems, and mobilizing a team of biologists for potential on-site relief efforts. The BRD effort is led by Stan Coloff. The status of recovery efforts can be monitored at <http://cindi.usgs.gov/events/index.html>. (Ralph Root, Denver, 303-202-4232)
  
• Multi-Partner Greater Yellowstone Remote Sensing Workshop. On December 8-10, Jim Getter and Maury Nyquist (USGS Center for Biological Informatics) will participate in the Greater Yellowstone Remote Sensing Workshop in Bozeman, Montana. The workshop is being sponsored by the USGS Greater Yellowstone Initiative, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. Participants include NASA, USGS, NPS, BLM, Montana State University, and other institutions. Presentations will focus on current and future satellite and aerial sensors; examples of applications on vegetation, soils, geological features, snow, ice, air, and water; accuracy assessments for these applications; and other data sources and applications. Getter will present an "Overview of the National Civil Applications Program." (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303-202-4217)
  
• Database Integration Model Development. The USGS Center for Biological Informatics (CBI) is developing a prototype model that will simultaneously search sample Biological Resources Division databases (e.g., Breeding Bird Survey, Amphibians Database, Butterfly Database, Integrated Taxonomic Information System). On December 8, CBI staff will meet with staff from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to continue discussions on the development of a single interface to biological repositories of information. The prototype will be presented to all science centers maintaining such databases; model development will be further refined through the use of metadata tags and creation of a central locator database at CBI. This effort also supports the USGS Gateway to the Earth project. (Mike Frame, Denver, 303-202-4260)
  

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• New Technologies Support USGS Initiatives. On December 7-8, USGS Center for Biological Informatics staff will participate in the Federal Webmaster mini-conference in Bethesda, Maryland. Sessions include XML, ColdFusion, and other World Wide Web technology sessions. These sessions are of particular importance to current USGS efforts related to Gateway to the Earth, NBII Distributed Database Integration, and other distributed system integration efforts. (Mike Frame, Denver, 303-202-4260)
  
• USGS Provides Metadata Training to University Partners. On December 3, Sharon Shin of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics will conduct a National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Metadata training session for the Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory (NREL) at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. NREL scientist John Gross has arranged for 15 of his colleagues to attend a morning session on the basics of Federal Geographic Data Committee/NBII Metadata, the NBII Clearinghouse, and the use of NBII MetaMaker. The short program will conclude in the afternoon with a project discussion and metadata applications session. A recent Federal grant awarded to NREL requires metadata documentation, leading to the request for training. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)
  

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• USGS Programs Highlighted in TNC Publications. A new two-volume set on the international classification of ecological communities acknowledges two USGS Center for Biological Informatics programs, the Gap Analysis Program and the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. Volume I of the set, published by The Nature Conservancy, highlights the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program's Scotts Bluff National Monument project, which uses the international system for vegetation inventory and mapping. The vegetation map, vegetation key, and a sample vegetation type description are depicted. Complete citations follow:
  
  • Grossman, D. H., et al. 1998. International classification of ecological of communities: terrestrial vegetation of the United States. Volume I. The National Vegetation Classification System: development, status, and applications. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA. 126 pp.
  • Anderson, M., et al. 1998. International classification of ecological communities: terrestrial vegetation of the United States. Volume II. The National Vegetation Classification System: list of types. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA. 502 pp.
    

  (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303-202-4217)
  

V. FOIA Requests: No report.