Accessing Aquatic AIM Data

Instruction Manual

AquADat: Aquatic AIM Database

Version 1.0 November 2017 Created by the BLM National Operations Center

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Accessing Aquatic AIM Data Version 1.0 November 2017

Background What is AquADat? AquADat (Aquatic AIM Database) is the BLM database that stores Aquatic AIM indicator values for all stream and river sample locations since 2013. AquADat allows users to access data via the BLM intranet on the BLM’s GeoSpatial Gateway. Over 60 reach scale indicators are reported in AquADat resulting from field collection of the core, contingent or covariate field methods. The large number of indicators results from the fact that many indicators can be computed from one field method. For example, AquADat contains five different stream bed particle size indicators that are all derived from field pebble counts. Indicators in AquADat are organized from left to right in the following groups: site descriptors, biodiversity and riparian habitat quality indicators, water quality indicators, watershed function and instream habitat indicators, and lastly covariates (e.g., slope). Quick reference metadata about AquADat and associated indicators as well as a detailed guide to indicators and their applications can be found on the GeoSpatial Gateway and AIM website. All data within AquADat has gone through QC by field crews, project leads, and the National AIM team, as detailed in the Aquatic Data Management Protocol found on the AIM website. More detail about National AIM team QC procedures is forthcoming. Despite these QC steps, it is the user's responsibility to perform a final review of data before applying it to management decisions. More information and tools to help use AIM data from AquADat Please visit the AIM Analysis and Reporting webpages to obtain some guidance about how AIM data could be used. Additionally there are some tools available on the Analysis and Reporting webpages that may be helpful or of interest to you (e.g., the Aquatic Benchmark Tool could be used as a data storage tool to keep the data and metadata in the same file to easily share with other colleagues.) Update Schedule AquADat will be updated in February and August of each year. Physical habitat and water quality data will likely be updated every February while macroinvertebrate samples take more time to process so macroinvertebrate data will be updated annually in August. Accessing AquADat via GeoSpatial Gateway website Introduction The GeoSpatial Gateway website is a centralized location to store and share different interfaces, metadata, and other useful files and information for many BLM datasets, including AquADat. Instructions are provided below for two different interfaces to access and download Aquatic AIM data through AquADat. Both interfaces directly access live versions of the AquADat database. Option 1: Directions to access Aquatic AIM data via EGIS ArcGIS online map The ArcGIS online map interface is very user friendly and simple enough for novice GIS users. We recommend this as the default interface unless you have interest in more advanced GIS

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functionality prior to exporting data. A Quick Start Guide is included at the end of this document to help locate specific tools and features mentioned in these instructions.

1. Navigate to the GeoSpatial Gateway website, remember to use Internet explorer. If you do not use Internet Explorer the links on this site may not work correctly. https://blmspace.blm.doi.net/oc/intra/drs/SitePages/BLM%20Aquatics%20AIM%20Data.aspx

2. Once on the GeoSpatial Gateway website, click the AquADat EGIS ArcGIS Online Map. 3. Click “Yes” if the following error appears “The website you are viewing is trying to close

the tab. Do you want to close the tab?” 4. Read and review the splash page information for general navigation help. 5. Querying data: Use the “Find By” tool to perform queries (See Quick Start Guide below

for additional help). You can query by: a. Field Office, District or State b. Field Office, District or State AND Date c. Targeted and Random points d. You could also use the “Draw” tool to draw a polygon and select points within

that polygon e. Query notes

i. You can begin typing into the drop down menu boxes, and it will autofill. ii. Offices are grouped by state. iii. If you have no results in your table:

1. Pay attention to the “and” or “or” text in the query. For example, 4.a. above says “or” so you should fill out field office or district or state and not all three. For 4.b., you should fill out one of the three office options and also the date.

2. Ensure you have not used the filter function (described below) in AquADat attribute table prior to applying your query.

6. Viewing Attribute Tables a. To view your query results:

i. Click the three dots at the top right corner of the query results. This will bring up a menu. Click “View in Attribute Table”.

1. When you first click the three dots, the menu text sometimes overlaps oddly, just click off of the menu and re-click the three dots.

b. To view all records in AquADat: i. Click the small arrow in the bottom center of the page to open attribute

tables, and if there is more than one tab, click the tab in the table window labeled “AquADat”. If there are already attribute tables open, simply navigate to the tab labeled “AquADat”.

c. Table notes i. The table can be made larger or smaller by dragging the dark dray bar up

or down. ii. After you run a query and click “View in Attributes Table”, you will be able

to view both the query results table and the AquADat table. There will be

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a tab for each table. The AquADat table includes all sampled Aquatic AIM points.

7. Exporting Data (See Quick Start Guide below for additional guidance) a. If you want to export all query results:

i. Within the attribute table associated with your query, click “Options” then “Export all to CSV”.

b. If you want to only export a subset of query results: i. Within the attribute table associated with your query, highlight each row

that you want to export. If you are highlighting >5-10 rows, it might be more efficient to consider a different query or the use of the filter tool.

c. Open the CSV, and then save this file as an Excel Workbook wherever you would like on your computer. Discard the CSV once it is saved in an Excel format.

d. You can now use this data from your saved Excel Workbook to copy and paste into the benchmark tool or however else you see fit.

i. If you are using the benchmark tool, visit the A&R website to download the Aquatic Benchmark Tool and follow the instructions within the tool.

ii. If you are not using the benchmark tool, be sure to download and store the metadata file along with the data.

iii. You can also use the Aquatic Benchmark Tool as a file storage location or data template to help keep the metadata directly connected to the data. Feel free to download the Benchmark tool, copy and paste in the data as per instructions, and then delete all tabs except the Indicator Values and Indicator Metadata.

8. Filtering from the main AquADat attribute table. This feature will likely be used if the general Queries do not meet your needs to subset the data.

a. Within the AquADat attributes table, there is a “Filter by map extent” tool. To use this tool, zoom to the extent you want. Then click “Filter by map extent” and all points within the map view will be selected. You can then export this data following the instructions in step 6.

b. To filter based on table attributes, use the “Filter” tool in Options drop-down menu.

i. From the AquADat attribute table, click the Options menu and select “Filter”.

ii. Click “Add an expression” or “Add a set” of expressions. iii. Select the column that you want to use to filter your results. iv. Select what type of filter you’d like to use (e.g., is, is not, contains)

1. “SiteCode is MP-RO-2062” will select the records that have a site code matching MP-RO 2062 exactly.

2. “Site Code contains MP” will select all records that contain MP anywhere in the site code cell.

3. “SiteCode starts with MP” will select only the records that state with MP in the site code cell.

v. If you select

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1. “Value” the text you enter into the white text box must match exactly to the text in a cell or cells from the column you are filtering. This is the default but is not as useful as “Unique”

2. “Unique” you can select a specific value from a drop down menu of the specific attribute you would like to filter. This is the most useful option.

3. “Field” you will get a drop down menu that is not useful to the functionality of AquADat. Ignore this option.

vi. If you want to use multiple expressions 1. Click “Add an expression” 2. Select either Any or All in the text that appears. Example:

Expression 1 = “SiteCode contains MP” Expression 2 = “VisitNumber is 1” If “Any” is selected, the results will be all records where site code contains MP and all records regardless of site code where visit number is one. If you use “All” your results will contain only records that have a site code containing MP and also have a visit number of one.

vii. Filter notes 1. You can only filter in the AquADat table. 2. You can add as many expressions as you want. 3. You can use the general filter after filtering by map extent.

9. Additional features (See Quick Start Guide below to located additional features) a. Adding additional layers

i. Click the “Add Data” tool ii. Choose to add data by

1. Searching “My Organization” (add layers such as TerrADat points) or “ArcGIS Online” to find layers to add.

2. Adding a URL 3. Adding a File (zipped shapefile, CSV, GPX, or GeoJSON). To add

a shapefile ensure that your file is zipped prior to uploading. b. Layer symbology can be viewed by opening the Layer list and clicking the small

arrow on the left side of each layer. c. Turn layers on and off in the Layer List by going to the Layer List and checking or

unchecking the layers. The Admin Units layers contains multiple sublayers. Click the small arrow on the left side of this layer to turn on/off the sublayers.

d. Search by Site Code tool searches one site code at a time. To use this search, begin typing any part of the site code in the search box, and it will suggest all site codes that contain the text you entered.

e. Turn on and off different Base Maps. Note that if you turn on a basemap and it does not seem to appear, it is likely because you need to:

i. Turn off the Surface Management Agency (SMA) layer in the Layer List or ii. increase the transparency of the SMA layer. To do this, go to the Layer

List and click the three dots next to the SMA layer. A menu should pop

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up, click transparency, and use the slider to increase the transparency of this layer.

f. Save a specific extent view with the Bookmark tool. Zoom to the extent you want to save, click the bookmark tool, then click “Add” and name your bookmark appropriately. When you want to return to this exact view, you can return to the Bookmark tool and click on the bookmark you created.

Option 2: Directions to access Aquatic AIM data via GIS SDE layer The ArcGIS SDE layer is best used by moderate to advanced GIS users. It opens a layer file that connects directly to the AquADat SDE in ArcMap. This allows you to add additional layers to your map as you see fit. Because this option assumes you are looking for more advanced GIS capability, these directions do not explain in depth on all ways to select, subset, or view points within ArcMap.

1. Navigate to the GeoSpatial Gateway website, remember to use Internet explorer. If you do not use Internet Explorer the links on this site may not work correctly. https://blmspace.blm.doi.net/oc/intra/drs/SitePages/BLM%20Aquatics%20AIM%20Data.aspx

2. Once on the GeoSpatial Gateway website, click the ArcGIS Layer- AquADat Local.lyr 3. A pop-up will appear and you have the option to “Open” or “Save”.

a. If you choose “Open”, ArcMap will automatically open with the AquADat layer file added to the map.

b. If you choose “Save”, it will save the file as a Layer in your default download location, and you can then open it with ArcMap.

c. This layer file is a direct connection to the database, so as data is added or updated to the underlying database, your layer will reflect those updates.

4. To export data from ArcMap, to copy and paste in Excel, or to use in the Benchmark Tool: select the points you want to export, open the attribute table (if not already open), right click on the left side of the attribute table, select “Copy Selected” from the menu. In an Excel file, right click and select paste. Headers will be copied with the data. Save the Excel file to an appropriate location. Do not use the export function in the attribute table menu!!

a. You can now use this data from your saved Excel Workbook to copy and paste into the benchmark tool or however else you see fit.

i. If you are using the benchmark tool, visit the A&R website to download the Aquatic Benchmark Tool and follow the instructions within the tool.

ii. If you are not using the benchmark tool, be sure to download and store the metadata file along with the data.

iii. You can also use the Aquatic Benchmark Tool as a file storage location or data template to help keep the metadata directly connected to the data. Feel free to download the Benchmark tool, copy and paste in the data as per instructions, and then delete all tabs except the Indicator Values and Indicator Metadata.

Basemap Selector

Search by Site Code “Find By” tool to search for and export records

Questions?

For map app: Michael Rock mrock@blm.gov / 303-236-0233

For data: Scott Miller swmiller@blm.gov / 720-545-8367

Go to blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com and search for AquADat AIM App

AquADat ArcGIS Online Quick Start Guide

Attribute Table: Viewing and exporting the data

Export data

Filter by map

Filter by attribute Click to open the attribute Table

Layers and Legend

FAQs and Tips

View, Query, and Export data for the AquADat Benchmark tool.

When things get weird, refresh the page!

Export records using the attribute table.

Filter records by any attribute using “Filter” in the attribute table.

Use “Find By” to query by office and by drawing.

Add Additional Data

Working with queries in the Find By tool

1. Select your query, set the parameters, and click Apply.

2. Once you run a query and are in the Results, click on the Queries tab and then

the back arrow for a new query.

3. When you open the attribute table from the query results, it only shows the rec-ords that match the query.

Find By Tool

AIM aquatic monitoring dataset of core and supplemental indicators

Pick a Query

Open “Find By” Tool

“Find by” Tool

Use the queries in the “Find By tool” to find reaches by an administrative office (only pick one from the three drop downs - Field, District, or State), an office and date range, an office and targeted or random, or select points by drawing.

Pick ONE office type

AquADat ArcGIS Online Query and Export Records

In the Attribute Table click Options, then “Export all to CSV”

Click here to open the Results menu and click on “View in Attribute Table”