About

History
The Barrow Area Information Database (BAID) was initiated in June, 2000 as a cooperative project between Michigan State University's Arctic Ecology Laboratory and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC).  The project had humble beginnings as a Microsoft Access database which was used to centralize information about research plots mapped with BASC's new DGPS system.  In 2003, BASC's Digital Subcommittee saw an opportunity to visual the BAID database with Internet Map Server (IMS) technology and commonly requested base maps.  The BAID-IMS prototype was soon released.  On September 1, 2005 NSF awarded funding for the project to continue through August 30, 2009.   

BAID-IMS currently includes the locations of over 7000 research plots and instrument locations.  This ongoing effort incorporates both new research locations and sampling sites dating back to the 1940s.

We want to include your locations too!
Complete the online data entry form or add your sites to the attached Excel spreadsheet which includes several examples.  You can also request Differential GPS mapping support.  In order to facilitate the documentation of field research sites in the Barrow area, the University of Texas at El Paso Systems Ecology Laboratory provides Differential GPS support to National Science Foundation researchers during the peak Summer field season (June 1 - August 15.)  Support for historical studies and for other agencies working the vicinity of the Barrow Envionmental Observatory also provided.  Learn more.

BAID-IMS can be used to mine for information about research locations, project descriptions, photographs and contact information which are linked to the attribute table for most sites.

Metadata that meets the standards of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is available (or under development) for many data layers in BAID-IMS. Data that is considered unrestricted can be downloaded at the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Data Coordination Center (ADCC) at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) located at University of Colorado in Boulder, USA.

BAID-IMS is linked to the Circumarctic Environmental Observatories Network and efforts to develop an Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Technical Details 
BAID-IMS is hosted at UTEP.  The application was designed with ESRI's ArcIMS 9.2 software.  BAID-IMS currently integrates geospatial data from SDE databases, shapefiles, GeoTiffs and ERDAS Imagine files.  Testing is underway to migrate the application to an ArcGIS Server Web Mapping Application.  Dell blade server technology is employed to host the IMS application and associated database.  Bulk purchases agreements and educational discounts available to UTEP have been leveraged in the acquistion of computer hardware, software, mapping grade GPS units and digital cameras in support of this effort.  Support for Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards are enhanced with each upgrade to the application.  An OGC Web Mapping Service (WMS) and a KML for use in Virtual Globes such as Google Earth are also planned for release in 2008.

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