USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Online
Continued...

Future Work

The Interactive Map Application lets users explore data for a basin and provides direct access to the geologic report and assessment results tables within the map application as PDFs, text, or downloadable tab-delimited files.

The ArcIMS map application is under development and current work includes providing consistent symbology and implementing the recent USGS Section 508 and Visual Identity requirements. National Oil and Gas Assessments are ongoing for priority provinces. For future NOGA assessments, modifications to NOGA Online will be made to further improve the distribution of scientific information (i.e., include additional geologic layers and links to graphical information, such as detailed cross sections linked to lines of section).

Conclusion

NOGA Online lets anyone with an Internet connection access data and products. By putting these products on the Web, USGS can distribute these URLs in addition to supplying data on CD-ROM. Web delivery caters to a wide range of clients, including researchers, GIS specialists, academia, congressional staffers, and small businesses, and provides a context for continuing assessments.

All 1995 National Oil and Gas Assessment results are available on the Web. Usage statistics from August 2001 to May 2002 show 30,000 visits made by 11,000 unique visitors with the top geographic regions being North America and Western Europe. Although interactive maps (as of May 2002) are limited to 38 provinces, all GIS data is available at the GIS download pages. Additional data from the 1995 National Oil and Gas Assessment is being processed into interactive map services and will be provided upon completion. Additionally, new assessment data and information will be processed for interactive map services as it becomes available.

For more information, contact
Laura R.H. Biewick
GIS Coordinator
Tel.: 303-236-7773
E-mail: lbiewick@usgs.gov

USGS-Central Energy Team
P.O. Box 25046, MS 939, DFC
Denver, Colorado 80225
Fax: 303-236-0459

Acknowledgments

This Web implementation has been a group effort from the Data Management (DM), Information Systems (IS), and National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA) projects of CERT. The authors acknowledge the NOGA project chief, Christopher J. Schenk, and the DM/IS group leader, David A. Ferderer, for their support in providing staff and in purchasing the necessary hardware and software to implement this Web presence. We acknowledge all those USGS employees who contributed to the 1995 National Oil and Gas Assessment (U.S. Geological Survey, National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team, 1995). Without the contributions of many USGS employees who helped automate such things as the metadata effort (Peter N. Schweitzer), data rescue (Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Raymond C. Obuch), database creation for attribution (Nick Zihlman), creation of map services (Steven M. Dunn, Chris H. French, Sargent McDonald), symbolization of base layers (Larry Backe, Steven M. Dunn), IT systems support (Cheryl W. Adkisson, James D. Brewton, Christa Lopez, Raymond C. Obuch, Sean Strickland), and all those who are presently assessing U.S. oil and gas resources who make it possible to provide NOGA science over the Internet.

About the Authors

Laura R.H. Biewick is GIS coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey, Central Energy Resources Team. As a geologist and information technology specialist within the Energy Program for the past 24 years, Laura streamlines product development and provides support and training for the application of scientific computer analysis, GIS, and data management to a wide variety of research projects.

Gregory L. Gunther has been with the U.S. Geological Survey, Central Energy Resources Team for nearly seven years. As a member of the team's Data Management Project, he has specialized in GIS data dissemination, deployment and discovery. He holds a degree in natural resources management/GIS, is a certified Java developer, and is currently a master's of civil engineering candidate at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Christopher C. Skinner has been involved with GIS applications for more than seven years. He received a bachelor's degree in natural resources/GIS from Colorado State University in 1998 and is currently working on a master's degree in civil engineering/GIS at the University of Colorado, Denver. He has worked with the U.S. Geological Survey for three years as a spatial database architect for the Central Energy Resources Team.

References