The Great Lakes to Gulf Observatory – Facilitating the Progression of Data to Knowledge to Policy

The Great Lakes to Gulf Observatory, www.greatlakestogulf.org, is an interactive geospatial application that integrates water quality data from multiple sources to better facilitate analysis and ultimately, knowledge of nutrient pollution, large river ecology and water quality conditions in the Mississippi River watershed.  The application uses a combination of publicly available data sources including long-term historical datasets and continuous real time sensors, providing users with a better picture of water quality in the watershed.

Meant to add value to users of existing datasets and projects, the application's features, visualizations and design allow researchers, communities, and decision makers to better understand nutrient inputs and loads, expedite data-to-knowledge-to-policy connections, enhance risk management decisions, empower emergency response and inform long-term strategic planning. In addition to questions of large river and watershed ecology, the application and its architecture are relevant to state nutrient reduction strategies, watershed planning efforts and focused watershed initiatives. Led by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, data integration and visualization occurs within a cyber-infrastructure framework constructed in collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program (IISG) at the University of Illinois.