Utilizing Arc Marine Concepts for Designing a Geospatially Enabled Database to Support Rapid Environmental Assessment

The design of the rapid environmental assessment (REA) database version 1 was completed
under contract. The database was constructed in PostgreSQL, an open-source database
management system. The REA database was primarily used for the storage of DRDC Atlantic
environmental data. However, additional data sets from external sources were added for
bathymetry and geological data. As use of the REA database increased, it became desirable to
redesign the database to better serve the user community within DRDC Atlantic. The redesign
effort focused on the use of widely used standards and specifications for oceanographic data and
metadata management. The redesign created a complete data model in the ERwin data
modelling software for a production level database. The data model is fully documented in
terms of data type, comment fields and relationships between entities. The redesign effort also
fully documented the mapping of data from the existing REA database to the redesigned
production data model, thereby providing developers with a clear and concise progression plan.
The redesign effort also identified considerable data in the existing REA database that is not
required in the production database. Finally, a designed data classification scheme is used to
develop a user exit strategy for accessing the external data sets. This negates the need to store
external data sets within the redesigned database.