Collaborative proposal: ABI Sustaining: The Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA) system

动物如何在环境中移动，揭示了它们的生态以及它们如何应对地球的现代变化，如发展和气候变化。嵌入项圈（哺乳动物）或背包（鸟类）的GPS技术彻底改变了跟踪动物的能力，提供了比以往更多的细节，有时甚至是实时的。然而，为了充分利用这些新的跟踪数据，必须将它们与显示天气和生态系统的遥感地图联系起来，在动物移动的世界背景下看待它们。随着动物和环境数据的快速增长，越来越多的技术挑战和知识差距阻碍了将这些类型的数据集连接起来进行运动生态学研究的广泛应用。环境数据自动跟踪注释系统（Env-DATA）是一个基于网络的工具，可以让运动生态学研究人员直接访问数千个环境数据集。它提供了直观和易于使用的图形用户界面访问这些数据集。Env-DATA由Movebank托管，并与Movebank接口，Movebank是一个全球移动数据档案库，向全球公众开放。Env-DATA是开放的，任何人都可以访问。它提供了对已经公开的数据集的轻松访问，以及一些未以其他方式开放的数据集。 Env-DATA为用户提供了工具，用于在Movebank数据库中发布组合环境数据沿着以及用于注释的动物轨迹。已发布的数据集被分配了一个DOI，并且可以作为电子出版物访问和搜索，前提是获得轨道数据所有者的同意。北卡罗来纳州自然科学博物馆的年度研讨会将接触到学术界、政府和跟踪动物的公共组织的新用户。Env-DATA处于运动生态学“情境革命”的前沿，结合运动模式分析和运动的环境背景已成为理解和建模动物运动的必要组成部分。通过提供直观且易于使用的前所未有数量的环境数据集和变量，Env-DATA使动物运动研究人员能够克服技术挑战和知识差距，并充分利用全球可用的环境信息。Env-DATA将运动轨迹与来自不同遥感和全球再分析数据提供商的环境数据联系起来，包括NASA，NOAA和ECMWF。Env-DATA在正确的加密、网格和投影系统中解释环境变量，并将空间和时间上的数据插值到观察到的动物轨迹位置，或比较点或网格的集合。通过该提案提供的资金将能够支持环境数据的持续运行，这需要定期进行质量控制测试，以发现环境数据的数据提供者可能改变了元数据、位置或访问协议的情况。在这些情况下，需要技术支持来更新系统。它还需要定期提供用户支助“服务台”。将通过年度用户讲习班对新用户和现有用户进行外联和培训，并收集用户的第一手反馈意见。研讨会上的所有演讲和教程都将被拍摄下来并发布到研讨会网站和YouTube上。使用Env-DATA的Env-DATA PI，工作人员和研究人员将在NC博物馆为广大公众提供讲座。本科生将协助研讨会协调和环境数据用户支持。要访问Env-DATA和Movebank，请访问https://www.movebank.org/。

How an animal moves through their environment reveals much about their ecology and how they respond to modern changes to the planet such as development and climate change. GPS technology embedded in collars (mammal) or backpacks (birds) has revolutionized the ability to track animals, providing more detail than ever before, sometimes in real-time. However, to make the most of these new tracking data they must be seen in the context of the world through which the animals are moving by linking their tracks to remote sensing maps showing weather and ecosystem. With both the animal and environmental data growing rapidly, there are increasing technical challenges and knowledge gaps that inhibit the widespread application of linking these types of datasets for movement ecology research. The Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation system (Env-DATA) is a web-based tool to give direct access for movement ecology researchers to thousands of environmental datasets. It provides intuitive and easy to use graphic user interface-based access to these datasets. Env-DATA is hosted by and interfaces with Movebank, a global movement data archive, open to the broad public worldwide. Env-DATA is open and accessible to anyone. It provides easy access to already public datasets, as well and some datasets that are not otherwise open. Env-DATA provides users with tools to publish the combined environmental data along with the animal track it was used to annotate in the Movebank Data Depository. Published data sets are allocated a DOI and can be accessed and searched as electronic publications, provided an agreement from the owner of the track data. Annual workshops at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will reach out to new users within academia, government, and public organizations that track animals. Env-DATA is at the cutting edge of the "contextual revolution" in movement ecology where combining analysis of movement patterns and incorporating the environmental background of the movement has become a necessary component for understanding and modeling animal movement. By providing intuitive and easy to use access to an unprecedented number of environmental datasets and variables, Env-DATA enables animal movement researchers to overcome technical challenges and knowledge gaps, and to fully utilize globally available environmental information. Env-DATA links movement tracks with environmental data from different remote-sensing and global reanalysis data providers, including NASA, NOAA, and ECMWF. Env-DATA interprets environmental variables in the correct encryption, grid, and projection systems and interpolates the data in space and time to the observed animal track locations, or a collection of comparison points or grid. Funding through this proposal will allow support of continuous on-going operations of Env-DATA, which requires regular quality control tests to detect cases where the data providers to Env-DATA may have changed the metadata, location, or access protocol. In these cases, technical support to update the system is necessary. It also requires regular availability of a user-support "help-desk". Outreach and training of new and existing users, as well as collecting first-hand feedback from users will be conducted by annual user workshops. All talks and tutorials in the workshop will be filmed and posted to the workshop website and on YouTube. Env-DATA PIs, staff, and researchers using Env-DATA will provide lectures to the broad public in the NC Museum. Undergraduate students will assist in workshop coordination and Env-DATA user support. To access Env-DATA and Movebank, visit https://www.movebank.org/.