Ecoinformatics Climate Change Demonstrator
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DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Ecoinformatics Climate Change Demonstrator Stage 1 - Evaluation Report Prepared by Joanne McNeill Christopher Pettit Published by: Department of Primary Industries, 2008 Primary Industries Research Victoria Parkville September 2008 Also published on http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au © The State of Victoria, 2008 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne, Victoria. The National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: ISBN: 978-1-74217-287-3 (print) ISBN: 978-1-74217-288-0 (CD-ROM) This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................III GLOSSARY OF TERMS....................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................... VI 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 ECOINFORMATICS VISION ....................................................................... 1 1.2 THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEMONSTRATOR...................................................... 2 1.3 PARTNER ORGANISATIONS...................................................................... 3 1.4 THE e-RESOURCE CENTRE ...................................................................... 3 1.5 3D VISUALISATION ............................................................................... 4 2. PROJECT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................. 5 3. KEY EVALUATION QUESTIONS ...................................................................... 7 3.1 THREE DIMENSIONAL VISUALISATION ......................................................... 7 3.2 THE e-RESOURCE CENTRE ..................................................................... 13 4. CLIMATE CHANGE DEMONSTRATOR COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES REPORT ..............20 4.1 PURPOSE ......................................................................................... 20 4.2 PROMOTION...................................................................................... 20 4.3 CONCLUSION..................................................................................... 21 5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .....................................................................22 6. NEXT STEPS ...........................................................................................23 7. REFERENCES ..........................................................................................24 APPENDICES.................................................................................................25 i TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 Visualisation leading to enhanced capability for effective distribution and communication of scientific knowledge (Pettit et al 2006) ................................1 Figure 2 Vision for the Climate Change Demonstrator .................................................3 Figure 3 Employment type for Demonstrator Launch technical session survey participants.....7 Figure 4 Example of virtual farm images developed for the Futurescapes launch ................8 Figure 5 Does 3D visualisation technology make climate change research easier to understand? ........................................................................................8 Figure 6 How does the visualisation technology impact the credibility of the research? ........9 Figure 7 How would you like research results presented in the future? ............................9 Figure 8 How useful is 3D visualisation technology for a range of different activities? ........ 11 Figure 9 How useful are the SIEVE virtual farm environment and virtual meeting for communicating climate change scenarios?.................................................. 11 Figure 10 Perceived usefulness of different features of the SIEVE virtual environment......... 12 Figure 11 Potential users preference for how the SIEVE is made available for use............... 12 Figure 12 How confident are potential users of the SIEVE in using the technology themselves? ...................................................................................... 12 Figure 13 Perceived level of SIEVE user training and support required............................. 13 Figure 14 Perceived useability of different features of the SIEVE virtual environment.......... 13 Figure 15 The e-Resource Centre (previously known as the VRC), February 2008 ................ 14 Figure 16 The e-Resource Centre revised format, August 2008...................................... 15 Figure 17 The Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program workspace, February 2008 ...... 15 Figure 18 The Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program workspace revised format August 2008 ...................................................................................... 16 Figure 19 Current e-RC user groups ...................................................................... 17 Figure 20 Files stored on the e-RC........................................................................ 17 Figure 21 Will the e-RC lead to more effective collaboration within research projects?........ 18 Figure 22 Is the e-RC potentially a useful extension tool?............................................ 18 Figure 23 Is the e-RC a useful platform for sharing climate change research? .................... 19 Figure 24 Would it be useful to develop this technology further?................................... 19 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding for this project has been provided by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the Department of Primary Industries and in-kind support from Multimedia Victoria (Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative), Monash University, University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. DPI Ecoinformatics Core Project Team Alex Sawicki – Stakeholder Communications & Relationship Management Amanda Keogh –Scientist Christopher Pettit – Principal Research Scientist Deborah Jenkins – Project Officer Efraim Taranto – former Project Manager Falak Sheth – Research Scientist Jean-Philippe Aurambout – Research Scientist Joanne McNeill – Scientist Lisa Borthwick – Divisional Communications Stephen Zelez – Project Communications Tony Michael – Project Manager Other Contributors to the Ecoinformatics Project DPI Bruce Kefford - Deputy Secretary Agriculture and Fisheries Garry O’Leary – Principal Research Scientist Gordon Caris - Chief Information Officer Martin Bluml – Key Project Manager Richard Eckard – Principal Research Scientist Ron Prestidge - Executive Director Future Farming Systems Research Steve Williams – Senior Research Scientist Victor Sposito – Principal Research Scientist DSE Bruce Thompson - Deputy Chief Information Officer Ian Mansergh - Senior Policy Officer, Environmental Policy & Climate Change Rod Anderson - Policy Analyst Greenhouse, Environmental Policy & Climate Change T.O. Chan - Principal Spatial Policy Officer VeRSI Ann Borda - Executive Director A.B.M. Russel – eResearch Project Leader Gaby Bright - eResearch Communications Paul Davis - Advisor iii Melbourne University Abbas Rajabifard - Director, Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructure & Land Administration Christian Stock - Research Fellow David Karoly – ARC Federation Fellow Ian Bishop – Head of Department of Geomatics Jim Falk - Director, Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society Monash University Amanda Lynch - Federation Fellow/Head, Climate Change Program Anthony Beitz - DART Integration Project Manager David Griggs - Director, Monash Sustainability Institute Jason Beringer - Associate Professor Paul Bonnington - Director, Monash e-Research Centre Petteri Uotila - Research Fellow Rob Cook - Special Adviser – eResearch La Trobe University Mark Kosten - eResearch Director Paul Pigram - Associate Professor/Head, Science, Technology and Engineering Phil Suter - Associate Professor/Head of Department, Department of Environmental Management & Ecology iv GLOSSARY OF TERMS AARNET Australian Academic Research Network ALUM Australian Land Use Management APSIM Agricultural Production Systems Simulator ARC Australian Research Council CALP Collaborative Advanced Landscape Planning CAT Catchment Assessment Tool CMA Catchment Management Authority CenITex Centre of IT excellence CO2 Carbon Dioxide DEM Digital Elevation Model DPI Department of Primary Industries DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment e-RC e-Resource Centre EVC Ecological Vegetation Class GIS Geographical Information Systems ICT Information Communication and Technology LSA Land Suitability Analysis MMV Multimedia Victoria SIEVE Spatial Information Exploration Visualisation Environment SGS Pasture Model Sunstainable Grazing Systems Pasture Model 3D Three Dimensional Visualisation VCCAP Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Program VeRSI Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative VO Virtual Organisation v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides an overview and evaluation of the first twelve months of the three year Ecoinformatics climate change demonstrator