An open-source solution for a high school science grant

ABSTRACT

This project was developed as an Information Technology solution for a grant received by a local high school from the "What Kids Can Do Foundation". A group of high school students under the guidance of their teacher is currently working on the old growth hemlock forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to document the impact of an exotic species of Adelgid that has been wiping out large sections of hemlock forest along the east coast. This exotic species from China has been killing entire forest for the last 20 years. The goal of the project is to identify as many species as possible that inhabit the hemlock forests and to document how the loss of hemlock trees will impact the microclimate, and other species that live in the forest. The project is on going and is estimated to last 10 years. During this time period there will be approximately 30 data loggers collecting light and temperature data every 15 min, 24/7/365. This data separated by elevation and habitat will help the researchers establish the microclimate and how that microclimate changes correlates to changes in tree health. The data loggers will collect an estimated 1.4 million pieces of data over the period of study, which will need to be analyzed. Along with the light and temperature data, the researchers will be collecting data on the different species that can be found in the hemlock forest. They will also collect voucher specimens and track the locations and sightings of each specimen over a period of ten years. This will give the researchers some insight as to how the forest uses changes as the climax vegetation changes.

The lead teacher for the project approached our department for a free and easy to use solution for their information technology needs. A team of Computer Information Technology students, under the guidance of their instructor, developed a solution using open source technology, such as PHP, MySQL, XHTML, and AJAX. The group used PHP to parse the data provided by the field equipment from a Comma Separated Volume (csv) into a MySQL database, which users can retrieve via a search page. This is an on-going project with new functionality being added. The students plan on implementing AJAX on the search page so the clients can dynamically produce search results from a large collection of data without the inconvenience of waiting for the web form to POST each time search data is submitted. The project stakeholders plan to integrate GIS data with this project in the near future.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Design languages

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Specialized application languages

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Experimentation, Languages

Keywords:
design, mysql, open source, php