Regional Biomass Resource Hub Data Collection
The Regional Biomass Resource Hub Initiative has developed a set of required data to advance the mobilization of purpose-grown energy crops. It is anticipated that all RBRH projects will at minimum collect these data and work with the RBRH leadership to ensure this data is integrated into the central repository data storage system developed by the RBRH Initiative.
Required Data Types
Crop Data
Algal Crop Data Media composition (nitrogen, phosphorous, pH, trace elements), nutrient type, nutrient quantity, nutrient delivery date, pesticide/fungicide information (trade name, type, application date, and application rate) and biomass composition will be collected from each pond. Cultivation data will include pond size and depth, circulation rate and energy requirements, and recharge rates. The data will be recorded and entered into standardized templates. The minimum metadata required in data submission includes sampling date, GPS coordinates, county, state, species, strain, age, and pond identifier.
Terrestrial Crop Data: Soil type(s), soil health indicators (aggregate stability, available water capacity, bulk density, reactive carbon, electrical conductivity, nitrate, pH, total organic carbon, potentially mineralizable nitrogen), biodiversity (presence of taxa of special concern, quantity/quality of habitat for taxa of special concern), GHG flux, autotrophic respiration, fertilizer information (trade name, type, application date, and application rate), herbicide information (trade name, type, application date, and application rate), pesticide information (trade name, type, application date, and application rate), above ground biomass primary production, below ground biomass primary production, crop yield, and biomass compositional data collected from sampled plots. The data will be recorded and entered into provided standardized templates. The minimum metadata required in data submission includes sampling date, GPS coordinates, county, state, crop category, crop species, crop cultivar, crop age, and plot identifier.
Operational Data
Controller Area Network (CAN) bus Logger Files, GPS Tracks, soil moisture, fuel use, air quality metrics (particulate matter, ozone, NOx) will be collected from crop fields for all operations including but not limited to cultivation, tillage, fertilization, pest management and harvest. The data will be collected by use of either manual or digital methods based on data type. Manual methods will require data entry into a standardized template. The minimum metadata required in data submission includes operation type, equipment operation date, operation start, operation stop, equipment type, equipment horsepower, implement GPS coordinates, county, state, crop category, crop species, crop cultivar, crop age, and field identifier.
Water Quality Data
Subsurface drain flow water characteristics (nitrate, total phosphorous, pH), surface water sample characteristics (nitrate, phosphorous, total suspended solids, pH, metals) will be collected from field sites. The data will be recorded and entered into standardized templates. The minimum metadata required in data submission includes sampling date, GPS coordinates, county, state, crop category, crop species, crop cultivar, crop age, and plot identifier.
Satellite and geospatial data will be collected from online repositories using file transfer protocol or other direct access methods as needed. These data will be stored in GeoTIFFs, shapefiles, or other geospatial data formats. These data will be initially stored on desktop computers and uploaded to the RBRH Data Storage System.
Data Sharing and Public Access
A combination of data access and sharing procedures will be implemented. Data access and sharing for Hub project team members will be through a collaborative effort with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Knowledge Discovery Framework. Access to the data will be maintained as group protected until the time that the project teams release the data into the public domain. When the data is released into the public domain or after the expiration of the data protections, the data shall be made available to the public without use restrictions. Software for statistical analyses, data management, and modeling will be stored as open-source projects on a Git Repository and will be maintained and curated by INL and ORNL.
