NRAAH

The Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS), a branch of Canada’s federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), is responsible for managing and archiving ocean data collected by DFO, as well as disseminating the data, data products and services to the marine community. MEDS also acts as the designated Canadian focal point for international oceanographic data exchange. This allows Canada to not only share its data but also obtain copies of data collected by other countries.

MEDS has been working with the National Registry of Aquatic Animal Health (NRAAH) to develop a web-based application that tracks results of disease tests and identifies areas of surveillance to support a national aquatic animal health program.

The Challenges

While developing the web application, MEDS staff recognized the need for a geospatial interface that would:

• Generate actions triggered by new test results in relation to areas of surveillance;
• Provide a visual means to analyze test data; and
• Publish relevant geospatial information for the general public.

Not wishing to duplicate existing applications, MEDS staff looked for services already available within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to assist them with their spatial requirements, which included the ability to:

1. Enter latitude and longitude points in the web application and have them appear on a map, and run rule-based spatial validation on points entered into the spatial database;
2. Create areas of surveillance on a map based on disease information;
3. Make different levels of data available to various user groups in their community, and make generalized data available to the public.

There were also several constraints:

1. Time. There was a tight deadline for making services available through the National Registry of Aquatic Animal Diseases;
2. Budget. There was a restricted budget for integration; and
3. Expertise. In-house expertise in spatial data services was limited.