Forest Monitoring: Chapter 23. Methods for Database Quality Assessment (Developments in Environmental Science)

In long-term and large-scale environmental and forest monitoring schemes, a large amount of data is collected over long periods, which needs to be managed in a cost-efficient, transparent, and sustainable database management system (DBMS). Centralized data collection and validation by a coordination unit responsible for the establishment of rules for data transfer and checking routines is recommended. The ultimate objective being pursued by all partners active in a large monitoring program is to develop a state-of-the-art, Web-based information storage, and delivery system capable of ensuring reliable and user friendly service for data providers and data users as well as for administrative work by the coordination unit. General principles and procedures for data preparation, data quality control, and storage using a DBMS are presented. A comprehensive approach offers tools for dissemination of data, metadata, and results, as well as an automatic reporting application integrated with a WebGIS. Access rights for users are controlled by a rights-and-role management tool. As an example, the ICP Forests database system is described.