Data Management

The data-related mission of the Sonoran Desert Network is to provide scientifically and statistically sound data to support management decisions for the protection of park resources. The network’s success at identifying, cataloging, organizing, structuring, archiving, and disseminating relevant natural resource information will largely determine its effectiveness and standing among critics, peers, and advocates. The principal goal of the SODN Data Management Plan is to elucidate the driving concepts, principles, procedures, and processes for ensuring the quality, interpretability, security, longevity, and availability of ecological data and derived information produced by our inventory and monitoring efforts. Our objectives are centered around five main principles:

Quality – ensure that appropriate quality assurance measures are taken during all phases of data development: acquisition, processing, summary and analysis, reporting, documenting, and archiving.

Interpretability – ensure that complete documentation accompanies each data set so that users will be aware of its context, applicability, and limitations.

Security – ensure that both digital and analog data are maintained and archived in a secure environment that provides appropriate levels of access to project leaders, technicians, network staff, and other users.

Longevity – ensure that data sets are maintained in an accessible and interpretable format, accompanied by sufficient documentation.

Availability – ensure that the data and information from our I&M studies are made available and easily accessible to managers and other users.