A Geographical Information System Database for Environmental Contaminants

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Miguel A. Mora, U.S. Geological Survey

Publication_Date: 2001

Title: A Geographical Information System Database for Environmental Contaminants

Edition:

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: database

Series_Information:

Series_Name:

Issue_Identification:

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: College Station, Texas

Publisher: USGS, BRD, Columbia Environmental Research Center

Other_Citation_Details:

Online_Linkage: http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/FRS_Webs/Brazos1/rio_grande.htm

Description:

Abstract:

The assessment of contaminant stressors on biota of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo resulted from an effort of the Biomonitoring for Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program, to implement pilot projects to evaluate environmental contaminants and their effects on ecosystems. This study resulted in a database of approximately 2,600 concentration values that were georeferenced for use with Geographic Information Systems such as ArcView. The data and common domain software as well as other layers of information were incorporated into a CD-ROM that wildlife managers and biologists could use to query and obtain information on contaminants in biota of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. The database contains information on contaminants reported in the peer-reviewed and gray literature from 1965-1995. Most of the contaminants in water, sediments, and biota were organochlorine pesticides (OCs), polychlorinated biphenyls and trace elements. DDE (a metabolite of dichlor-diphenyl-trichlorethane - DDT) was the OC most commonly detected in water, sediments, and biota. Mercury (Hg) was one of the heavy metals most frequently reported; however, selenium (Se), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), were also very common. The highest concentrations of OCs and metals were reported predominantly in Lower Rio Grande Valley locations (68%) from Falcon Dam to the mouth of the river. Twenty six (20%) of the locations with maximum concentrations of contaminants in biota corresponded to portions of Llano Grande Lake and the Arroyo Colorado. New recent contaminant data from studies in the Rio Grande (i.e. results from the second phase of the binational study) have been incorporated. The final CD-ROM may be available for release by January 2001. It is anticipated that this product will have a broad distribution and will be of interest to resource managers and scientists interested in contaminant issues of the U.S.-Mexico border. The Rio Grande GIS contaminant database contains a series of files that are readily accessible through Arc View or Arc Explorer. Included in the CD is a common domain version of Arc Explorer that can be downloaded for use and search of the GIS database. To use the database one should open the project using the file "finalriogrande.apr". Information to create the metadata for this dataset was taken from the abstract, ""A Geographic Information System Database for Environmental Contaminants in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin, from the readme.txt file and from Mora, 1997, Environmental Contaminants in Biota of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin: A Review of Status and Trends. The approach for the hazard assessment of contaminant stressors on biota of the Rio Grande was generally linked to the ecological risk assessment guidelines recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA 1996). We collected information to identify the stressors, their ecological effects, and parts of the ecosystem at risk. Searched several sources of information including Texas A&M University (Notis system, Agricola database, Wilson database, and library catalog); University of Texas (library catalog); and current contents, BIOSIS (which includes contents of BIOSIS, biological abstracts, and bioresearch index). We also searched through the internet ("http://www.oclc.org") the Online Computer Library Center, FirstSearch world catalog, which has holdings of 13,000 libraries worldwide. Finally, we searched through government documents and a recent bibliography of the Rio Grande published by the General Land Office (Hockaday 1995). Following literature searches, we obtained copies of references directly from the Texas A&M library, through interlibrary loans, or by personal calls to authors and publishers.

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Mora, M.A. and S.E. Wainwright 1998 DDE, mercury, and selenium in biota, sediments, and water of the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo Basin, 1965-1995. Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 158:1-52. Mora, M.A. and S.E. Wainwright 1998 DDE, mercury, and selenium in biota, sediments, and water of the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo Basin, 1965-1995. Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 158:1-52. Mora, M.A. And S. Wainwright, September, 1997 Environmental Contaminants in Biota of the Rio Grande Basin: A Review of Status and Trends. Final Report to the Biomonitoring for Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program of the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division Final Report prepared for the Biomonitoring for Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program of he Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19650101

Ending_Date: 19970101

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -104.0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -99.0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.25

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 26.25

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: DATA SET LANGUAGE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS > CONTAMINANT LEVELS/SPILLS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > BIRDS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > AMPHIBIANS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > REPTILES

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > ECOTOXICOLOGY > SPECIES BIOACCUMULATION

Theme_Keyword: Contaminant Database

Theme_Keyword: Contaminants

Theme_Keyword: Organochlorine Pesticides

Theme_Keyword: Oc's

Theme_Keyword: Metal

Theme_Keyword: Trace Elements

Theme_Keyword: Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Theme_Keyword: Dichloro-diphenyl-trichlorethane

Theme_Keyword: Ddt

Theme_Keyword: Dde

Theme_Keyword: Pcbs

Theme_Keyword: Invertebrates

Theme_Keyword: Fish

Theme_Keyword: Herps

Theme_Keyword: Mammals

Theme_Keyword: Birds

Theme_Keyword: Amphibians

Theme_Keyword: Reptiles

Theme_Keyword: Texas

Theme_Keyword: Tx

Theme_Keyword: Rio Grande

Theme_Keyword: Brewster

Theme_Keyword: Cameron

Theme_Keyword: Culberson

Theme_Keyword: Dimmit

Theme_Keyword: El Paso

Theme_Keyword: Hudspeth

Theme_Keyword: Jeff Davis

Theme_Keyword: Jim Hogg

Theme_Keyword: Kinney

Theme_Keyword: Maverick

Theme_Keyword: Pecos

Theme_Keyword: Presidio

Theme_Keyword: Reeves

Theme_Keyword: Terrel

Theme_Keyword: Val Verde

Theme_Keyword: Webb

Theme_Keyword: Willacy

Theme_Keyword: Zapata

Theme_Keyword: Arroyo Colorado

Theme_Keyword: Llano Grande Lake

Theme_Keyword: BIOTA

Theme_Keyword: ENVIRONMENT

Theme_Keyword: ENGLISH

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > TEXAS

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

None

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: MIGUEL MORA

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Texas A & M University

City: College Station

State_or_Province: Texas

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 409 845-5775

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 409 845-5786

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: mmora@tamu.edu

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

Because the many studies compiled here were carried out by multiple investigators, under different sets of conditions, at different times, in different laboratories, and under different techniques, the interpretation of the data and predictions of potential hazards to biota of the Rio Grande should be taken with caution. Some variation among the data might be expected due to all the differences mentioned above. Also, it should be noticed that even under controlled conditions, there is still variation in accumulation patterns and sensitivities of organisms to different compounds. The term Aheavy metal@ is applied here to include mostly metal ions of class B or intermediate character (Nieboer and Richardson 1980); however, Se, B, and other inorganic and trace elements also are discussed under the Aheavy metals@ sections in text. It should be noticed that most values used in the assessment are geometric means; thus, discussions of high concentrations refer (usually, but not always) to the geometric mean values, which implies that individual values from particular studies were actually higher than the means provided. The database contains information on contaminants reported in peer-reviewed and gray literature from 1965-1995 and holds approximately 2,600 concentration values. All studies or reports of contaminants in biota of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo of Texas and Mexico were compiled including publications that reported data for any locations within 100 km of the river, from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico. Contaminant data were obtained from diverse sources including libraries, state and federal goverment documents, goverment databases, and recent biographies of the Rio Grande (Hockaday 1995). Unfortunately, very little information was available for the Mexican side; thus, the assessment is mostly based on studies conducted on the Texas side.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: DOI/USGS/BRD/CERC/BRAZOS > Brazos Field Research Station, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior

Contact_Person: MIGUEL MORA

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Texas A & M University

City: College Station

State_or_Province: Texas

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 409 845-5775

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 409 845-5786

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: mmora@tamu.edu

Resource_Description: usgs_brd_cerc_riogrande

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: Not Available

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/FRS_Webs/Brazos1/

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Fees: Not Available

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20001101

Metadata_Review_Date: 20121221

Metadata_Future_Review_Date: 20031101

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: TYLER B. STEVENS

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Address: Global Change Master Directory

City: Greenbelt

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20771

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (301) 614-6898

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 301-614-5268

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: Tyler.B.Stevens@nasa.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time