GIS based real-time monitoring and reporting system

[0001] This application claims priority of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/370,304 entitled “Integrated Sensor System” filed on Apr. 5, 2002 and Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/424,641 entitled “Automation Software for GIS Based Real-Time Monitoring and Reporting System” filed on Nov. 6, 2002, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth.

[0002] Certain software programs or routines disclosed in this application are subject to copyright protection and all rights thereto are specifically reserved. No dedication to the public of those copyrights is intended or made by such disclosure in this specification.

[0003] 1. Field of the Invention

[0004] This invention relates generally to the field of automated systems for monitoring and detecting the presence of contaminant materials, indicator parameters, and measurements related to fate and transport in order to provide rapid decisions making and warn of environmental hazards and, more particularly, to a geographical information system (GIS) based automated software (GBAS) system, which converts real-time sensor information from sensor data transmission terminals into real-time sensor data and site map representations.

[0005] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0006] Underground storage tanks are used to store hazardous substances and petroleum products. If a leak occurs, these materials can enter the subsurface and contaminate ground water resources, requiring expensive assessment and remediation efforts. It is estimated that a significant proportion of the nearly five million tanks in the United States are leaking harmful products into the environment. To ameliorate this problem, the Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) has recently promulgated regulations which require that any leakage exceeding a rate of 0.05 gallons per hour be detected and contained. Although many releases have no known remedy, federal law requires monitoring of all toxic chemicals in our soil, water, and air. Current estimates for monitoring the thousands of contaminated sites are projected to exceed $60 billion over the next ten years. At present, costs for monitoring a typical toxic release site ranges from $15000 to over $200,000 per year using conventional techniques. Several thousand contaminated ground water sites are currently being monitored by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, typically requiring hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Approximately 50-80% of the expenses go towards sampling, laboratory analyses, and reporting. When compared to conventional monitoring approaches, the present invention can save up to 70% of the overall monitoring budget by reducing sampling, analytical, and reporting requirements for customers using our systems. There are over 500 Southern California contaminated sites currently requiring ground water monitoring.

[0007] Methods for detecting leaks in storage tanks are well known in the prior art, however there is still a need for a reliable and economical method and apparatus for automated leak detection and for processing real-time sensor data in a GIS in a manner which allows for rapid decision making and reporting the spatial distribution of parameters of concern. Some prior art systems are basically data dumps (via computer port into a spreadsheet) wherein the data needs to be plotted at a later date. The prior art also includes relatively comprehensive alarm systems for tank leaks with customized software. However, there is nothing in the prior art integrating the data into a comprehensive database structure aimed at tracking trends and making decisions.

[0008] It is, therefore, desirable to have a system such as that provided by the present invention that can be applied to sensors placed in surface water bodies and air volumes to monitor the breakthrough and distribution of chemicals and biological materials of concern as well as parameters controlling migration pathway, rate and flux. Furthermore, it is desirable to have a system as provided in the present invention that can be applied to agricultural scenarios for monitoring and optimization of growing conditions based on the distribution of critical parameters.

[0009] The present invention is a geographical information system (GIS) based automated software (GBAS) system, which converts real-time sensor information from sensor data transmission terminals into real-time sensor data and site map representations. Remote monitoring systems of remote sensor bundles provide data for the system. Sensor data is processed to automatically generate report-quality graphical and electronic output, allowing for rapid decision-making capabilities.

[0010] The invention allows for real-time visualization of problem areas such as toxic spills, incoming chemical warfare agents, changes in water hydraulic control barriers, and security breaches. The GBAS components automate the data processing and presentation steps utilizing available GIS functions and geo-statistical interpolation algorithms. The GBAS collects data, spatially maps the information as point data (i.e., data values corresponding to sensor locations), interpolates the point data to generate continuous data surfaces between points (i.e., geo-statistical interpolations such as inverse distance squared or kriging), and generates graphical representations automatically (once the system has been installed) using an off-site computer system.

[0011] Data can be displayed as layers for map algebra and allow for detailed spatial analyses such as detecting trends in a given time series, evaluating averages over a given time period, monitoring time lapse images for a given time step, and for determining dependent variables in multivariate interactions. In addition, video clips for animation are imbedded into electronic formats for generating presentations and reports. This novel system allows for significant cost-savings, more comprehensive data sets, more flexibility in data management and presentation, removes the need for manual data entry, and reduces the potential for human and ecological toxic exposure.

[0019] Referring to the drawings beginning with FIG. 1, the invention is embodied in a system employing real-time field data sensors 10 connected for remote transmission 12 to provide data to two software elements; a sensor data input formatting system 14 and software code imbedded into a standard geographical information system (GIS) 16. The software elements are employed to process the real-time sensor data and yield site map representations 18. The software uses statistical rendering to read data from each sensor location at a specific time, in real-time, with storage for report output. The benefits of the system are substantial in that one can convert point data to GIS surfaces, allowing for many types of spatial analyses, such as queries with other surfaces and map calculations among others, without the need for manual data entry. An alarm system 20 can be activated automatically or manually based on the interpreted data.

[0020] A system incorporating the present invention allows for automated real-time processing of sensor data to generate geostatistically rendered contour diagrams that display the spatial and temporal distribution of environmental parameters of interest. Since the data is processed through a GIS, the entire suite of data mining capabilities becomes available for multivariate analyses. For many types of “field thematic” data (where a value exists at every location), contouring via statistical interpolation is required to determine critical environmental factors such as distribution of contaminant concentration, distribution of geochemical redox zones, and direction of ground water flow. Furthermore, hydraulic containment of contaminated plumes (e.g., physical barriers and pumping systems), requires continuous monitoring to ensure that drinking water resources are protected.

[0021] FIG. 2 shows the components of one embodiment of the system. A sensor pack 22 contains multiple sensors having various detection and monitoring functions. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention for a ground water or surface water monitoring application, the sensors are dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature, pH, ORP, salinity, water level, nitrate, chloride, ammonium, ammonia, turbidity, etc. For this embodiment, a sensor pack identified as a Multi-Parameter (MP) Troll 9000 with RE485 Network produced by In-Situ is employed. A telemetry system having a transmitter 24 is connected to the sensors for transmission of data to a receiver 26. Transmitter and receiver systems such as In-Situ's Enhanced Telemetry System (ETS) are anticipated for certain embodiments of systems according to the present invention. The receiver is connected to a customer monitoring system such as a workstation 28 or laptop computer. A display 30 is employed to present the graphical data provided by the system and an alarm 32 is incorporated for notification of out of compliance data parameters.

[0022] FIG. 3 shows an Input Format Software (IFS) package 14 and a GIS Based Automation Software (GBAS) system 16. At discrete time intervals (e.g., 15-minutes), the IFS receives sensor data for multiple parameters from discrete locations. An input processing engine 34 assigns the incoming sensor data with its corresponding location (X,Y,Z). A data matrix generator 36 places the spatially referenced data for each individual parameter into a standard matrix format recognizable to the GIS. As will be described in greater detail subsequently for an exemplary embodiment, the sensor location is defined in a three column Gaussian format (X,Y,Z), time is in the next column, and the remaining column contains a given parameter value. Thus, the matrix generator builds an array of spatially referenced data tables, with each table corresponding to a given parameter type and time, that are used by the GBAS. The matrices generated are saved in a GIS compatible format in storage 38.

[0023] The second software component, GBAS, integrates the data into a GIS system and creates the output reports of the system. A data transfer routine 40 receives the data matrices from the IFS using time or another selected parameter as indices. The data is processed according to a user defined processing options trigger 42 which employs a user defined frequency (e.g. quarterly), a parameter driven frequency (e.g. climatic), time series plotting (e.g. trend assessment) or automated reporting (e.g. regulatory defined interval). A file generator 44 creates a point shapefile (or corollary) for each matrix, unique in time and parameter type, from the matrix generator which is then provided to a cartographic layout engine 46 which creates a time-stamped cartographic layout for each of the parameters of interest, predefined by the user, in a layer corresponding to spatially interpolated data for each specific parameter and data collection event. An overlay generator 48 creates overlays of pre-selected layers for presentation and a report generator 50 provides a final graphical output set to the format predetermined by the user. The data can be stored as a file, e-mailed or web posted through an automated port or monitored as an alarm trigger.

[0024] In operation for an exemplary embodiment, FIG. 4 shows a flowchart including the input processing engine and matrix generator for an exemplary embodiment. For each sensor package location, S, having sensors producing attributes, Al-An, at each trigger time, t, the IFS input processing engine retrieves data from the sensor package for each attribute, block 52, where the sensor has recorded data within a time interval error around the trigger time. A matrix of sensor position and attribute data is populated, block 54, in a loop, block 56. The populated matrix is then manipulated to create vectors of each attribute type with a spatially referenced parameters Xi, Yi, and Zi corresponding to each sensor identification, Si. For this example, a plot will be created for a location of each sensor with attribute A embedded, then during interpolation, distribution of attribute A is gridded and countoured for a discrete time corresponding to a simultaneous monitoring event.

[0025] The GBAS data transfer routine withdraws the sensor data matrices from storage and makes it available to the GIS system for processing and analysis. Timing control for the transfer is determined by the processing options trigger. In various exemplary embodiments, timing triggers are: user defined frequency (e.g., hourly, daily or quarterly); parameter driven frequency (e.g., dissolved oxygen exceeds a predefined threshold); time series plots (e.g., when the parameter values falls outside a predefined range); and automated reporting (e.g., based on required data analysis intervals for regulatory agencies). In an exemplary embodiment, the ESRI Inc. GIS software system, ArcGIS, is employed.

[0026] An implementation of the processing options trigger and general GBAS control program generated in Visual Basic is shown in Table 1. A fifteen minute processing interval has been selected as the user defined frequency.

[0027]

TABLE 1
Main Module with Timing Trigger
Sub main( )
‘Note: the 1000 represents the total number of loops the GBAS module
will
‘do without needing attention from the user, can be set to any
desired value.
For runid = 1 to 1000
	‘Timer: this controls the rate at which the GBAS uploads and
	‘processes the matrix data, currently set to 15-minutes
	Dim PauseTime, Start, Finish, TotalTime
	PauseTime = 15*60 ‘Set duration. (15-minutes)
	Start = Timer ‘Set start time.
	Do While Timer < Start + PauseTime
	DoEvents ‘Yield to other processes.
	Loop
	‘Once the timer is satisfied, the GBAS process starts
	Call AddTextFile ‘Get the matrix data
	Call AddXYEventLayer ‘Make and map the shapefile
	Call IDWmodel ‘Generate and map the inferred surface (e.g.,
	inverse-
	‘distance-weighting)
	Call RemoveSelectedLayerorTable ‘clean up the map and store data
Next runid
End Sub

[0028] The data transfer routine of the GBAS employed in the exemplary embodiment is shown in Table 2.

[0029]

TABLE 2
Insert Data Matrices
Public Sub AddTextFile( )
	‘Get the ITable from the geodatabase
	Dim pFact As IWorkspaceFactory
	Dim pWorkspace As IWorkspace
	Dim pFeatws As IFeatureWorkspace
	Dim pTable As ITable
	Set pFact = New TextFileWorkspaceFactory
	Set pWorkspace = pFact.OpenFromFile(“C:\DATA\temp”, 0)
	Set pFeatws = pWorkspace
	Set pTable = pFeatws.OpenTable(“XYSample.txt”)
	‘Add the table to the project, by calling the blow Private Sub
	Add_Table_TOC pTable
End Sub
Private Sub Add_Table_TOC(pTable As ITable)
	Dim pDoc As IMxDocument
	Dim pMap As IMap
	Set pDoc = ThisDocument
	Set pMap = pDoc.FocusMap
	‘ Create a new standalone table and add it
	‘ to the collection of the focus map
	Dim pStTab As IStandaloneTable
	Set pStTab = New StandaloneTable
	Set pStTab.Table = pTable
	Dim pStTabColl As IStandaloneTableCollection
	Set pStTabColl = pMap
	pStTabColl.AddStandaloneTable pStTab
	‘ Refresh the TOC
	pDoc.UpdateContents
End Sub

[0030] Included in the module of Table 2 is a subroutine (Private sub) for adding the created table to the “project” which is the descriptor for the application and sensors employed in the embodiment.

[0031] The file generator creates the GIS compatible file for map algebra and layering for presentation. An exemplary generator for a simplified two-dimensional embodiment using a Visual Basic module for creating a shapefile (in the terminology used in the ESRI software) is shown in Table 3. The module in Table 3 is executed from within the ArcGIS environment and employs the ArcGIS spatial analyst extension.

[0032]

TABLE 3
Create and plot shapefile from data matrix
Public Sub AddXYEventLayer( )
	‘Dimension variables and define document and map environment
	Dim pDoc As IMxDocument
	Dim pMap As IMap
	Set pDoc = ThisDocument
	Set pMap = pDoc.FocusMap
	‘Get the table named XYSample.txt (data table with locations and
parameter value)
	Dim pStTabCol As IStandaloneTableCollection
	Dim pStandaloneTable As IStandaloneTable
	Dim intCount As Integer
	Dim pTable As ITable
	Set pStTabCol = pMap
	For intCount = 0 To pStTabCol.StandaloneTableCount − 1
	Set pStandaloneTable = pStTabCol.StandaloneTable(intCount)
	If pStandaloneTable.Name =“XYSample.txt” Then
	Set pTable = pStandaloneTable.Table
	Exit For
	End If
	Next
	‘Get the table name object
	Dim pDataSet As IDataset
	Dim pTableName As IName
	Set pDataSet = pTable
	Set pTableName = pDataSet.FullName
	‘Specify the X and Y fields
	Dim pXYEvent2FieldsProperties As IXYEvent2FieldsProperties
	Set pXYEvent2FieldsProperties = New XYEvent2FieldsProperties
	With pXYEvent2FieldsProperties
	.XFieldName = “x”
	.YFieldName = “y”
	.ZFieldName = “”
	End With
	‘Specify the data projection (i.e., coordinate system)
	Dim pSpatialReferenceFactory As ISpatialReferenceFactory
	Dim pProjectedCoordinateSystem As IProjectedCoordinateSystem
	Set pSpatialReferenceFactory = New SpatialReferenceEnvironment
	Set pProjectedCoordinateSystem = _
pSpatialReferenceFactory.CreateProjectedCoordinateSystem
(esriSRProjCS_NAD1983UTM_11N)
	‘Create the XY name object and set its properties
	Dim pXYEventSourceName As IXYEventSourceName
	Dim pXYName As IName
	Dim pXYEventSource As IXYEventSource
	Set pXYEventSourceName = New XYEventSourceName
	With pXYEventSourceName
	Set .EventProperties = pXYEvent2FieldsProperties
	Set .SpatialReference = pProjectedCoordinateSystem
	Set .EventTableName =
pTableName End With Set pXYName = pXYEventSourceName Set
pXYEventSource = pXYName.Open
	‘Create a new Map Layer Dim pFLayer As IFeatureLayer
	Set pFLayer = New FeatureLayer Set pFLayer.FeatureClass =
	pXYEventSource
pFLayer.Name = “Sample XY Event layer”
	‘Add the layer extension
	Dim pLayerExt As ILayerExtensions Dim pRESPageExt As New
XYDataSourcePageExtension Set pLayerExt = pFLayer
pLayerExt.AddExtension pRESPageExt
	pMap.AddLayer pFLayer pDoc.ActivatedView.PartialRefresh
esriViewGeography, Nothing, Nothing
End Sub

[0033] The subroutine shown in Table 3 additionally maps the various site points on the display.

[0034] In operation with a system according to the present invention, the cartographic layout engine receives the shapefile for each data point matrix to create the inferred continuous surface from the point (i.e., discrete locations) data based on predefined spatial interpretation algorithms. Continuing the exemplary embodiment, the code shown in Table 4 illustrates a Visual Basic module that executed from within ArcGIS to generate a surface based on the inverse distance weighting of the parameter values from the matrix with embedded codes for the data values at the defined time and map coordinates with trend or direction indicators.

[0035]

TABLE 4
Generate inferred surface based on Inverse-Distance-Weighting
Sub IDWmodel( )
	‘Define the data field to be used for surface interpolation
	Dim sFieldName As String
	Dim CellSize As Double
	sFieldName = “F4” ‘Field name used in interpolation (i.e., data
parameter value)
	CellSize = 100 ‘Cell size for output raster
	‘Dimension variables and define document and map environment
	Dim pMxDoc As IMxDocument
	Dim pMap As IMap
	Set pMxDoc = ThisDocument
	Set pMap = pMxDoc.FocusMap
	‘Get feature class from layer
	Dim pFLayer As IFeatureLayer
	Set pFLayer = pMap.Layer(0)
	Dim pFClass As IFeatureClass
	Set pFClass = pFLayer.FeatureClass
	‘Create Feature Class Descriptor using a value field
	Dim pFDescr As IFeatureClassDescriptor
	Set pFDescr = New FeatureClassDescriptor
	pFDescr.Create pFClass, Nothing, sFieldName
	‘Create Raster Interpolation bject
	Dim pIntOp As IInterpolationOp
	Set pIntOp = New RasterInterpolationOp
	‘Set cell size for output raster. The extent of the output raster is
	‘defualted to as same as input. The output working directory uses
	default
	Dim pEnv As IRasterAnalysisEnvironment
	Set pEnv = pIntOp
	pEnv.SetCellSize esriRasterEnvValue, CellSize
	‘Create raster radius using variable distance
	Dim pRadius As IRasterRadius
	Set pRadius = New RasterRadius
	pRadius.SetVariable 12
	‘Use FeatureClassDescriptor as an input to the IInterpolationOp and
	‘Perform the interpolation
	Dim pOutRaster As IRaster
	Set pOutRaster = pIntOp.IDW(pFDescr, 2, pRadius)
	‘Add the result to layer
	Dim pRLayer As IRasterLayer
	Set pRLayer = New RasterLayer
	pRLayer.CreateFromRaster pOutRaster
	pMap.AddLayer pRLayer
End Sub

[0036] As previously described, various embodiments of a system according to the invention employ alternative means for generating the representative surface, such as kriging.

[0037] The overlay generator receives the plots from the layout engine. User defined data overlays are created by the overlay generator to display combined or sequenced data for analysis. Each overlay set is then stored for access by the report generator.

[0038] In the exemplary embodiment time sequenced overlays are not created and the GIS display is cleared for display of the next time point using the routine identified in Table 5.

[0039]

TABLE 5
Remove Selected Layer
Public Sub RemoveSelectedLayerorTable( )
‘Define the map
	Dim pDoc As IMxDocument
	Dim pMap As IMap
	Set pDoc = ThisDocument
	Set pMap = pDoc.FocusMap
‘Remove IDW grid
	Dim pActiveView As IActiveView
	pMap.DeleteLayer pDoc.FocusMap.Layer(0)
	Set pActiveView = pMap
	pActiveView.Refresh
‘Remove shapefile
	pMap.DeleteLayer pDoc.FocusMap.Layer(0)
	Set pActiveView = pMap
	pActiveView.Refresh
‘Remove a data table
	Dim pStTabCol As IStandaloneTableCollection
	Dim pStandaloneTable As IStandaloneTable
	Dim intCount As Integer
	Dim pTable As ITable
	Set pStTabCol = pMap
	For intCount = 0 To pStTabCol.StandaloneTableCount − 1
	Set pStandaloneTable = pStTabCol.StandaloneTable(intCount)
	If pStandaloneTable.Name = “XYSample.txt” Then
	Set pTable = pStandaloneTable.Table
	Exit For
	End If
	Next
	Dim pSelItem As IUnknown
	Set pSelItem = pStandaloneTable
	Dim pStTab As IStandaloneTable
	Dim pStTabColl As IStandaloneTableCollection
	Set pStTab = pSelItem
	Set pStTabColl = pMap
	pStTabColl.RemoveStandaloneTable pStTab
‘Refresh the TOC
pDoc.UpdateContents
End Sub

[0040] In a generalized embodiment, the layer data is stored for subsequent retrieval for printing or layer overlay to view multiple sensor outputs simultaneously. Stored data is then retrieved for use by the report generator.

[0041] The report generator incorporates user defined output functionality for the data present in the overlay sets. The report generator is also enabled to provide the defined reports via e-mailed file, alarm trigger, or web site posting. FIG. 5 demonstrates the operation of the report generator. The user manually or automatically selects the attribute and time for report creation, block 60. The attribute matrix data previously stored as a table is retrieved, block 62, the IDW grid for the defined map is retrieved, block 64 and the mapped layer for the attribute is retrieved 66. A loop 68 is performed until all times and/or attributes desired for display on the report are included. The report is then printed, block 70, in hard copy or to a file. The report generator then e-mails or posts the report to a website if configured to do so.

[0042] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary output of the embodiment described herein where a selected attribute is the water level. The sensor package locations, S, are shown graphically as circled X's 74. The water level as determined by the sensor and stored as attribute, A, and is represented by contours 76 created by the layout engine receiving the shapefile. Map features overlayed by the GIS include roads 78 and other geographical features.

[0043] Having now described the invention in detail as required by the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments disclosed herein. Such modifications are within the scope and intent of the present invention as defined in the following claims.