BEIDMS and ARCVIEW An Integrated Solution for Managing Environmental Data

The Bechtel Environmental Integrated Data Management System (BEIDMS) is a relational database management system developed by Bechtel Environmental, Inc. The primary objective of BEIDMS is to store and manage data associated with the environmental data life cycle. The BEIDMS is also a hierarchical database management system. It is designed to achieve standardization and integrity in managing environmental data and to provide shared and centralized data to its users.

The BEIDMS is an ORACLE application developed with ORACLE CASE tools. It is based on a client-server architecture where the database resides on a database server, while the actual application modules run on PCs or other computers connected to the database server through a network. The latest version of the BEIDMS (2.0) runs under the Microsoft Windows environment. Database integrity and security are enforced through the assignment of role memberships and the provision of available menu items.

ArcView has been used to develop a GIS interface for the BEDMS. The data linkage between ArcView and BEIDMS is established through the Microsoft Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC). This data linkage is a dynamic one in which the changes in BEIDMS data servers will be instantly reflected in ArcView tables. The coupling of ArcView and BEIDMS provides significant benefits for data users: they are able to access and display environmental data geographically. In addition, data users can take advantage of additional functions offered by ArcView to create spatial queries and to perform spatial analyses on environmental data. This can be considered as the first step in moving toward an enterprise solution for managing, distributing, and accessing environmental data.

Introduction



Data management is always an important and complex issue for executing 

environmental projects.  The importance of data management lies in its involvement in 

almost every aspect of environmental projects.  Site characterization, environmental 

monitoring, compliance, litigation, public relations, remediation, and cleanup all require 

strong support of data management to provide sufficient and reliable data.  In a way, 

data management is the foundation for the successful completion of environmental 

projects. The complexity is determined by the nature of multi-discipline participation in 

the working processes of environmental projects.  Data management has to deal with 

heterogeneous data types generated from different disciplines.  Examples of data types 

may include chemical data, radiological data, biological data, geological data, and 

hydrological data.



In the past, we did not have a standard and central system to manage environmental 

data.  As a result, we have suffered problems in dealing with environmental data:  data 

for the same project may be scattered in different places, this not only increases cost of 

data maintenance but also leads to potential problems of data inconsistency since data 

may not be updated simultaneously; duplicated data may be collected for reasons of not 

knowing existence of the same data;  when a project is completed,  data may be difficult 

to retrieve since data were stored in different legacy systems known only to individuals 

who controlled data at that time.

  

In order to overcome these problems,  we feel that the solution is to develop a standard 

and integrated database system to manage our environmental data.  This system should 

provide both centralized data management as well as shared access.  BEIDMS (Bechtel 

Environmental Integrated Data Management System) is the software product developed 

for this purpose.  The keyword for this system is integration which means connecting, 

organizing, and centrally storing multi-discipline environmental data in one database 

system.



This paper discusses the development of BEIDMS.  The first part describes BEIDMS 

system including its objective, development history, design criteria, system modules,  

data structure, and associated procedures.  The second part discusses the GIS interface 

for BEIDMS developed using ArcView.  The last part describes how BEIDMS and 

ArcView benefit the future development of an enterprise GIS.  



Development of BEIDMS

Objective



The objective of BEIDMS development is to provide a total data management solution 

for environmental data life cycles.   Figure 1 describes a typical environmental data life 

cycle.  This cycle starts with 

initial sample planning,  moves through stages of sample collection, sample analysis,  

data processing,  data management, and ends with data use.  If additional data are 

needed, a new cycle will be repeated.   As a total data management software, BEDIMS is 

intended to cover the data management needs raised through different stages of 

environmental data life cycle, and to integrate different types of data generated from 

interdisciplinary work processes.  Examples of data types may include laboratory data, 

geotechnical data, and field measurement data.  The goal of BEIDMS is to provide a 

shared and centralized environmental database with known and defensible quality.   



Development History



The development history of BEIDMS is closely associated with evolution of 

environment projects within BECHTEL offices.  The initial effort was started with the 

data management needs for the remedial investigation, feasibility study, and site 

characterization projects.  These are the type of projects that collect large quantities of 

data and require a comprehensive system to manage their environmental data.  The first 

prototype of BEIDMS was developed in April of 1993.  The beta version (V1.0) was 

completed in December of 1993 and runs under DOS environment.   



BEIDMS has subsequently been applied to several remedial investigation and 

remediation projects within BECHTEL offices.  While being applied to these projects, 

BEIDMS has been continuously improved to address new issues and unique problems 

encountered from different environmental projects.  Four minor versions of BEIDMS 

1.0 were developed during 1994.



In the summer of 1995, version 2.0 of BEIDMS was completed.  This version runs 

under MS Windows operating system. A major improvement of this version is the 

partial automation of selected data validation and verification processes



Design Criteria



The system design of BEIDMS is based on pre-established criteria.  These criteria were 

developed based on the analysis of our customer requirements,  problems and lessons 

learned, and work processes for environmental data life cycles.  These criteria can be 

divided into two groups: system based criteria and data based criteria.



System based criteria are the features required for the overall system to perform.  

Examples for some of the important criteria in this group are:



		  User friendliness 

		  Efficiency

		  Adaptability

		  Scaleability



User friendliness means that the system should be easy to use and to learn.  Features 

such as menu driven operations and on-line help can be helpful to users.  Efficiency 

refers to the optimal system design to reduce overall cost of system maintenance and to 

allow fast data access.   Adaptability requires the system design to be flexible for making 

modifications and to be conducive to the evolution in response to new technology.   

Scaleability implies that the system is cost effective to be used for both large and small 

projects.



Data based criteria enforce various requirements on data stored in the system.  Some of 

the major criteria in this group are:

 

		  Data integrity

		  Data traceability

		  Data retrieveability

		  Data accessibility

		  Data reliability



Data integrity enforces the necessary structural constraints of the internal data.  Data 

fields are checked for permissible values.  Users are forced to enter those data fields that 

are required.  The reference relationships and hierarchy structure among data groups or 

blocks are always maintained.  Data traceability records the data history throughout 

environmental data life cycles.  Chain of custody is one method of maintaining data 

traceability.  Data retrieveability informs users where the data is located, what type of 

formats the data is stored, and how to retrieve data using documented methods.  This 

criteria intends to eliminate problems associated with data control by individual persons 

or group.  Data accessibility requires the system to provide means of distributing data 

locally and remotely across network to end users.  One critical case is to provide data 

access for the field offices.  Client-sever architecture is one way to implement this 

criteria.  Data reliability is to ensure quality and usability of data.  This can be achieved 

through automatic and manual validation and verification processes.  Appropriate data 

review codes should be provided and explained to users with regard to the data quality.

          Figure 1.  Description of An Environmental Data Life Cycle



System Description



BEIDMS is an Oracle application developed with Oracle CASE tool.  As such, BEIDMS 

can quickly adapt to system changes and to meet special requirements for customization. 

BEIDMS can also run on a wide variety of hardware platforms and under a multitude 

of operation system.  For example, BEIDMS can run on standalone PC with the 

installation of PC Oracle.  Typically, however,  BEIDMS runs in a client-server network 

environment.  In this case, the database resides on a database sever while actual 

BEIDMS application runs on PCs.  



BEIDMS is a menu driven application.  It employs pull-down and interconnected menus 

for easy operations.  The multilevel menu structure in BEIDMS is represented by a 

menu tree shown in Figure 2 (Bechtel, 1995). 

                       Figure 2. The BEIDMS Menu Tree



Actions associated with each menu item may be calling other menus, executing 

commands, or running programs.  The availability of menu items is controlled through 

privileges granted from system administrators.  Unavailable menu items are usually the 

results of blocked access and can become available through requests to system 

administrators. 



1) System Modules:  



BEIDMS consists of five major modules:  data planning, data collecting, data 

processing, data administrating, and data use (see Figure 3).  The first four are shown 

in BEIDMS main menu as Plan, Collect, Process, and Admin, respectively while the 

last one incorporates a third part software called SQL Data Browser.  These five 

modules corresponds to the major working processes associated with typical 

environmental data life cycles.

 

                        Figure 3. System Modules for BEIDMS



Data planning covers data for various activities associated with the beginning phase of 

sampling activities.  It includes input menus and Oracle tables to capture information on 

facilities (study areas), sites (sub-areas), projects, sampling events, sampling stations, 

logbooks, planned samples, and sampling event information records (SEIRs).



Data collecting deals with data for activities associated with collecting samples.  It has 

tables to record detailed sample information such as collection method, depths, matrix, 

time, date, containers, and chain of custody (COC).  In addition, these tables also store 

information on field QC samples, sample logs, well construction, field measurement, 

water level information, and strategraphic information.



Data processing deals with loading data into an interim repository from field offices or 

laboratories , reviewing data in the interim repository, moving data into a permanent 

repository, and tracking COC and data packages.  Data review is the most critical 

process in this module.  The purpose of data review is to ensure quality and usability and 

may include data verification, compliance screening, data validation, and data quality 

assessment.  



Data administrating deals with maintaining references tables such as analysis methods, 

sample matrices, units, and container types.  Reference tables in this module are referred 

by other tables throughout BEIDMS.  To ensure the database integrity in BEIDMS,  

these reference tables are generally not allowed to be updated.   



Data use deals with querying, evaluating, and reporting data.  This is the module used 

frequently by end users.  This module is based on the interface with another Windows 

based software called Data Browser.  Data Browser is directly linked with BEIDMS 

database.  It has pre-defined table joins as well as constraints of only showing validated 

and verified data.  Users can create queries or produce canned reports by simply clicking 

listed data columns in the query menu without knowing table structure or worrying 

about getting bad data. 

           Figure 4.  The hierarchical data structure for the RESULTS table



2) System hierarchy



BEIDMS enforces data integrity through the establishment of a hierarchical data 

structure.   Tables in BEIDMS are organized into different levels and referenced each 

other.  This data hierarchy implies that records can not be inserted or deleted without 

working on their reference tables first.  Taking the RESULTS table as an example, 

Figure 4 shows the hierarchical data structure of BEIDMS.  In order to enter a compete 

record into the RESULTS table,  users have to first complete appropriate fields in 

relevant reference tables at the previous eight levels of the data hierarchy.  



Changes in data records ought to follow certain orders along the data hierarchy.  In 

general, data insertion must be proceeded upward from the lowest level to the highest 

level  while data deletion must be worked downward from the highest level to the lowest 

level.



3) System Procedures



BEIDMS is more than just an environmental database management software.  It also 

comes with procedures that define a business model on how to handle environmental 

data from the beginning to the end.  In fact, a major part of the BEIDMS system is its 

procedures.  These procedures were developed based on regulatory guidelines as well as 

lessens learned, and are compatible with BEIDMS database.  



The procedures are not the regular computer software manuals.  They define an efficient 

business model for planning, collecting, reviewing, and managing environmental data.  

Similar to the system design, BEIDMS procedures also follow work processes associated 

with the environmental data life cycles.  For example, planning procedures facilitate the 

automation and implementation of field sampling plan and quality assurance plan.   

Sample collection procedures define business rules for field logbooks and forms to 

ensure that records are traceable, complete, and consistent.   Sample analysis procedures 

specify analytical methods and laboratory subcontract technical specifications, and 

ensure the right data of appropriate quality and delivery formats are provided by 

laboratories.



The GIS Interface for BEIDMS



The GIS interface is an integral part of BEDIMS.  It serves two purposes:  The first one 

is to allow end users to access environmental data in BEIDMS geographically.   This 

means that users can view the data, organize the data, create spatial queries on the data, 

and produce maps and displays based on the data.  The second one is to allow end users 

the ability to overlay environmental data with other related spatial features and to 

provide integrated analysis of environmental data and underlying phenomena.  

Examples of related spatial features may include streams, groundwater tables, 

strategraphy, radwalk over survey, and aerial photos.



GIS Software Selection



The GIS interface for BEIDMS is developed based on existing commercial GIS 

software.  There are several criteria used to select the GIS software.  Some of the 

important criteria are:



		  Direct connectivity to Oracle database

		  User friendliness

		  Capability of reading files from Bechtel Standard CADD (Intergraph 

		   MicroStation)

		  Capability of linking with Bechtel Standard GIS (ArcInfo)

		  Functions for spatial querying and geo-processing



Several commercial software were considered initially.  ArcView was finally selected as 

the GIS software to interface with BEIDMS.  This is based several advantages that 

ArcView has over other GIS packages.  The strength of ArcView lies in its dynamic 

linkages with Oracle database and its flexibility in creating spatial queries.  In additions, 

ArcView is easy to use in terms of data input, data display, and producing hardcopy 

maps.  ArcView can indirectly read MicroStation files through the conversion of DGN 

formats to DWG formats.  When more complex data processing functions are needed, 

ArcView can act as client and call these functions from ArcInfo through Inter-

Communication Application (IAC) (Esri,1995a).



The selection of ArcView does not mean that this is the only GIS software that can 

interface with BEIDMS.  Several other GIS software such as MGE, Atlas GIS, and 

MapInfo can also be used to interface with BEIDMS.  The system design of BEIDMS 

leaves the options of GIS interfaces open to any GIS software packages that can directly 

or indirectly access Oracle database.   



The Linkage Between ArcView and BEIDMS



The link between ArcView and BEIDMS is based on Microsoft�s ODBC (Open 

DataBase Connectivity) standard.  Once the ODBC driver for Oracle database is 

installed and configured,  ArcView is ready to be linked to BEIDMS.  Figure 5 

illustrates how to establish this linkage through ArcView SQL connection menu.  Once 

this linkage is completed and saved, ArcView is permanently connected to BEIDMS for 

the specified ArcView project. 

                Figure 5.  The linkage between ArcView and BEIDMS



BEIDMS facilitates the interface to ArcView by creating two data objects.  The first one 

is the STATIONS table which provides names of sampling stations as well as 

coordinates.  This information can be used in ArcView to create a theme of sampling 

stations.  The second data object is the INTERIM RESULTS view which contains 

information such as sample ID, compound names,  CAS number, concentrations, units, 

depths, and matrices collected for sampling stations.  This information can be joined to 

sampling stations and displayed  in ArcView though query, classification, and chart 

options.



It is worthwhile to note that the linkage between ArcView and BEDIMS is a dynamic 

one.  When data in BEIDMS is updated,  the changes can be instantly reflected in 

ArcView tables using the Refresh option from Table menu.  In addition,  ArcView 

automatically updates data linked to BEIDMS when an ArcView project is initially 

opened.



Applications



Managing Environmental Data

This is the main purpose of developing BEIDMS.  Majority of BEIDMS applications fall 

into this category.  Currently, BEIDMS is defined as the standard database management 

system for Bechtel Environmental, Inc.  Several projects have used BEIDMS, including 

environmental projects for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Department of Energy, 

Navy , and Air Forces.  Activities supported by BEIDMS range from site 

characterization, remedial investigation, feasibility study, to remediation.  Most of these 

projects are Bechtel internal projects with one exception, the DOE Y-12 plant at Oak 

Ridge, Tennessee.  Y-12 plant has adopted BEIDMS to manage both its current and 

historical environmental data.   



Foundation for Enterprise GIS 



One of the most significant advances in recent history of the GIS industry is the 

development and implementation of enterprise GIS (Esri, 1993, 1995b, Antenucci, 

1995).  This refers to processes of moving data and GIS technology out of a small and 

specialized group or department and distributing them to all users within an 

organization.   In our case, the concept of an enterprise GIS implies distributing the 

environmental database and providing appropriate GIS tools to the desktop of engineers, 

geologists, and scientists.  Data sharing and distributed processing are the key features 

of an enterprise GIS.     



The foundation for any enterprise GIS is the well defined database structure and means 

of distributing data throughout an organization (Rogers, 1995).   The integration of 

BEIDMS and ArcView provides such a foundation:  BEIDMS not only has a well 

defined and integrated database, but also includes means to distribute data locally and 

remotely.  ArcView add additional tools for end users to access and visualize data stored 

in BEIDMS.  

       Figure 6. A proposed system configuration for the Bechtel enterprise GIS



In order to complete an enterprise GIS , however, additional systems need to be 

integrated.   In our case, two major additional systems are: ArcInfo and MicroStation 

 which are Bechtel standard GIS and CADD systems, respectively.  Figure 6. shows a 

proposed system configuration for Bechtel enterprise GIS.  In this proposed 

configuration, each component is an integral part of the whole system and interacts with 

other component via network communication.  Each component also performs unique 

functions:  BEDIMS provides functions for data management and storage, CADD 

provides functions of engineering design and basemaps, ARC\INFO furnishes tools for 

spatial analysis and geo-processing, and ArcView provides desktop tools for end users to 

visualize data and access enterprise GIS functions. 



Conclusion



We have developed a full-fledged software system for dealing with data generated from 

work processes associated with environmental data life cycles.  BEIDMS is our answer 

to the need of having a generic and standard system to manage environmental data.  

BEIDMS is also our solution to integrate heterogeneous data generated from multi-

disciplines working groups for environmental projects.



The integration of BEIDMS and ArcView provides the possibilities of managing, 

distributing, visualizing, and analyzing environmental data throughout a corporate 

environment.  The realization of this vision requires the development and 

implementation of a new concept called enterprise GIS.  What we have completed so far 

is the foundation for an enterprise GIS.  We need to expand the current foundation to 

incorporate additional systems and to work toward a functional enterprise GIS system.  





References



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Bechtel Environmental, Inc., 1995. BEIDMS - Bechtel Environmental Integrated Data

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Esri, 1993, Enterprise GIS - Using GIS in the Corporate Environment. Esri White

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Esri, 1995a,  ArcViw Network Connectivity,  ArcView White Paper Series. Redlands,

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Esri, 1995b, System Design Strategies - A Methodology for Designing ArcInfo and 

	ArcView Enterprise Environments, Esri White Paper Series. Redlands, CA.



Rogers, M., 1995, Enterprisewide GIS Brightens Electric Utility=s Future, GIS World.

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