Tutorial 1- Introducing ESdat

For use with ESDAT version 4 (version 4 software updates available from www.esdat.com.au)

Tutorial 1- Introducing ESdat

Tutorial 1 - Introducing ESdat

EarthScience Information Systems Pty Ltd

Email: [email protected] Web: www.esdat.net Page 1

Contents Software Requirements .............................................................................................. 1

Installing ESdat .......................................................................................................... 1

Tutorial 1 - Overview .................................................................................................. 2

Introducing ESdat ....................................................................................................... 3

Opening the Sample Database .................................................................................. 4

Window Navigation..................................................................................................... 5

Lab & Field Chemistry ................................................................................................ 8

Importing Laboratory Chemistry ............................................................................. 8

Chemistry Tables .................................................................................................. 10

Chemistry QA ....................................................................................................... 12

Mapping Chemistry ............................................................................................... 13

Graphing Time-Series Chemistry.......................................................................... 13

Water Levels ............................................................................................................ 14

Mapping Water Levels .......................................................................................... 14

Graphing Water Levels ......................................................................................... 15

Exporting to other Packages (Example using Surfer) ............................................... 17

Further Tutorials ....................................................................................................... 17

Software Requirements ESdat

Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7

Microsoft Excel 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010

This tutorial also has one exercise exporting to Surfer (7,8,9). If Surfer is not available the relevant exercise can be skipped.

Installing ESdat If you don’t have ESdat installed a demo version can be installed from http://www.esdat.net/Download_ESdat.aspx. This tutorial requires ESdat 4.4.09 or later.

If you have restricted installation permissions you may need to obtain Admin status.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.esdat.net/

http://www.esdat.net/Download_ESdat.aspx




Tutorial 1 - Overview The purpose of this tutorial is to provide a quick overview of ESdat's functionality. It will provide an overview level introduction to the following topics:

What ESdat is and does

Opening ESdat databases

Navigating through ESdat

Data filtering

Importing Laboratory Data and assigning laboratory duplicates and unique codes to each compound

Producing Chemistry Output Tables using basic filters and different layout settings

Using the QA Reports

Using the inbuilt maps with labelling and point colouring

Graphing

Exporting filtered data in a format suitable for external packages.

Subsequent tutorials address these topics in more depth, as well as other powerful analysis and reporting tools included with ESdat.

See http://www.esdat.net/esdathelp/index.html?tutorials.htm for the full list of ESdat function and topic tutorials.

The tutorial applies to both Access and SQL versions of ESdat. The tutorial is conducted using the Access version of ESdat. It will use the ‘Sample Hydrogeology and Contam’ database for any examples provided.



http://www.esdat.net/esdathelp/index.html?tutorials.htm




Introducing ESdat ESdat is an environmental data management system, which provides an electronic data trail for all your field, laboratory and historical monitoring data. ESdat makes it easy to import, track and use air, water and soil information about multiple sites, and multiple projects. Used by environmental consultants, government departments, mining and energy companies, airports, and landfill operators (to name but a few), ESdat is a powerful way for you to control and use your environmental monitoring data. It simplifies input of data from multiple sources, and uses a range of validation processes to ensure that your data is accurate, up to date and consistent. The graphic below highlights the data inputs and outputs possible with ESdat.

ESdat functionality (logically) starts right from sample planning process. The location and types of samples, how samples are to be collected, and the analyses to be done can be specified here, streamlining field sample collection and laboratory submission. Laboratory requests can be sent, with reports received in a specified format.

Data can be imported into your ESdat database from PDAs, laboratory reports, data loggers, field notes, and/or historical data held either as handwritten notes, or Excel spreadsheet records. ESdat makes it easier to import this data, through the use of a range of proforma import templates, or you can customise your own import templates.

ESdat provides a library of environmental standards, which you can accept and use. Alternatively, you can develop and use your own site- or project-specific standards, which will automatically flag exceedances for your attention. Your data can easily be compared against these environmental standards, allowing rapid identification of potential problem areas.






ESdat allows for easy organisation of data to facilitate a variety of outputs (either internal within your organisation, or to external parties). Filtering of data allows you to focus on the information of interest. This data can then be mapped, graphed, tabulate for reporting and/or exported to a variety of visualisation tools. Quality assurance reporting features also allow for rapid assessment of data provided by laboratories, facilitating QA reports and data manipulation, editing and checking as required.

In short, ESdat contains numerous features that will speed up your data entry, builds in numerous QA check points, enhances consistency and efficiency of data entry and use, and provides numerous options for data option to meet your needs.

Opening the Sample Database Once you have installed ESdat, start the program by selecting ESdat under the Windows Start – Programs Menu.

The Startup dialogue box will launch. From here, you can open existing databases, create new databases, or go directly to the import templates. A list of recent databases appears on the left of the dialogue box. The most recent database used (Sample Hydrogeology and Contam) will be highlighted, as shown in the Figure below.

Click 'Open'.

You will be asked whether you want to view the ESdat Tutorial Documentation. Clicking 'Yes' will launch the Tutorial Documentation you are now reading, clicking ‘No’ will cancel the dialogue box and continue to the program.






Window Navigation The following figure highlights the major components of the ESdat screen. It is suggested that you print this page and keep it beside you as you complete the Tutorial and start to use ESdat, to help you navigate around the screens and views. Alternatively, you might like to open this page in a separate browser so that you can refer to it as you progress through the Tutorial.

The buttons at the top of the screen (in the pale green area) are View Type buttons used to open different ESdat functions such as the LSPECS (Laboratory Sample Planning Electronic Custody and Signoff), Import, Data Views, Reports and Check Units functions(see Figure below).

The green buttons below the Command buttons are the Data-Type buttons. These buttons represent different types of data such as Water Chemistry, Geology or Location information. The Data – Type buttons can be customised if required.

Underneath the Data-Type buttons is the filter area. When you construct a filter it appears in the Filter Text area.

Underneath the filter area is the data. The data shown relates to the selected Data-Type, with the filter (if applied). When we open a database, the Location information is displayed by default. Try clicking through the different Data Type buttons in both the Data and the Map Panels, and note the different information that is displayed for each Data Type selection.

The toolbar to the left of the data relates to actions affecting the data panel (such as editing, sorting or summarising), and the tool options will change depending on which Data Panel you have selected (for example, click on the Map Panel and look at the tools available. Then click back to the Data Panel and look at the tools that show up).

The larger toolbar on the right shows the external links, reporting and export options for data within ESdat (e.g. Excel, Google Earth). Once we have selected and filtered our data to show what we need we can click one of these options to export the data to the desired output or application.











The Map Panel shows site locations. Background maps can be loaded.

Click on the “Water Chemistry” and “Soil Rock Chemistry” Data-Type buttons. Review the contents of the Data and the Map Panel. These panels will show data related to each of those two Data-Types.

Try constructing a Filter for your data, by:

Click on the Filter Panel.

Click on ‘LocCode’ in the Output field, then click ‘=’, and then double-click on the ‘BH01’ value.

Click the ‘Apply Filter button – the TAB will now show Filter (On).

Click the Map tab. One data point only will now show.

Now click on either the ‘Remove Filter’ or ‘+Clear’ buttons, to see what happens. The previously excluded data points should now be shown.

This is the basis of selecting and filtering data, for inclusion in ESdat outputs and exports.






Lab & Field Chemistry

Importing Laboratory Chemistry Laboratory derived chemistry data can be automatically imported using an ESdat format file supplied from the laboratories.

In ESdat click the Import button and in the orange ‘Files’ box, select ‘Laboratory’.

Select the file 'Sample01.Labmark36.Sample22.csv' located in the sample directory The Sample Directory will typically be: C:\Program_Files\ESdat\Sample_Contam, or C:\Program_Files (x86)\ESdat\Sample_Contam on 64 bit PCs.)

If you get a prompt saying the Lab Report already exists, and do you wish to delete and re-import, click “Yes”

The lab data will load in Excel, initially showing the Sample data.

There are a number of QA Samples in the data (rows 22-26 in the Figure below).

For the Field Duplicates, we need to indicate that they are Field Duplicates in ESdat, and which sample they duplicate. In this case, the Field_ID column provides this information. Your field notes will normally be the source of this information.

To do this for Field Dupe BH26B ( Row 22) do the following:

Click on cell I22 (Sample Type column) and select 'Field_D' from the drop-down menu. A dialogue box will open prompting you to 'Click on the SampleCode of the sample for which this is a duplicate'.

Click anywhere in Row 16, which is the Parent Sample and click “OK”.

You will notice that in Row 22 (the duplicate sample):






1. the 'Parent_Sample' column (Column J) is updated to show the SampleCode of the Parent Sample.

2. The Location Code (‘LocCode’) column is updated with the location of the Parent Sample.

3. The ‘Field_ID’ column remains unaltered.

Repeat this procedure for the other Field Duplicates (Row 23 and Row 24).

There are also two blanks in this batch (see Lines 25 and 26). We need to specify what types of blank they are.

In the row containing the Trip Blank data (Row 25), select the Sample_Type (in column I’) and from the dropdown menu, select 'Trip_B'.

In the row containing the Equipment Blank data (Row 26), select the Sample_Type and from the dropdown menu, select ‘Rinsate’.

Note the Field ID is left as it was specified in the field, but the LocCode, which was originally identical to the Field ID, is now blank.

In the Excel toolbar (under ‘Add ins’ in Excel 07/10):

Click on the ‘Upload Data’ icon. Accept the defaults and click ‘Import’. The data will now turn green indicating it has been uploaded successfully.

Still in the same Excel workbook:

Change to the Chemistry Results Sheet and import the Chemistry data.

The laboratory data is now imported; there is no need to save changes in Excel.

Close Excel without saving.

Note: Excel is used as a tool to update the ESdat database. The data are not stored in Excel.






Chemistry Tables In ESdat click the ‘Data Views’ (View Type) button,

Click the ‘Water Chemistry’ Data-Type button.

Ensure that you are on the ‘Data’ Panel

One of the columns will be titled ‘Monitoring Unit’.

Double Click on ‘Lower Aquifer’.

Click ‘Apply Filter’

We have now filtered for all Water Chemistry data in the ‘Lower Aquifer’.

At the top of the EXPORTS toolbar on the right of the screen click the 'Chem Table' export button.

Accept the ‘Use Current ESdat Filter’ option, click ‘Next.

We can now specify the layout of the table, and specify the Sample Fields to be included.

For Orientation select ‘Chemical Names across the top’.

For Grouping select ‘Group By Chem Group’

Accept the default Sample Fields to be output.

Ensure ‘Summary Statistics’ is selected.

In the ‘Environmental Guidelines’ section ensure ‘Auto-Format Exceedances’ is selected.

Click

The table is now produced in Excel. With the ‘Auto-Format Exceedances’ option selected, any guideline exceedances are shown.






Repeat the table production, but try varying the layout settings:

Use an orientation of 'Chemical Names listed Vertically',

Deselect ‘Auto-Format’.

Click .

The table is now produced in Excel in a new window. However, the guideline exceedances are not yet formatted in this sheet. To do this:

Select the first Guideline on the table and, in the ‘Format Guideline Exceedances’ form in the upper left corner of the sheet, click the ‘Bold’ button.

Select any other guideline and click ‘Italic’ in the ‘Format Guideline Exceedances’. The exceedances of these guidelines are now shown in the specified format.

Repeat the above table production playing with different options. (hint deselect ‘Unload Form’ above the “Finish” button for easiest testing of different options. Try to replicate these two tables below.






Headers and footers can be set up with company logos and project information, such as the site address and project number. Information on how to do this is included in the Help files (Setup – Templates) available in the ESdat Help menu.

Chemistry QA The most common method of reporting Chemistry QA data in ESdat is to use the Chemistry QA Reports.

Among the command buttons at the top of the screen click ‘Reports’ then click ‘Laboratory QA’. The ESdat Chemistry QA Checker will load.

On the right are the different types of checks you can run and their settings. These are standard tests for Chemistry QA problems, such as violated holding times. All the settings are configurable. At the top left is a list of Sample Delivery Groups (SDG, a USEPA acronym), which are the batch numbers for a set of samples submitted to the laboratory. Data for the report can be selected by SDG, Sampling Dates, Lab Reports, or “Export All Data”.

Click the ‘Export All Data’ checkbox at the bottom of the list of SDG’s, then click the ‘QA Summary and QA Errors’ button.

A report is produced in Excel. The initial screen shows the Table of Contents for the Report.

Click on the ‘Count of Samples’ link. A summary of the number of different sample types is displayed.

Go back to the Table of Contents by clicking the ‘Contents’ link (click on the link in Cell A2).

Click on the ‘Field and Interlab Duplicates’ link and review the table.

This table shows all Field Duplicate results, with the RPD (Relative Percent Difference). Any non-conformances are shown in bold.

Go back to the Table of Contents by clicking the ‘Contents’ link.

Click some of the other links to view any QA problems.

Close the Chemistry QA Report in Excel, then close the Chemistry QA Checker by clicking the x in the top right of the dialogue box.






Mapping Chemistry In ESdat select the ‘Soil/Rock Chemistry’ Data Type button.

Click on the ‘Filter’ Panel’ (to the right of Map Tab).

In the list of Output fields on the left, double click on 'Chem_Group'.

In the list of values displayed on the right double click on ‘BTEX’.

In the filter area above the Tab, click the blue ‘Apply Filter’ button.

Click on the ‘Map’ Tab.

Click the ‘Labels’ button. Check the ‘Show Location Code’ checkbox and the ‘Show Result Table’ checkbox. Click the OK button at the base of the dialogue box.

You should now see a table of BTEX results for each point on the map, with the labels formatted as shown.

Click the ‘Remove Filter’ button to return to the entire dataset.

Graphing Time-Series Chemistry In ESdat select the ‘Data Views’ command button then click the ‘Water Chemistry’

Data Type button (see Figure below).






Click the graph icon on the ‘Exports’ toolbar to ‘Produce graph plots in Excel’.

A series of graphs showing available time-series chemistry is generated in Excel. Environmental guideline levels are included on the graphs as dotted black lines.

By default the graphs are plotted two to a page; all graphs show the same date range; non-detects are plotted as zero; and environmental standards are included as dotted black lines.

Go back to ESdat.

Click the drop-down arrow next to the graph icon . You will see that all of the settings for the Graphs can be altered to suit your needs.

Close the ‘Graph data in Excel’ dialogue box.

Water Levels

Mapping Water Levels Ensure ESdat is in ‘Data Views’, and the Filter is clear (click Remove Filter + Clear if necessary)

Move your mouse over the ‘Water Levels’ Data Type button and click the first option in the dropdown menu (WL1_Waterlevels_AHD) which outputs data above height datum.

Select the ‘Map’ Tab.

You can now see the location of all “WaterLevel” data in the database.






Click the ‘Labels’ button on the map toolbar and populate as shown below.

Click the OK button at the base of the dialogue box.

The Location Code and values will be displayed on the map. The points will be coloured on a blue to red gradation (to indicate variation for low to high values, respectively). A legend is included in the toolbar beside the map.

Click the ‘Labels’ button again and deselect “Show Location Code” and “Show Values”.

You can now see the color coded points without labels.

We are now going to filter so that only the Northernmost 5 or 6 points on the map are displayed.

Positioning the mouse toward the top left corner of the map away from the points then depress the left mouse button. Drag your mouse diagonally across the map so that you create a square over the data points. When you have included all of the points you want in the square release the left mouse button.

The selected points will turn yellow.

Click the ‘To Filter’ button located above the map in the ‘Map’ toolbar.

You will see that a list of these locations have been added to the filter.

In the filter area above the ‘Map’ Tab, click the ‘Apply Filter’ button.

We now have only the filtered data in the ‘Data’ Tab, and the ‘Map’ Tab will display only the locations we have filtered for.

Graphing Water Levels Now we are going to graph the data we have filtered for (the Northernmost 5 or 6 points on the map).

In the Exports toolbar click on the ‘Graph’ icon to ‘Produce graph plots in Excel’. An Excel chart will open in a new window.

ESdat will use default settings to plot the data using Excel (we will look at altering default settings in Tutorial 2).

Click the button (this button appears under the ‘Add ins’ tab in Vista, Excel 2007 or above (and at the bottom right of the screen in older versions).






Select one data series then click the ‘Replace’ button’.

The graph will reflect this change.

Click the button again, select another data series then click the ‘Add’ button.

The data series you selected are displayed in the graph. This way we can alter the

composition of the graph.

Close Excel without saving.

Remove and clear the filter by clicking the ‘+ Clear’ button beneath the ‘Remove Filter’ button.

You now have the whole “Waterlevels” dataset.

Click the drop-down arrow next to the graph icon . Adjust the settings as shown” and click “Plog”

You will now see two charts on a sheet, one for each Aquifer, with consistent x-axis ranges

to aid identification of correlations.






Exporting to other Packages (Example using Surfer) ESdat has the ability to export to the most commonly used geo-environmental software packages. One of the more common applications is ‘Surfer’ which is used for contouring data. This section introduces the concepts for exporting data using Surfer, which also apply to other packages.

Using the Groundwater Water Level data (works equivalently for all data-types) we will create output in a format suitable for Surfer. You must have Surfer installed on your computer to view Surfer generated contours and outputs.

Use the same Water Level data as used above.

Select the ‘Data’ Tab. One of the columns is labelled 'Date_Time'. We can filter the data for a specific date/time value by double clicking on a value in the Date_Time column.

Double-click on the date ‘09 Dec 2009’ and click the ‘Apply Filter’ button.

This populates the filter with this date and applies it.

In the Exports toolbar click on the button to ‘Contour in Surfer’.

An ‘Export to Surfer’ dialogue box will open. Accept the default options by clicking the ‘Contour’ button.

Surfer will now open and you will see the contoured water levels, with data points.

Close Surfer without saving and go back to ESdat.

We have had a brief overview of some of the basic functionality of ESdat. To cover these topics in greater depth you should work through the next tutorial in sequence.

Further Tutorials For a list of other tutorials available with ESdat see http://www.esdat.net/esdathelp/index.html?tutorials.htm



http://www.esdat.net/esdathelp/index.html?tutorials.htm

Documents

Tutorial 1- Introducing ESdat