Developing Model Components for a "Deserts of the World" Web Site

Project Number:

04D-06

Project Duration:

30 months

Dates:

June 17, 2004 to December 15, 2006

Institution of Principle Investigator while on this project:

University of Arizona

Investigators (most current known information)

Waser, Katherine (PI)

Editor, Office of Arid Lands Studies, The University of Arizona, 1955 East 6th Street, Tucson AZ 85719-5224

TEL: +1-520-621-8584, FAX: +1-520-621-3816, Email: kwaser@ag.arizona.edu

Al-Adamat, Rida

Badia Research & Development Programme, Higher Council for Science & Technology, Safawi Field Centre, P.O. Box 36, Al Jubieha, Amman 11941, JORDAN

TEL: +962-6-533-5284, FAX: +962-6-535-5680, Email: aladamat_rida@yahoo.co.uk

Hutchinson, Barbara

Director, Arid Lands Information Center, The University of Arizona, 1955 East 6th Street, Tucson AZ 85719-5224

TEL: +1-520-621-8578, FAX: +1-520-621-3816, Email: barbarah@ag.arizona.edu

Shachak, Moshe

Professor, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Mitrani Center for Desert Ecology, Institute for Desert Research, Sede Boqer 84990, ISRAEL

TEL: +972-8-659-6786, FAX: +972-8-659-6772, Email: shachak@bgumail.bgu.ac.il

Proposal Abstract

This demonstration project has developed content, an improved user interface, and a powerful database1driven system architecture for a Web-based gateway (http://dow.arid.arizona.edu/) titled "Deserts of the World," building on a previous IALC-supported project to develop Web-based information on the Sonoran Desert. This project improved and expanded the prototype user interface and home page; created information modules with original content both for an overview of the World's deserts in general, and for the Jordan Badia and the Negev Desert specifically; and added new content for the Sonoran Desert module. Researchers affiliated with the University of Arizona developed content for the world overview and Sonoran Desert components; content for the Badia and the Negev was supplied by IALC collaborators in Jordan and Israel. The user interface and database architecture for the Web site were extensively redesigned to provide structured access to the material based on widely accepted metadata standards. This rebuild has also greatly enhanced capability to develop a series of dynamic user tools, including sophisticated browse and search capabilities. Furthermore, the resulting system architecture is powerful, scalable, and designed to be adaptable to many needs and projects.