*Project/Work Location for all positions*:
Eastern Mineral Resource Surveys Team
MS 954, US Geological Survey
Reston, VA 20192
*Terms for all positions:* Student will work at the USGS National Center in Reston, VA. Student will be paid by requisition contract at an hourly rate as listed in the OPM pricing table for student services. Full or Part-time during summers and school breaks; part-time during school year as negotiated, up to a maximum of 20 hours per week during the school year; 1 year with possibility of extension to two years beyond graduation. Start September 2008.
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
*Position # 1:** GIS Specialist *
*Background and Description of Projects:*
One student contractor position will provide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support and data collection/compilation activities for the New England Crystalline Aquifer Contaminants Study project. The focus of the New England Crystalline Aquifer Contaminants Study is spatial mapping of groundwater contaminants in the New England region in relation to geologic and other landscape features to evaluate the vulnerability of the aquifer to a variety of natural and anthropogenic contaminants.
* *
The data collected and developed in the project will be used to construct digital maps and digital data sets. Manipulating digital geologic maps and digital data sets to produce derivative products and spatial models is an important component of the student contractor’s work.
*Work Requirements:* The student contractor will provide GIS expertise in support of the Projects’ database development, management, data analysis, and publication activities. The support activities include working with geologists and geochemists involved with data analysis. The student contractor will use advanced aspects of GIS and will be expected to assist in developing derivative GIS data layers from existing USGS and adjunct digital data for digital and more traditional publication formats. The student contractor will also develop information and digital graphics for release in a web-publication format.
* *
*Specific Tasks: *
1. Build ArcGis projects incorporating diverse geologic and other thematic data to develop derivative maps and spatial models.
2. Learn the use of statistical and USGS-developed software as needed for project activities.
3. Maintenance of digital data bases, including sorting of records, merging of records, and entering data. Work will involve using spreadsheets and databases.
4. Advanced GIS manipulations of spatial databases in ArcGIS 9. Editing and synthesizing GIS data to produce digital maps for publication.
5. Creation of graphics used in publications.
*Work Experience Benefits to Student contractor:* The student contractor will receive a broad range of experience in working with a diverse group of USGS and collaborating scientists from other agencies. By collaborating with senior scientists and other GIS specialists, the student contractor will refine and develop skills in digital datasets and GIS applications, areas of increasing importance in the geosciences.
*Specific Qualifications Required:*
1) The student contractor must be enrolled in a degree program at the University, but does not have to be a US citizen.
2) The student contractor must have advanced skills with ArcGIS 9, including working knowledge of spatial analysis. The student contractor must also have working knowledge of the major spreadsheet and database programs (for example, Excel, Access.) The student contractor must have the ability to quickly learn and deal with new software.
3) The student contractor must have or will develop the ability to publish information on the web and in different formats.
4) The student contractor should be familiar with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop software.
5) Experience with ArcGIS extensions GeoSpatial Analyst and Geostatistical Analyst is desirable.
*Additional Qualifications Desirable:* Background knowledge of geology, mineralogy, and geochemistry is desirable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Position #2:** Computer programmer/GIS specialist *
*Background and Description of Project:*
The student contractor will provide programming expertise for digital geological data delivery through a website maintained by the USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP) and its ongoing project, Spatial Information Delivery (SID). The focus of this website (http://mrdata.usgs.gov) is to provide single portal access via the Internet to the extensive spatial information holdings of the Mineral Resources Program. To that end, the SID project develops hardware and software methods and tools for serving MRP spatial information using two different technologies which are aimed at different classes of information users: a map-browsing interface for casual users, and a data extraction and download service for stand-alone GIS users. These data are available to government personnel as well as the general public and can be used to construct a wide variety of digital maps and digital data sets.
Because each digital geological database has its own structure, some customization of access and delivery of each database is required. The student contractor will work on elements related to delivering one or two of the databases as well as generating some layers that can be used as base layers in web presentation and data delivery for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
*Work Requirements:* The student contractor will provide programming expertise in support of database management and delivery. The support activities include working with geologists and computer specialists involved with data delivery and presentation. The student contractor will be expected to assist in developing a more robust and flexible map interface.
*Specific Tasks: *
1. The MRData website currently provides a subset of the Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) database in a flattened structure compatible with numerous other, simpler mineral resource and geochemical databases. Since MRDS has a more complex relational structure, these data could be provided in a more complex manner reflecting the underlying data relationships. Existing web interface procedures (written in PHP) for complex geochemical data can be adapted to provide downloadable subsets of MRDS as a relational database. The task involves modification of existing PHP scripts that draw data from a MySQL database.
2. MRData download web site currently has a limited ability to portray data using KML. The KML presentation of attribute data for point data sources needs to be improved and made more elaborate, both in the use of more flexible symbology and in the inclusion and portrayal of additional attributes from the source databases. The task involves modification of an existing PHP script that draws data from a MySQL database.
3. Create map files for use by UMN Mapserver to define OGC WMS and WFS services for data layers currently available on MRData.
*Work Experience Benefits to Student contractor:* The student contractor will receive a broad range of experience in working with a group of senior USGS scientists and other GIS and computer specialists. The student contractor will refine and develop programming skills with respect to digital datasets as well as GIS applications, areas of increasing importance in the geosciences.
*Specific Qualifications Required:*
1) The student contractor must be enrolled in a degree program at the University, but does not have to be a US citizen.
2) The student contractor must have a working knowledge of SQL and relational database concepts.
3) The student contractor must also have some programming experience, preferably using PHP and MySQL. The student contractor must have the ability to quickly learn and deal with new software.
4) The student contractor must have some knowledge of HTML, CSS and KML.
5) The student contractor must have some GIS experience, preferably with ArcGIS 9.x.
*Additional Qualifications Desirable:* Background knowledge of geology or geography is desirable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Position # 3:** Computer programmer / GIS specialist *
*Background and Description of Project:*
The primary objective of the Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) project is to provide an up-to-date database of mineral occurrences, including their locations and attributes, for ready and easy use by USGS staff as well as by the general public. The Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) has for more than 30 years focused on the accumulation of information about mineral occurrences and deposits in the United States and, to a lesser extent, outside the United States. The database that has evolved was built by and for USGS scientists to be used in the course of regional and national assessment activities. Over the past 30 years, technology has evolved quite rapidly, both with respect to the format of serving and maintaining large amounts of data as well as the kinds of interfaces used for entering and retrieving data. In preparation for the up-coming National Mineral Resource Assessment, this project is working to ensure a stable, robust and up-to-date mineral occurrence database from which data can be extracted readily by a broad spectrum of users.
The student contractor will help project personnel update locations of mineral occurrences using ArcGIS and Google Earth, resolve data duplication issues, and evaluate possible avenues for extracting and displaying data from MRDS for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
*Work Requirements:* The student contractor will provide GIS expertise in support of database management and delivery. The support activities include working with geologists and computer specialists to solve data delivery and presentation issues. The student contractor will be expected to assist in developing a more robust and flexible map interface.
*Specific Tasks: *
1. One essential component of MRDS is the geographic location of each mineral occurrence or deposit. For some records, the location information is incorrect. This task involves resolving mineral-deposit location problems by manipulating coordinates and base layer information in ArcGIS, including resolving problems with conflicting coordinate systems, political boundaries, and datum information.
2. During a recent conversion of the database into an Oracle format and the merging of two separate mineral databases, some duplication of data occurred. This task involves identifying possible duplicate mineral-deposit records in the database, and then consolidating and reconciling differences between related records.
3. An abbreviated and flattened version of MRDS is currently available to the public through the USGS Mineral Resources Program website: http://mrdata.usgs.gov
*Work Experience Benefits to Student contractor:* The student contractor will receive a broad range of experience in working with a group of senior USGS scientists and other GIS and computer specialists. The student contractor will refine and develop programming skills with respect to digital datasets as well as GIS applications, areas of increasing importance in the geosciences.
*Specific Qualifications Required:*
1) The student contractor must be enrolled in a degree program at the University, but does not have to be a US citizen.
2) The student contractor must have a working knowledge of ArcGIS, preferably 9.x.
3) The student contractor must have some programming experience, which could include HTML, SQL, and/or JavaScript. Programming experience using either Oracle or ArcSDE is also desirable.**
4) The student contractor must have the ability to quickly become proficient with relevant software.
*Additional Qualifications Desirable:* Background knowledge of geology or geography is desirable.
* *
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment