USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Success Story

Every five years the United States Department of Agriculture and the University of Iowa conduct a study called the National Resouces Inventory (NRI), which serves as the nation's principal source of information on conditions and trends affecting soil, water, and other natural resources. For the 1997 NRI, the directors of the study will equip the survey takers with Apple's Newton MessagePads. (More on this success story) (Bad News From Apple)

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Every five years, the United States Depart-ment of Agriculture (USDA) conducts a study called the National Resources Inventory (NRI) to determine how non-federal land is being used (for instance, for farming purposes) and the impacts of this use on the land (such as the effect of farming practices on soil erosion rates). The study is the nation's principal source of information on status, conditions, and trends of soil, water, and related natural resources. The NRI is conducted by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in collaboration with the Statistical Laboratory at Iowa State University (ISUSL) in Ames, Iowa.

Automatic Data Verification

As surveys go, the NRI is a massive undertaking, involving hundreds of NRCS surveyors collecting data on hundreds of thousands of locations across the United States. Because of the size and scope of the survey, computer-aided data collection software for surveyors was first introduced for the 1992 NRI. The software, intended to automatically check data quality (completeness, validity, consistency), was designed for UNIX and MS-DOS computers located in each state office of the NRCS. Final data checks were made at the central processing point at ISUSL. Because much of the data had to be collected away from state office computers, paper worksheets were used as an interim step to entering the survey data. In addition, many computer checks for data accuracy and consistency could not be put into effect as the data was collected; instead, voluminous pages of edits and discrepancies had to be handled by ISUSL at the end of the data-gathering process. Also, partly because they were identified so late in the process, the many modifications to the software that came up in the course of the survey were treated as major overhauls, resulting in much delay and cost. Overall, the 1992 NRI software did not provide the anticipated improvement to data collection and could not be re-engineered for new NRI surveys. It was therefore abandoned.

The MessagePad Solution

Learning from experience, Dean Thompson, director of the NRI&A Institute, and Sarah Nusser, professor- in-charge of the ISUSL Survey Section, investigated a different computer-based approach for the 1997 NRI. After a review of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and corresponding survey software, they chose Apple's MessagePad for use in the 1997 NRI. Thompson expects more than 500 NRCS surveyors will be equipped with the Newton MessagePad 130 in order to collect data for 800,000 sample locations. Thompson and Nusser chose the MessagePad because of its combination of price, power, reliability, and small size. In addition, they found it "simple to operate and robust enough to implement software to check the quality of the data." Nusser recalls how during a training session on the MessagePad, one survey worker had figured out how to use the device even before the session had begun. Recognizing that many of the NRCS surveyors were not comfortable using keyboards for data entry, Thompson and Nusser liked the fact that the MessagePad had a stylus for input. "We preferred computers that would emulate the way people write, and found the Newton handwriting recognition to be quite good." For the survey software, and after considerable market research and evaluations, Thompson and Nusser turned to Greg DeLozier, a software engineer with Aristar Inc., in Akron, Ohio. Using Aristar's Designer products, complex-and reusable-survey forms were created for the NRI. The software automatically determines which survey questions should be answered, and which questions can be made invisible or "locked" as a result of previous responses. DeLozier created additional software for the MessagePad that allows data quality checks to take place when and where the data is collected by NRCS surveyors.

Benefits

After completing two pilot studies in 1996 to test the MessagePad and the survey software, the new system was found not only to improve the quality of the data but to save processing time. According to Nusser, "We witnessed a dramatic improvement, including the reduction in the amount of edits (errors, discrepancies) to less than 5 percent of what we might have observed using a system similar to that used in 1992." When this improvement is translated into staff time saved both in NRCS offices and at the ISUSL, Nusser and Thompson joke about saving "people years" instead of "hours." The anticipated savings to the study, however, is no laughing matter. "Using the MessagePad for data collection for the 1997 NRI survey will greatly reduce processing time, and we estimate this will result in tremendous cost savings," predicts Thompson. The NRCS is investigating applications of Newton technology in other business areas to achieve similar benefits.
The MessagePad-based inventory system allows the NRI survey to become essentially paperless. Because all data is entered directly in the MessagePad in digital form and then electronically exchanged with a central Oracle database on a server at ISU, no paper worksheets are used, contributing to improvements in the quality of data and accelerating data processing at ISUSL. "People underestimate the cost of handling paper," Thompson says. "Survey data ends up in digital form. The sooner it's in digital form, the greater the savings overall."

The flexibility of the MessagePad and Aristar's software allows for changes and improvements to be made easily in the middle of a survey. The system can also be adapted for additional and concurrent surveys. "The modular design of the Newton software allows for many adaptations and reuse," points out DeLozier. "I take special pride in the capability of the software to adapt to requests that come up in the course of the study that could not have been foreseen when the software was first designed."

By saving time and money using the MessagePad as the cornerstone of their system, the Natural Resources Con- servation Service will be in a position to conduct annual surveys to meet escalating demands for up-to-date natural resources information. This will enable NRCS to further contribute to understanding of the status, conditions, and trends of our nation's natural and related environmental resources.

Summary

• The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, through the Natural Resources Inventory and Analysis Institute at Iowa State University, conducts a study every five years called the National Resources Inventory (NRI).
• The NRI is the nation's main source of information on conditions and trends affecting soil, water, and other natural resources.

Areas to Be Improved
The NRI group sought a new computer-based approach for the 1997 study that would not only improve the quality of data collected but would save processing time as well.

The Solution
The analysis group found a last piece to the puzzle of making their Computer-Assisted Survey Information Collection (CASIC) system truly automated and essentially paperless with the use of the Apple MessagePad. Survey workers were equipped with a MessagePad 130 containing software developed by Aristar Inc. that includes built-in checks for accuracy and omissions as the data is collected.

Why Apple?

• Device that is simple to operate for non-computer users
• Good handwriting recognition
• Ability to check errors of entered values
• Offers nonlinear navigation
• Rugged equipment that can withstand harsh outdoor conditions
• Capability to interface with mainframe at central office

• 500 Apple MessagePad 130 devices connected via Apple Newton modems to an Oracle database on a UNIX-based DEC 1000A mainframe

• Aristar Designer from Aristar, Inc.
• DEC 1000A Server
• Oracle7 Server
• SQL*NET
• SQL*PLUS
• Oracle Book
• Oracle Forms
• PL/SQL
• Oracle Graphics
• Oracle Reports
• Pro*C

Benefits to NRI

• Saved processing time by 50 percent and improved the quality of data.
• Errors and discrepancies in final processing were reduced to less than 5 percent from previous study.
• The 1997 NRI will be essentially paperless, contributing to improvements in the quality of data and greater savings overall.
• The flexibility of the Newton Software allows for changes and improvements to be made easily during NRI surveys.
• The new MessagePad-based Computer-Assisted Survey Information Collection (CASIC) system will allow NRCS to meet the nation's demands for up-to-date natural resources information.
• Overall savings for the 1997 survey estimated to be in millions.

"People underestimate the cost of handling paper. Survey data ends up in digital form. The sooner it's in digital form, the greater the savings overall."

-Dean Thompson, director,
Natural Resources Inventory and Analysis Institute

Copyright Apple Computer, Inc.

(More on this success story) (Bad News From Apple)

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