FIELDS Softwares

FIELDS
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What is FIELDS?

FIELDS (Field Environmental Decision Support) is a team of biologists, environmental scientists, computer programmers, and geologists working at the U.S. EPA Region 5 Superfund Division who develop tools that integrate the power of geographic information systems (GIS), imaging software, global positioning system (GPS), and data analysis technology in order to characterize contamination in soils and sediment.  Working with our partners SADA, from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, we have created two software tools:  FIELDS Tools for ArcView© and F/S Plus, a stand-alone software.

The FIELDS Tools for ArcView© and F/S Plus utilize published methodology for each step in the characterization process. The FIELDS softwares form the foundation for a system that provides data analysis and interpretation for environmental decision-making. The results allow project managers to evaluate the extent of contamination and hot spot sizes, estimate health risks, prioritize site goals, and weigh potential actions. Users include U.S. EPA Regions, NOAA's coastal restoration scientists, State and Tribal agencies, as well as the private and academic community.

We look forward to hearing from our users in order to learn of problems, ideas for improvement, and potential bugs.  Please send e-mail messages to John Bing-Canar.

To learn more about the FIELDS Tools for ArcView©, F/S Plus, and the work of the FIELDS Team in Region 5 (U.S. EPA), please visit our full website.

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What are the FIELDS Softwares?

The two softwares developed by the FIELDS Team and the SADA software development team are the FIELDS Tools for ArcView© and F/S Plus.

The FIELDS Tools for ArcView© (version 3.5) are a collection of ArcView-based extensions (modules) that include Sample Design (as well as a link to Visual Sample Plan, VSP), Database Query, Geospatial modeling and Analysis, and Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment.  The goal of the FIELDS software development team is to provide decision support tools useable to most technical staff at minimum cost.  The FIELDS Tools for ArcView© are written in Avenue, C++, and Visual Basic.  The Sample Design module allows a user to design statistically-based sample designs (random, stratified random, and gridded) and upload these designs to a GPS unit in order to navigate to sample locations.  The parameters used to create the sample design (e.g., number of sample locations, sample area, false negative values) are exported as a table that can be included in a report.  Once the samples are collected and lab analyzed, the FIELDS Tools' Database Query module can be used to import the data.  FIELDS can retrieve data from a table using the FIELDS data table format or from a STORET database, an EQuIS database, or NOAA's Query Manager database via a FIELDS-defined data table export created by these database developers.  If a user has field names or types that do not match the FIELDS-defined data table format, an interactive GUI allows users to match their field names with the FIELDS-required names.  The query options in the Database Query module include creating 3D datasets and 2D datasets. For the latter, a user may create maximum values per location or depth-weighted average datasets.  The latter dataset allows a user to use 3D data by creating 2D data layers.  The resulting queried data values can be used in the Human Health or Ecological Risk Assessment modules.  Each module meets U.S. EPA guidelines (RAGS and ERAGS) for risk assessment.  In addition, the queried data can be modeled (interpolated) to create estimates at unsampled locations using Dr. Dave Watson's Natural Neighbor algorithm or ArcView's© Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) algorithm.  The interpolated values can be used to estimate the mass of contaminant (e.g., pounds of PCB) and the volume of contaminated material (e.g., sediment > 10 ppm) using the Mass/Volume module.  Finally, the FIELDS Tools includes a Remediation module that allows users to determine areas to remediate in order to meet a clean-up goal by remediation unit (called block-based remediation) or for the entire site (i.e., to meet an average concentration value for an entire area).

F/S Plus (version 1.5) is a stand-alone software that displays and allows analyses of 2D and 3D data.  F/S Plus can perform the following functions:

Taken together, the FIELDS Tools for ArcView© and F/S Plus form the foundation for a system that provides data analysis and interpretation for environmental decision-making.  The results allow project managers to evaluate the extent of contamination and hot spot sizes, estimate health risks, prioritize site goals, and weigh potential actions.  

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How do I get the FIELDS Tools for ArcView© version 3.5?

To download the most recent version of the FIELDS Tools for ArcView©, which includes the stand-alone executable, F/S Plus version 1.5, please fill out this Questionnaire.
For help with installation, visit this page.  
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How do I get only F/S Plus version 1.5?

F/S Plus version 1.5 is part of the FIELDS Tools for ArcView© version 3.5 installation. However, for users who do not have ArcView© or do not wish to install the FIELDS Tools for ArcView©, please fill out this Questionnaire. To download datasets you can use to get you started in F/S Plus, click here.
For help with installation, visit this page.  
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System Requirements

The FIELDS Tools for ArcView© version 3.5 is designed to work on Intel or Intel-compatible PCs that have Windows© 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP operating systems.  (Note:  Users of ArcView 3.1 and 3.2 on XP will require a "patch" from ESRI.)  These Tools work within ArcView© and require ESRI's ArcView© version 3.x and Spatial Analyst 1.1 or later.

Minimum requirements:
Resolution of 1024 x 768;  32,768 colors
Pentium®, 100 MHz, 64 MB RAM, and 40 MB hard drive space

F/S Plus version 1.5 is designed to work on Intel or Intel-compatible PCs that have Windows© 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP operating systems.  F/S Plus is a stand-alone software meaning that no other software is required to install or use it.

Minimum requirements:
Resolution of 1024 x 768;  32,768 colors
Pentium®, 100 MHz, 64 MB RAM, and 40 MB hard drive space

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The FIELDS Team and the developers of SADA at the University of Tennessee have been working together for the past three years to co-develop environmental data characterization and visualization tools.  To visit the FIELDS or SADA homepage, click on the below icons

FIELDS homepage SADA homepage

Please report problems with this webpage or downloading to John Bing-Canar and Tom Purucker