MIDCONTINENT INTERACTIVE DIGITAL CARBON ATLAS AND RELATIONAL DATABASE (MIDCARB)

The "Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational Database (MIDCARB)" is a cooperative project that assembles a consortium of five states (Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio) to construct an online distributed Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) covering aspects of carbon dioxide geologic sequestration (http://www.midcarb.org). Geologic sequestration may be one way to safely store carbon over long periods of time, if the proper tools to analyze the geological feasibility as well as the associated costs can be developed. The MIDCARB server provides users the ability to analyze the amount of CO2 available for sequestration in relation to a source, the geologic security and safety of a sequestration site, the long-term effects on a reservoir, and the cost of compression and transport of CO2 between source and sequestration site. The system links the five states of the consortium into a coordinated regional database system consisting of datasets useful to industry, regulators and the public. The project provides advanced distributed computing solutions that dynamically link database servers across the five states so that data can be maintained at the local level but accessed through a single web portal. All data is available to the user and can be queried, assembled, analyzed and displayed. Each individual state has strengths in data gathering, data manipulation and data display, including GIS mapping, custom application development, web development, and database design. Sharing of expertise provides the critical mass of technical expertise to improve CO2 databases and data access in all states. This project improves the flow of data across servers in the five states and increases the amount and quality of available digital data. The MIDCARB project has developed custom online tools to provide real-time display and analyze CO2 sequestration data. Using spatial data engines, Internet map servers and RDBMS operating through a common web-based application links together data from sources, sinks and transportation within a spatial context. Display of both the tabular and spatial information through an online client can assist decision makers by providing flexible access to common sets of high quality data.