A software perspective of environmental data quality

Because of the large amount of complex data in environmental projects, particularly large decontamination and decommissioning projects, the quality of the data has a profound impact on the success and cost of the mission. In every phase of the life cycle of the project, including regulatory intervention and legal proceedings, maintaining the quality of data and presenting data in a timely and meaningful manner are critical. In this paper, a systemic view of data quality management from a software engineering perspective is presented. A method of evaluation evolves from this view. This method complements the principles of the data quality objective. When graded adequately, the method of evaluation establishes a paradigm for ensuring data quality for new and renewed projects. This paper also demonstrates that incorporating good practices of software engineering into the data management process leads to continuous improvement of data quality