Tutorials needed on connecting to and using INBO data from R

INBO hosts many databases, so tutorials are needed for scientific and scientific support staff on how to use them from within R.

These tutorials should focus on:

• connecting to the respective (spatial and non-spatial) databases / datawarehouses from within R, in a dplyr / DBI compliant way (rather than using RODBC). Interesting examples can be found at https://db.rstudio.com/.
  • to achieve reproducibility (transferability to docker, ...) and scalability (servers), methods should be agnostic of the user's environment as much as possible. E.g.: the user's location, the operating system, the network.
  • one connection method that works with all INBO (spatial and non-spatial) databases / datawarehouses is the preferred way to go.
• best practices using each specific database, by clearly defining the available tables and fields, and providing key scripting examples.

There is an urgent need for the following INBO databases:

• Meetnetten
• Watervogels
• Watina
• INBOVEG
• GIS data (using GDAL; see vignette on sf and the raster package for practical implementations in R) - see also issue #29
• Aquachem

Further, the need is also urgent for these databases:

• LIMS
• BWK-database
• INBODEM

This list is most probably incomplete. (So having an overview of data is another, related need.)

Start by reviewing the existing tutorial collection and the completed Watina and INBOVEG items, then choose one unaddressed database and determine its dplyr/DBI connection path. Done means a reproducible R tutorial with connection guidance, available tables and fields, and scripting examples; the issue also calls for coverage of the remaining listed databases.