Any application that can access the relevant and Aquabase supported databases can be used to access and modify the data.
One of the most logical cases of using other applications is using various GIS software to display information of not only the two spatial tables BASICINF and PROFILNG, but any of the other tables’ information, e.g. water levels, yields or chemistry. In order to achieve this the foreign key relationship of the Aquabase database needs to be understood:
1.) The SITE_ID_NR field links most of the Aquabase tables to the BASICINF table in a one-to-many relationship and this field therefore needs to be used to set up the joins in the GIS. In that way any information from the database can be linked to the points in BASICINF.
2.) The CHM_REF_NR is a unique number used to join the chemistry tables in a one-to-one relationship and therefore needs to be used in joins in your GIS to link the chemistry results to the chemistry samples taken, which in turn are linked to your points with the SITE_ID_NR.
The GIS can also be used to update columns in batch operations (almost in the same way as with the Aquabase script tool), but each GIS has its own way of achieving this. However, one needs to be very careful with these operations and it is recommended to backup the relevant tables before doing a batch update operation. This may be useful, for example, to update the Drainage Region field by overlaying the points onto a spatial drainage region layer or updating the Water Management areas into which the points fall from a WMA spatial overlay.
In all cases one needs to remember the units in which Aquabase stores the data as you cannot mix up the generally used SI units with any other units or conversions. So: if a discharge rate is stored in [l/s] then you cannot use [m3/d] to store a value as that would leed to conversion errors in Aquabase, which accepts that the value in the discharge or aquifer tables is stored in [l/s].