LAND COVER MAPS AND CHANGE METRICS FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED, 1984 – 2006
Presented by Frederick Irani, U.S. Geological Survey

To better understand how the land is changing and to relate those changes to water quality trends, the U.S. Geological Survey funded the production of temporally comparable land cover datasets for the target dates: 1984, 1992, 2001, and 2006. The data consist of 16 classes and encompass the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed with the 2001 target year established as the base layer. The updates (year 2006) and retrospective updates (years 1984 and 1992) to the base layer were produced through identifying significant spectral changes between image pairs within the range of spectral values for each land cover class in the 2001 base layer. Classification and Regression Trees were used to assign land cover classes to 1984, 1992, and 2006 pixels exhibiting significant deviations from their 2001 expected spectral values. These datasets provide unprecedented opportunities for understanding and forecasting regional land cover change, interpreting water quality trends, and for designing multi-scale sampling frameworks for characterizing land change using high-resolution imagery. In addition, by quantifying the various change trajectories and patterns over time, the data can be further interpreted to discern various land uses and management practices. For example, changes from forest to shrub-scrub to forest might identify areas where forestry activities occur. The above applications of these datasets are discussed in this paper along with the characteristics of the data, change metrics, and challenges encountered during the production process.

MULTI-TEMPORAL COASTAL CHANGE ANALYSIS PROGRAM (C-CAP) LAND COVER PRODUCTS FOR ASSESSMENT OF GEOSPATIAL WETLAND DISTRIBUTION IN MICHIGAN
Presented by Benjamin Koziol, Michigan Tech Research Institute

C-CAP (Coastal Change Analysis Program) land cover products offer a novel opportunity to investigate spatiotemporal wetland distribution and pattern. This presentation discusses methods and findings from a joint riparian adjacency and fragmentation study for the Tittawabassee watershed in northeast Michigan. For the adjacency study, a riparian buffer model targeting effectiveness relative to a reference buffer was implemented. Model parameters include soil conductivity and water capacity, slope, hydraulic flow, and drainage basin land cover composition. National Hydrographic Dataset stream vectors were merged with the C-CAP open water class to form the underlying stream and water layers. Land form and land cover were effectively combined providing information on the position of the wetland in a watershed, and its potential influence on water quality. Wetland spatial pattern was evaluated from diversity, isolation, and connectivity metrics in a hierarchal analysis for the target watershed. All available C-CAP classifications (1996, 2001, and 2006) were processed using the designed iterative geospatial toolkit. The presentation will highlight interesting results observed in the temporal and spatial trends analysis, identify challenges encountered, and describe future research opportunities incorporating the framework developed here for future wetlands research.

CHARACTERIZING LAND COVER CHANGE IN COASTAL US BASED ON C- CAP RESULTS
Presented by Francois Smith, MDA Federal Inc.

The Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) is a nationally standardized database of land cover and change information for the coastal regions of the U.S. C-CAP products inventory coastal intertidal areas, wetlands, and adjacent uplands with the goal of monitoring these habitats by updating the land cover maps every five years. The development of such standardized, regional land cover enables managers to coordinate the planning of shared resources to better address issues that transcend regulatory boundaries, may be used as a screening tool or context for more detailed studies, and is meant to aid in improving scientific understanding of the linkages between coastal wetland habitats, adjacent uplands, and living marine resources. This effort is conducted in close coordination with state coastal management agencies, the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) and other federal programs in support of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) effort, the National Map, and NOAA’s Digital Coast. The Coastal Services Center (CSC) has completed two time periods of C-CAP mapping for the Conterminous United States (CONUS), and is currently working with MDA Federal, Inc. to update these products, through use of MDAF’s Cross-Correlation Analysis (CCA), to reflect 2005/06 condition by 2010. This presentation will highlight product availability, provide examples of the data, and summarize major changes that have been observed to date.

OCEAN INFORMATION PRODUCTS IN SUPPORT OF OREGON'S MARINE RESERVE PLANNING PROCESS
Presented by Andrew Lanier, Oregon Coastal Management Program

The State of Oregon is currently in the process of establishing marine reserves within its Territorial Sea. The public process initiated by the Governor, supported by state agencies and steered by the states Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC), has included multiple demands for supporting data and information. To answer that call, the Oregon Marine Mapping Group was formed during the fall of 2007. The group - which consists of state and federal agencies, academic researchers, and non-profit organizations - undertook an extensive search to find existing and available GIS data that would serve as a backbone of information for the marine reserves spatial planning effort. Once compiled, the data was used in several different ways to support the marine reserves process including: traditional cartographic products, online interactive web mapping, and report generation. As there have been many different levels of assistance demanded by the process, the range of uses for the data has varied widely. The creation of a thematic chart series provided a unifying platform for discussion and work in support of the process. Support activities ranged from helping users understand how to read data presented on a map, to providing guidance on how to correctly query the GIS data for information about a site. While the effort expended has led to the creation of products specific to Oregon's marine reserve process, the database of information generated by the process will continue be used in conjunction with other analysis tools for Oregon's upcoming and more comprehensive territorial sea spatial planning effort.

ZONING FOR MARINE PROTECTION IN CALIFORNIA: APPLYING ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC CRITERIA TO MARINE PROTECTED AREA DESIGN
Presented by Charles Steinback, Ecotrust

The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing interests. We considered multiple commercial and recreational fisheries in the systematic design of a network of marine protected areas along California's coast in the context of The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. Three types of marine protected areas are under consideration, each with different levels of protection that allow varying degrees of extractive and non-extractive activities, ranging from no-take marine reserves (high protection) to conservation parks (low protection). With advice from managers, administrators, and scientists, a representative group of stakeholders defined biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic goals that accommodated social needs and conserved marine ecosystems, consistent with legal requirements. Using a simulated annealing algorithm, we produce several possible zoning configurations that satisfied both biodiversity and socioeconomic goals and objectives. The zone assignments are driven by the fishing restrictions in each zone and are informed by fine-scale spatially explicit data on multiple commercial and recreational fisheries. Previous methods for systematically designing marine protected areas could not simultaneously consider multiple types of conservation zones and activities; they were limited to including or excluding a planning unit from a single type of zone (e.g. reserved or not reserved). We compare the effectiveness of marine protected area networks designed using our approach with these previous methods and conclude that design methods with the ability to consider multiple zones reduce the potential impact to the fisheries substantially more than design methods without consideration of multiple zones.

MARINEMAP: PARTICIPATORY MARINE PROTECTED AREA DESIGN USING A WEB-BASED OPEN SOURCE TOOL
Presented by Matthew Merrifield, The Nature Conservancy

The California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) is currently working toward establishing a newtwork of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the entire state. Since 2005, we have developed several web-based decision support tools for stakehodlers to visualize and analyzie geospatial information within California state waters. In 2008, we released a new web-based decision support tool for stakeholders to (a) visualize geospatial data layers, (b) draw prospective MPA boundaries with attributed information, (c) assemble prospective MPA boundaries into arrays, (d) share MPA boundaries and arrays with other users, (e) generate graphs and statistics to evaluate MPAs based on science-based guidelines, and (f) share results with users in a place-based discussion forum. Based on Open Source technologies, the MarineMap decision support tool is well documented, freely distributed and modifiable for any area-based planning effort. We will demonstrate the major features of the tool and illustrate how it was used in the MLPAI.

COASTAL GEMS: A TOOL FOR COORDINATED COASTAL PLANNING AND EDUCATION
Presented by Nick Meade, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program

Coastal Geospatial and Educational Mapping System (Coastal GEMS) is a dynamic internet mapping application that serves as a gateway to information about Virginia's coastal resources. Coastal GEMS is a collaborative effort, including the data of multiple natural resource agencies and other partnering coastal organizations. The application is designed to create a stronger understanding of how activities on the land and in the water affect one another, highlight the best remaining coastal resources in one big picture, and simplify management decisions by displaying data from all partners in one place. Coastal GEMS includes conservation planning tools and resource "fact sheets", allowing users to better understand coastal resource use and values and enabling them to protect and manage these resources in a sustainable fashion.

ACCESSING COASTAL DATASETS AND MAP SERVICES THROUGH THE GEOSPATIAL ONE STOP PORTAL
Presented by Sam Wear, U.S. Geological Survey

The new capabilities of Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) portal, (www.geodata.gov) are helping improve the quality and strength of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and these efforts will directly benefit the discovery and use of geospatial data over our nation's costal zones. GOS and the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IWG-OCM) are moving forward together to improve the inventory of costal data through The Ocean and Coastal Mapping (OCM) Inventory Project. The project offers a clearinghouse for geospatial data and interpretive information, and a registry of mapping activities that will help effectively leverage the high value of Federal, State and local data. New features of the GOS portal include a new search result interface and the capability to check the status and response of published web map services. Also included in the recent version of the GOS portal is expanded access to local government "best available data" map services located in the nation's coastal areas. Available as ArcIMS Image or Web Map Services (WMS), these services can be "fused" with other live map services (federal, state) covering the same geographic footprint. This presentation will provide an overview of new enhancements and functionality to the Geospatial One Stop which provides a wider range of geospatial products and services to support critical programs in coastal zone areas. Several coastal community geospatial datasets and map services will be highlighted. More information can be found at the Oceans and Coasts Community at Geospatial One-Stop (www.geodata.gov).

AWARD WINNING COASTAL GEOSPATIAL PROJECTS: A SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
Presented by John Palatiello, MAPPS

The 2008 MAPPS Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards featured two projects in which MAPPS member firms partnered with the NOAA Coastal Services Centger. The 2008 Grand Award winner was Fugro EarthData for the "Mapping a vital marine resource in Texas." Fugro EarthData was given the challenge of creating benthic habitat maps to support the Texas Seagrass Monitoring Program. The goal of the project was to protect the shallow marine environment in the estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. The project covered 1,400 square miles of Texas coastal estuaries and involved three elements: high- resolution aerial mapping, object-oriented classification, and quantitative accuracy assessment. Fugro EarthData project was the category winner among Remote Sensing project entries. MAPPS also presented awards in four categories. Photo Science won the award in the GIS/IT category for the "Legislative Atlas" it developed for NOAA CSC. These projects demonstrate how public sector agencies, working with private sector professional services firms, can successfully serve the public interest and benefit society, paarticulalry coastal environments, through innovative, quality based projects.

BEACH CONDITIONS REPORTS FOR THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA: CONSTRUCTING A COLLABORATIVE TOOL FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF REAL-TIME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS USING OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
Presented by Robert Currier, Mote Marine Laboratory

Driving to your favorite beach only to find it covered with dead fish is no fun. Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory have eliminated the guessing game by using Linux and open source software to give residents some cool tools for picking the best beach. The Beach Conditions Reports for the Gulf Coast of Florida is a product of Mote Marine Laboratory's Environmental Health Program. The goal of the site is to provide beach goers with near real time beach conditions to optimize their beach selection and enjoyment. These reports are subjective and are provided as a courtesy to the public. The system began in September 2006 with Sarasota County and since that time has expanded to 5 counties in Southwest Florida and 6 counties in the Florida Panhandle, with more areas, counties, and individual beaches being added regularly. Beach reporters patrol the public beaches seven days a week and make assessments of dead fish, water color, respiratory irritation, wind direction, and surf conditions. While the reports are subjective, with no measurements taken, they provide an eyewitness account of current beach conditions. In this presentation we will document the design and implementation of the beach conditions reporting system, provide sample source code and provide links to the open source software used to construct the application. We will discuss the next generation of our application, currently under development, which will provide resource managers with in-depth data mining capabilities and output data in an IOOS-compliant format using advanced web services.

SPATIALLY EXPLICIT FLOOD WARNING SYSTEM FOR THE MEADOWLANDS DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
Presented by Francisco Artigas, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission

Low-lying residential and industrial areas are of great concern to emergency managers because of their susceptibility to tidal flooding and sea level surge. In the northeast, few spatially explicit warning systems are currently in operation despite the fact that fairly accurate warnings on water levels are published and broadcasted a few hours ahead of time. Similarly, comprehensive, detailed spatial information on properties and infrastructure at risk to flooding is also available. This project integrates information from a variety of sources into a real-time ocean surge warning system for the Meadowlands Estuary of New Jersey (District). The system takes into account the predicted flood level broadcasted by federal and state agencies, the existing conditions of tide gates and highlights on a map the residential properties and facilities that keep hazardous materials at risk. Before an event occurs, and once the surge level is known, the system produces detailed maps for 14 District Municipalities which are then made available at least two hours in advance of high water. Flooded areas are then inspected in the field while the event takes place and the location, timing and water elevation is recorded at 14 pre-defined locations. The accuracy of the model is increased by continuously recalibrating the predictions based on this field information. The study describes how the flood maps are calculated, how the model is recalibrated and how the warning is integrated into a system that creates these maps and communicates to emergency management officials the potentially affected areas.

ENHANCED PREDICTION AND VISUALIZATION OF COASTAL INUNDATION ALONG THE NEW ENGLAND COAST DUE TO EXTRA-TROPICAL STORMS
Presented by Matthew Pendleton, NOAA CSC

Coastal New England is one of the most densely populated coastal areas in the nation that is frequently threatened by harsh extra-tropical storms or "Northeasters". More notable Nor'easters include the devastating blizzard of 1978, the Perfect Storm of 1991, and the more recent Patriots day storm in 2007. These storms wreaked havoc along the New England coast taking lives, destroying property, and causing billions of dollars in damages. Currently, the effectiveness of warning procedures for storm surge in New England is limited and communicated through broad brush Coastal Flood Warnings, issued by the National Weather Service (NWS), that often cover hundreds of miles of coast line. Previous NOAA assessments conducted with Northeast users in 2005 in Stamford, CT and Cambridge, MA indicated a need for NOAA customers to be able to visualize coastal inundation impacts in graphical, GIS based formats. An experimental library of high-resolution still-water inundation layers, depth grids, and historical water level data have been developed for two pilot locations in New England. FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area layers are now being added to visualize zones affected by wave action. The inundation libraries are being incorporated into an experimental Google Maps mapping application to be embedded in NWS weather forecast office websites for both pilot locations. The experimental mapping application will allow NWS customers to ascertain quickly whether or not they are in a threatened area and to clearly depict both the most probable outcome, and the potential worst case scenarios.