http://hdl.handle.net/1957/1726 Search the Channel search http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/jspui/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8041 Title: Report on Coastal Mapping and Informatics Trans-Atlantic Workshop 2: Coastal Atlas Interoperability<br/><br/>Authors: Wright, Dawn J.; Watson, Stephanie; Bermudez, Luis; Cummins, Valerie; Dwyer, Ned; Nyerges, Timothy; Benoit, Greg; Berman, Marcia; Helly, John; Uhel, Ronan<br/><br/>Abstract: From July 16 to 20, 2007, international partners in a trans-Atlantic workshop series on coastal mapping and informatics,held a workshop on the campus of Oregon State Universityentitled “Coastal Atlas Interoperability.” The workshop engaged27 participants from 6 countries, representing 17 organizationsand multiple areas of scientific and technicial expertise. Thismeeting was a follow-up to a successful first workshop entitled“Potentials and Limitations of Coastal Web Atlases,” hosted bythe Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) at UniversityCollege Cork in Ireland in July 2006 (O’Dea et al., 2007). Whilethat first workshop examined state-of-the-art developments incoastal web atlases (CWAs) from the Europe and the U.S., shared several case studies andlessons learned, and established key issues and recommendations related to the design, datarequirements, technology and institutional capacity needed for these atlases, the purpose ofthe second workshop was to examine best practices for achieving interoperability betweenCWAs. Given that no CWA functions alone as an island, and is often part of a largeruniverse of resources that is needed for effective marine spatial planning, resourcemanagement, and emergency planning, CWAs must build a common approach towardmanaging and disseminating the coastal data, maps and information that they contain.Workshop participants examined the issue of semantic interoperability (where concepts,terminology, even abbreviations that are shared between two or more individuals, systems,or organizations are understood by all to mean the same thing) and found this to be animportant prerequisite for the integrated approach needed when working with a broadernetwork of CWAs. For example, the terminology used to describe similar data can varybetween specialties or regions, which can complicate data searches and integration. Use ofthe word “seabed” in Europe versus use of the word “seafloor” to describe the same featurein North America is a good example of this scenario, as is the interchangeable use of“coastline” versus “shoreline” in both regions. Agreements on content/semanticinteroperability can help to eliminate such problems, making searches between disparate,but mutually beneficial, projects feasible. Ontologies provide the mechanism for enablingthis, and workshop participants gained hands-on experience with some of the effective toolsand approaches for creating ontologies and organizing them in catalogs, as presented byrepresentatives of the Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project. Presenters providedexamples from use cases and ontologies based on recent research and the outcomes of the2005 MMI Advancing Domain Vocabularies workshop (Graybeal et al., 2006).During the workshop a project was outlined to develop a demonstration prototype as aproof-of-concept to inter-relate metadata and other information between two initial CWAs(the Marine Irish Digital Atlas or MIDA, <http://mida.ucc.ie>, and the Oregon Coastal Atlasor OCA, <http://www.coastalatlas.net>). The prototype is in the form of a catalogue servicesfor the Web (CSW), where web map services (WMS) will be registered. It may not beimmediately obvious how Oregon and Ireland may need to be interoperable, but these twomature atlas efforts can be used as a testbed for interoperability. Both provide interactiveaccess to spatial data and metadata via web GIS, use similar technologies (open sourceMinnesota MapServer running on Apache web services), and contain metadata meetingnational/international standards (i.e., FGDC and ISO). This proof-of-concept may then beused to make connections within regional partnerships (e.g., the OCA can use lessons learned in developing a regional network of CWAs with Washington and California, whilethe MIDA can do the same for building and strengthening atlas networks with the UK,Belgium, and other parts of Europe). The prototype is therefore envisioned as a seedapplication, a template of sorts that can be used by many others and develop further fromthere.<br/><br/>Description: Workshop Proceedings http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8042 Title: Report on Coastal Mapping and Informatics Trans-Atlantic Workshop 1: Potentials and Limitations of Coastal Web Atlases<br/><br/>Authors: O'Dea, Liz; Cummins, Valerie; Wright, Dawn; Dwyer, Ned; Ameztoy, Iban<br/><br/>Abstract: Governments, industry sectors, academic institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) have a tremendous stake in the development and management of geospatial dataresources. Coastal mapping plays an important role in informing decision makers on issuessuch as national sovereignty, resource management, maritime safety and hazard assessment.Efforts to improve data accessibility are driven by legislation on topics such asEnvironmental management, open access of public sector information and data standardsand harmonisation. The development of Geographic Information System (GIS) based webmapping products has improved the usability of GISs by non-specialists. This, combinedwith community needs, has resulted in the growth of a niche group of interactive coastalweb atlases (CWAs) around the world, developed to address the needs of the coastal andmarine community. The 2006 Green Paper on Future Maritime Policy in the EuropeanUnion stated: “a veritable Atlas of EU coastal waters… could serve as an instrument forspatial planning” (European Commission 2006, p. 35), illustrating the increasing recognitionof the potential of CWAs, even at an international level.Funding was obtained through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the MarineRTDI programme in Ireland to organize two trans-Atlantic workshops on coastal mappingand informatics. The first workshop, entitled “Potentials and Limitations of Coastal WebAtlases,” was hosted by the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) at UniversityCollege Cork in Ireland in July 2006. This workshop brought together key experts fromEurope and North America to examine state-of-the-art CWA developments, share lessonslearned, determine future needs in mapping and informatics for the coastal practitionercommunity and identify potential opportunities for collaboration.A coastal web atlas is a collection of digital maps and datasets with supplementary tables,illustrations and information that systematically illustrate the coast, oftentimes withcartographic and decision-support tools, and all of which are accessible via the Internet.Access to the various components can be provided in different ways. The typical CWAcontains a number of general features, including: geospatial data and metadata; a map areafor data display; a legend and/or layer list; tools to interact with the map and data; dataattribute tables; topical information; powerful server and software technologies; and a wellroundedatlas design to meet atlas and user needs.As part of the workshop, a number of representative coastal web atlas case studies fromboth sides of the Atlantic were presented by developers. This report provides an overviewof the case studies, which highlight key aspects of CWA development and operations suchas atlas purpose, institutional support, technology and functionality. Those included as casestudies are: The UK Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas; De Kustatlas Online, Belgium; TheMarine Irish Digital Atlas; The Oregon Coastal Atlas; North Coast Explorer, Oregon; andMapping Tools for Coastal Management, Virginia.During the workshop, four working groups were established to identify issues related toatlas design, data, technology and institutional capacity. Each working group focussed itsdiscussion by carrying out a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)Analysis. Examination of the various points which were raised by the four working groupsled to the identification of a number of cross-cutting issues.The design and usability of an atlas are keys to its success. An atlas should clearlycommunicate its purpose, be visually appealing, be kept as simple as possible, use efficienttechnology and management systems and have a flexible design to enable growth andchange over time. Ultimately its success relies on the atlas users, so efforts should be maderegularly to ensure that it meets the needs of those users. An output of the workshop was alist of considerations for atlas design and implementation on topics such as data contentand display, metadata, atlas interface, atlas tools, technology, user feedback and support formaintenance and future developments.<br/><br/>Description: Workshop Proceedings http://hdl.handle.net/1957/4282 Title: Report of HURL Cruise KOK0510: Submersible Dives and Multibeam Mapping to Investigate Benthic Habitats of Tutuila, American Samoa<br/><br/>Authors: Wright, Dawn<br/><br/>Abstract: Cruise KOK0510 consisted of three Pisces V dives to the submerged flanks of Tutuila,American Samoa, specifically the coral reef platform of Taema Bank, and the submergedcaldera forming Fagatele Bay and Canyon. In addition, a night-time program of SeaBeam 210 bathymetric mapping was conducted along the north side of the island to fill ina data gap from previous multibeam surveys in that region. Night-time deployments ofthe RCV-150 were also planned, but could not commence due to mechanical difficultieswith the ROV. The overall objectives of the cruise were the characterization and groundtruthingof underwater features previously mapped in sonar, and for areas below the reachof SCUBA, the estimation of the amount of live bottom, the species identification of fishand invertebrates, and the assessment, where possible, of benthic change within the coralreefs encountered. These observations were made toward an ultimate goal of groundtruthingprevious benthic terrain maps (geo) made in the region, as well as informing thepreparation of future benthic habitat maps (biogeo). Research questions guiding theobjectives include: (a) What are the significant deep-water coral reef habitats, relative tothe territory’s coastal ecology and current initiatives for sanctuary management (i.e.,areas of 20% or greater coral cover as mandated for protection)? (b) Where are thesecritical habitats located, and with what major species are they associated with? (c) Whichhabitats appear to be “biological hotspots” (e.g., areas of high biodiversity), and what arethe implications for coral reef conservation and management? For example, which sitesshould be deemed of special biologic significance (such as a no take zone within a pilotmarine protected area)?All three dives were extremely successful with a cumulative bottom time of 18 hours andidentification at both sites of 32 species of invertebrates and 91 species of fish, at least 9of which are “new records” for American Samoa. The base of extensive live bottom forTaema Bank (coral cover of 20% and greater) was identified at a depth of 36 m.Alternating sections of carbonate reef and basalt were observed at~185-220 m depthalong the west walls of Fagatele Canyon, and large, grooved mass-wasting scarps werenoted at ~300-400 m depth near the base of the south central wall of Taema Bank. Noevidence of eutrophication or slurry from Pago Pago harbor was seen on the south side of Taema Bank. Sea Beam mapping on the north flank of Tutuila revealed 3 new cones thatwill eventually be added to the Scripps Biogeosciences Seamount Catalog (EarthRef.org).Subsequent benthic habitat maps that may be created with the aid of these data should beof great use for ongoing studies by the American Samoa Government’s Department ofMarine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR), the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary(FBNMS), the American Samoa Coastal Management Program, and the National Park ofAmerican Samoa (NPAS); including the selection of sites for habitat class designationand protection (e.g., no-take marine protected areas, a major American Samoa initiative),development of marine park monitoring protocols, and general understanding of speciescomposition and abundance. In addition, we were pleased to have 2 local secondaryschool teachers join the cruise as observers. These teachers were recently involved in amarine science workshops co-funded by the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary andthe American Samoa Coral Reef Advisory Group, and will be using selected videos,photos from the cruise, and perhaps some of the GIS data sets, directly in theirclassrooms. Local media coverage of the cruise included a radio interview and an articlein Samoa News (facilitated by Nancy Daschbach of FBNMS and Peter Craig of NPAS).<br/><br/>Description: Available also from http://dusk.geo.orst.edu/djl/samoa/hurl/KOK0510cruise_report.pdf