Coastal Services Center

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Needs Assessments and Survey Development

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Center Resource Management Customer Survey

The triennial Coastal Resource Management Customer Survey is sent to federal and state coastal and marine resource managers across the country to gauge the coastal management community's priority issues, information needs, and technological capabilities and constraints. The survey helps the Center verify that its strategic outcomes are headed in the right direction and provides a baseline for measuring management competencies identified as necessary to achieve these outcomes.

Assessing State and Local Needs for Storm Surge Tools and Information

The Human Dimensions program provided technical assistance to a cross NOAA effort to assess the current state of storm surge models, information resources, and decision-support tools. In collaboration with the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island, Human Dimensions staff members helped develop a needs assessment approach that included interviews, an on-line-survey, and regionally focused group sessions. Results from the assessment highlighted state and local users' existing knowledge about storm surge, identified important differences in the use of forecast data for planning and emergency response, and pointed to key areas where NOAA could improve storm surge tools and information.

Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Regional Association Needs Assessment

The Human Dimensions program staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center assisted a cross-Center team in conducting a needs assessment focused on IOOS Regional Associations (RAs). The goal of the IOOS RA needs assessment is to acquire information that will help Center staff find practical solutions to assist RAs in increasing their level of operational capability. Findings focus on such areas as marine data acquisition and management, the degree of interaction with other coastal and ocean management agencies, public education and outreach capabilities, and technological capacities.

For more information contact the Human Dimensions staff at nos.csc.human.dimensions@noaa.gov.