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Funding Opportunities
Coastal Hazard Related Projects
Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities of Climate Variability and Change for Pacific Island CommunitiesCenter for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, Inc., Hawaii Changes in climate have profound implications for Pacific Island communities. Leo Falcam, president of the Federated States of Micronesia, emphasized this reality in an August 21, 2001 op-ed piece in the Honolulu Advertiser entitled "Death by Warming" when he stated: "For Pacific island states, climate change and its associated effects are our main security concern." The recently concluded Pacific Islands Regional Assessment of the Consequences of Climate Variability and Change recognized the importance of climate change to Pacific Island communities and provides the starting point for this project. Funding for this project will provide coastal managers, governmental officials, businesses and community leaders in the American Flag and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands with access to the most recent scientific information on the consequences of climate variability and change. In addition, this project will support the dialogue necessary to more fully understand local vulnerability and develop effective adaptive strategies. This will be accomplished through a series of briefings, meetings, and workshops organized and conducted in the American Flag and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. Bathymetric Mapping, Habitat Characterization, and Geohazards Assessment of the San Juan Archipelago: a U.S. - Canadian Cooperative VentureSan Jose State University Foundation, California The San Jose State University Foundation and the NOAA Coastal Services Center have entered into a cooperative agreement to study and carry out the best ways to obtain state-of-the-art, high-resolution multibeam bathymetric and backscatter data, side-scan sonographs, and seismic-reflection profiles that can be used to improve navigation charts, characterize Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), and map faults and potential landslides that may be a geohazard on both sides of the Canadian-American International Boundary and within the western San Juan Archiplelago. These data are being used to produce maps and spatial databases that can support NOAA navigational charting efforts, characterizations of marine habitats, and delineations of submarine geology and geohazards. The Coastal Services Center is maintaining strong collaborative relations with the Foundation to help develop digital data sets that will be placed on NOAA Web sites. The NOAA Coastal Services Center's role in this project is to help the San Jose State University Foundation develop and populate a NOAA Web site with digital data sets, specifically ArcView shapefiles and comma-delimited ASCII files stored on CD-ROMs and associated metadata, to inform the public of project results and for public education and outreach efforts. The Coastal Services Center is helping the Foundation plan, execute, and evaluate the survey results. Both parties are working to ensure that quality control measures are developed and properly implemented. The Center is serving as a conduit for receiving geospatial data from the San Jose State University Foundation for use within the NOAA nautical charting system. Coastal Structures Inventory of Cape CodMassachusetts Office of Enviromental Affairs The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the NOAA Coastal Services Center have entered into a cooperative agreement to develop a georeferenced, pre-storm inventory of structures on the coast to improve the state and local governments' ability to make rapid and accurate storm-related permitting decisions. The project is being modeled after the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management "Post-Hurricane Recovery Project" and will provide a comprehensive storm planning and response system. The system is building on an existing data management system, the Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System, and will include tools for viewing photographs and coastal structures information. The NOAA Coastal Services Center is responsible for developing the interface between the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management program's Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System (MORIS) and the Coastal Structure Inventory that will allow viewing of photos and digital data. This interface requires adding a simple utility to the MORIS system, which is an ArcView-based geographic information system. Center employees are enhancing the existing ArcView hotlink tool to allow users to load the structures' data layer within a unique symbol for each type of structure. Development and Evaluation of a Monitoring and Emergency Response/Crisis Management System for Oil Spills And HurricanesFlorida Marine Research Institute Disasters such as oil spills and hurricanes often have significant impacts on biological and human resources in the coastal zone. Funded by the NOAA High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program, this project addressed NOAA and other Agency needs to rapidly gather, integrate, and disseminate information about impacted areas. The project built upon previous efforts by the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI) to develop the Florida Marine Spill Analysis System (FMSAS). The FMSAS uses geographic information system (GIS) software to support oil spill response and cleanup. This project developed and evaluated a prototype Emergency Response System (ERS) consisting of a lightweight, portable computer equipped with Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) forms, geographic information system (GIS) software, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The system was evaluated in stand-alone mode and over a wireless local area network. The SCAT software was linked to ArcView® GIS and tested for field data collection. GPS units were used to record the location of simulated spill areas on the beach and high speed radio modems installed in the computers transmitted real-time voice, video, and GIS data over the wireless network to the command center. The data were then used to create maps depicting the status of the simulated shoreline cleanup operations. While further development is still needed, the new technologies demonstrated the potential of supporting integrated data collection and communication for rapid decision making in emergency response situations. Click here to learn more about this prototype from NOAA's High Performance Computing and Communications Program. Digital Orthophotos for Lake Erie ShorelineOhio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) This project was designed to promote the national Natural Hazards Reduction Initiative program through the development of local decision support tools for use in analyzing coastal hazard risk and vulnerability. The Ohio DNR entered this collaborative agreement with NOAA's Coastal Services Center to develop digital orthophotos for Ohio's portion of the Lake Erie shoreline. Digital orthophotos will assist future review and revision of coastal erosion mapping and will aid the regulatory operations related to the construction of erosion control structures, submerged lands leasing, and development in identified coastal erosion areas. Moreover, the project accelerates two important state coastal program initiatives, namely, developing a Lake Erie geographic information system (GIS) and updating and expanding inventories of coastal resources to support planning, assessment, and decision making. Hawaiian Shoreline Variability This Century - A Demonstration of Data Capacity BuildingUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa This study addressed Hawaii's lack of a comprehensive coastal erosion database and resultant difficulties making sound coastal land use decisions. The project's primary objective was to demonstrate how to build a broader coastal dynamics knowledge-base within Hawaii's coastal regulatory community so that permitting and planning agencies could make informed, factually-based land use decisions. The project established a high-quality, high-density database of shoreline change histories for Kihei and Kaanapali, Maui, and Kailua Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, designed to help improve management efforts. Historical shoreline change and sand budget processes were investigated using a similar methodology at each site for comparative purposes. Decadal to century scale sediment dynamics were studied using soft-copy photogrammetric techniques and historical shoreline positions from all available survey-quality aerial photographs and NOAA topographic survey charts (T-sheets). Two-dimensional shoreline movements, have been converted to volumetric units of change using area, specific models developed from 5 years of seasonal beach profile data. Monthly beach profiling at the Kaanapali and Kailua Bay sites were also used to gain an understanding of seasonal sediment dynamics. The historical shoreline change database will be utilized by regional coastal managers and has been made available to the commercial sector through state and county geographic information system (GIS) service agencies. Additionally, the study improved understanding of why shoreline change happens, where future changes are likely to have societal impact, and how past and present coastal land use may be related to ongoing shoreline change. Mitigating for the Inevitable: Developing Risk and Vulnerability Assessments and Hazards Mitigation Strategies for Pacific Island CommunitiesHawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism The ultimate goal of a multi-hazard mitigation strategy is to reduce risks to human life and property from both episodic and chronic coastal and other natural hazards. Reaching that goal requires that communities possess the knowledge and expertise to develop and carry out their mitigation strategies. This project intends to generate awareness and build capacity within communities by educating decision makers and key stakeholders regarding multi-hazard mitigation strategies and the development of effective risk and vulnerability assessments. These efforts will be accomplished through educational workshops on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii to provide information on development of a risk and vulnerability assessment, applying risk and vulnerability assessment data to the development of a multi-hazard mitigation strategy, and the development of a multi-hazard mitigation strategy to include physical as well as nonphysical mitigation measures. The workshops will involve key participants from each of the four counties of the State of Hawaii as well as essential personnel from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. North Carolina - NOAA Coastal Services Center Coastal Hazard Mitigation Cooperative AgreementNorth Carolina Division of Coastal Management Through a cooperative agreement, North Carolina's Division of Coastal Management investigated damage potential for structures existing along the North Carolina barrier island coastline due to chronic erosion and category 1, 2, and 3 hurricanes. The project supported the national Natural Hazards Reduction Initiative through development of local decision-support tools that help analyze hazards risk and vulnerability. Geographic information system (GIS) based maps of the barrier island study area were created to illustrate the following vulnerabilities: current and projected flood zones; erosion hazard areas; projected storm surge and flooding elevations for category 1, 2, and 3 hurricanes; Federal Emergency Management Agency flood model projections; and the vegetation line. These coastal hazard boundaries were overlaid with the footprints of existing structures on the barrier islands to determine which structures are threatened. For structures in hazard areas, a GIS attribute database was developed. The database includes a variety of information: street address, current and projected flood zone and base flood elevations, distance from existing flood zone boundaries, building and foundation type, square footage and age, assessed and replacement value, history of foundation failure/scour in Hurricanes Bertha and Fran, a digital photograph, and an inventory number. North Carolina Division of Emergency Management's final report analyzes the data and assesses the potential risk to structures within the study area. The results of this project were made available to affected local governments and FEMA. Project to Reduce Earthquake-Tsunami Hazards in Pacific Northwest Ports and HarborsOregon Sea Grant Program and the University of Washington Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Washington supported earthquake-tsunami hazard mitigation and preparedness planning for the Pacific Northwest's ports and harbors. The goal was to increase earthquake and tsunami hazard resilience among West Coast ports, harbors, and surrounding communities. Through this partnership with Oregon State and Washington, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration helped formalize relationships among a variety of federal and state agencies to assess natural hazard vulnerability. The project first conducted a region-wide issues/needs assessment. Using the information gained from the assessment, a hazard mitigation planning and analysis model was developed. The model's components focus on assessing risk, vulnerability, alternative strategies, and sources of technical and financial resources. To test the model, two consecutive pilot projects were carried out in demonstration ports. The first pilot also evaluated the project's methodology. Recommendations from the first pilot were incorporated into the methodology before the start of the second pilot. Follow this link to learn more about the hazard mitigation planning and analysis model's development. Ultimately, the project's results, in combination with a hazards glossary, interactive hazards maps, and a port/harbor atlas, will be used in a series of outreach training programs. The outreach training programs will target Pacific Northwest port and harbor communities interested in developing an earthquake-tsunami hazard mitigation plan. |
