When it comes to natural resource management, coastal communities want to be proactive, but they need help getting the data and information most relevant to their needs.
The Digital Coast is a good place to start. First developed by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, the Digital Coast began as a way to provide coastal management organizations with not only data, but also the surrounding tools, training, and examples needed to turn those data into information that can be used.
The Digital Coast website is accomplishing that plus more. The partnership group that oversees the effort includes the National Association of Counties, Coastal States Organization, National States Geographic Information Council, Association of State Floodplain Managers, and The Nature Conservancy. These organizations first came together through the Digital Coast to ensure the relevance of the website, but then realized the opportunity this partnership offered to advance coastal management issues. Through the partnership group, the Digital Coast now represents a powerful consortium.
Visit the website to learn more. Some of the tools from the website are profiled below.
The Coastal Inundation Toolkit. The partnership group requested a holistic resource on inundation-related issues, including how to begin addressing adaptation planning. With the toolkit, professionals can educate themselves about inundation, learn to identify and map potential impacts, assess a community’s risk and vulnerability, and get tips on communicating the concept of risk to residents.
County Snapshots. While this resource is located within the Inundation Toolkit, the popularity of the snapshots warrants a separate mention. Users can select the coastal county of their choosing and get a quickly populated page of easy-to-understand graphs and charts that tell a story about a county’s coastal risk factors. Local and county officials in particular seem to appreciate the visual way these important data are presented.
www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/snapshots/index.html
Habitat Priority Planner. This geographic information system (GIS)-based software is useful in a group setting where various land use scenarios are being discussed. Users determine what elements of the region are of particular interest to them (proximity to a highway? presence of endangered species?) and then use this tool to see how various scenario boundaries might impact the chosen elements. This tool is also used when incorporating participatory GIS into project plans.
Data. Training. Case Studies. Information. Many tools are available from the website, along with the data, training, and information users need to turn this content from something interesting into something that can be used in the decision-making process. Visit the website to access the contents or suggest additional resources to be featured on the site.
The Digital Coast was funded in part by the Mississippi Coordinating Council for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems.
