Dive In – Explore Thousands of Coastal and Seafloor Images plus 2 more

Dive In – Explore Thousands of Coastal and Seafloor Images

Posted: 18 Mar 2015 11:21 AM PDT

Summary: Thousands of photos and videos of the seafloor and coastline—most areas never seen before—are now available and easily accessible online. This is critical for coastal managers to make important decisions, ranging from protecting habitats to understanding hazards and managing land use.

Contact Information:

Nadine Golden ( Phone: 831-460-7530 ); Seth Ackerman ( Phone: 508-457-2315 ); Jessica Robertson ( Phone: 703-648-6624 );

Thousands of photos and videos of the seafloor and coastline—most areas never seen before—are now available and easily accessible online. This is critical for coastal managers to make important decisions, ranging from protecting habitats to understanding hazards and managing land use.

Imagery is available through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Video and Photograph Portal.

This USGS portal is unique, due to the sheer quantity and quality of data presented. It is the largest database of its kind, providing detailed and fine-scale representations of the coast. The "geospatial context" is also unique, with maps displaying imagery in the exact location where it was recorded.

Prior to development of the data portal, retrieving this imagery required internal USGS access with specific hardware and software. It was difficult to manage and challenging to share such a large amount of information.

"The USGS has been dedicated to developing a system that allows for convenient communication internally as well as to outside collaborators and the public to access our abundance of coastal and seafloor imagery," said USGS geographer Nadine Golden, who is the Lead Principal Investigator for the USGS portal. "The portal makes it easy for users to discover, obtain and disseminate information."

This portal contains coverage of the seafloor off California and Massachusetts, and aerial imagery of the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and mid-Atlantic coasts. Additional video and photographs will be added as they are collected, and archived imagery will also be incorporated soon. Areas of future focus include data sets for Washington State's Puget Sound, Hawaii and the Arctic.

Information in this portal helps create coastal maps and representations of seafloor composition and habitats. It provides references for short- and long-term monitoring of changes to the coast, whether from anthropogenic modifications or natural occurrences. Hurricanes and extreme storms are of particular concern, and USGS imagery helps managers, emergency responders and researchers understand circumstances before, during and after such events. Other critical hazards include coastal flooding and sea-level rise, as well as assessments for earthquake and tsunami awareness.

Data also support coastal and marine spatial planning, including evaluation of sites for renewable ocean energy facilities as well as the development of communities and infrastructure. USGS science helps designate marine protected areas, define habitats, identify needs for ecosystem restoration, and inform regional sediment management decisions.

In total, approximately 100,000 photographs and have been collected as well as 1,000 hours of trackline video covering almost 2,000 miles of coastline. Imagery was taken by video and still cameras towed by boat or from aerial flights.

This effort supports the National Ocean Policy mandate to provide access to federal data resources.

How does it work? Start with the tutorial and then dive in!

In 2013, a successful video and photograph pilot interactive website was launched for the California Seafloor Mapping Program, and this helped build the newly released portal.

Also, check out a new crowdsourcing application called, "USGS iCoast – Did the Coast Change?" This application allows citizen scientists to identify changes to the coast by comparing aerial photographs taken before and after storms.

Learn more about USGS science by visiting the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program website.

Screenshot from the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Video and Photograph Portal. Zooming into an area of interest reveals lines where continuous video footage was acquired and dots where still photographs were taken. Clicking on a segment launches the video in a pop-up window. Photographs appear beside the video, changing as the video passes each point where a photograph was taken. (High resolution image)

From Icefield to Ocean - What Glacier Change Might Mean for the Future of Alaska

Posted: 18 Mar 2015 09:00 AM PDT

Summary: Frozen bodies of ice cover nearly 10 percent of the state of Alaska, but the influence of glaciers on the environment, tourism, fisheries, hydropower, and other important Alaska resources is rarely discussed

Contact Information:

Shad O'Neel ( Phone: 907-786-7088 ); Kristin Timm ( Phone: 907-474-7064 ); Ryan McClymont ( Phone: 503-583-7944 );

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Frozen bodies of ice cover nearly 10 percent of the state of Alaska, but the influence of glaciers on the environment, tourism, fisheries, hydropower, and other important Alaska resources is rarely discussed.

But a new article published this week in the journal BioScience has started the conversation.

Led by Shad O'Neel, from the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, the paper combines what scientists currently know about the physical, chemical and biological connections that link high elevation icefields to glaciers, freshwater runoff streams and the ocean. These connections are prevalent throughout southeast and south-central Alaska, an area known as the Northern Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest, and these processes are linked to western and northern Alaska through ocean currents that transport heat and food to the Arctic.

"This winter provides an excellent example of what the future may hold for coastal Alaska with winter storms coming in as rain instead of snow and limiting ski and motorized recreation for tourists and residents alike," said O'Neel. "Less thought is given to how the low snowmelt runoff will impact nearshore ocean currents, ocean stratification and phytoplankton blooms that are essential for salmon populations. One winter like this, here and there, is probably something the ecosystem can tolerate, but if this winter becomes the new normal we need to develop a better understanding of the impacts on the ecosystem."

Coastal Alaska and British Columbia glaciers are among the fastest changing glaciers on Earth. Glaciers are central to many natural processes and economic activities in this region. Changes in coastal icefields and glaciers can have a ripple effect down through the watershed all the way to the ocean.

"Alaska's icefields are closely linked to downstream rivers and estuaries and we need to develop interdisciplinary research efforts that allow us to study this icefield-to-ocean system in a more holistic manner," said Eran Hood, second author and a scientist with the University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau).

Given the complexity of the icefield-to-ocean ecosystem, coordination for the paper began almost two years ago with a two-day workshop that brought together 30 resource managers and scientists focused on glaciers, streams, oceans, and wildlife.

"Coordination is difficult because geophysicists, biologists and resource managers have different languages and work goals," said O'Neel. "The workshop helped us to listen to each other's concerns, and align parts of our work towards each other's interests. It was amazing how many overlapping interests and challenges we identified."

Researchers and managers worked together to identify several important questions about the interactions between changing glaciers and resources outlined in the paper. The authors found this integrated approach useful and called for further efforts to prioritize and align management and scientific goals so the impacts of glacier change can effectively be used in future resource management decisions.

"This work highlights the pressing need to increase our understanding of the role that glaciers play in the Gulf of Alaska coastal ecosystems," said Hood.

The research was supported by the Department of the Interior Alaska Climate Science Center, the USGS Alaska Science Center and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Alaska Climate Science Center provides scientific information to help natural resource managers and policy makers respond effectively to climate change.

The "From Icefield to Ocean Poster" depicts the important linkages between glaciers and the ocean. The product is a result of Alaska Climate Science Center research projects and workshops. The team felt that it was particularly important to find a compelling way to communicate these research findings to Alaskans because Alaska's coastal glaciers are among the most rapidly changing areas on the planet and glacier runoff can influence marine habitats, ocean currents and economic activities. (High resolution image)