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Technical Workshop on Ocean and Coastal Mapping Inventory
A comprehensive inventory of ocean and coastal mapping data and activities was the subject of an interagency 3-day workshop in Charleston, South Carolina, in September 2007. The Ocean and Coastal Mapping Inventory will offer a clearinghouse for data and interpretive information, and a registry of completed and projected mapping activities via a single Web portal. The inventory will reduce duplication of mapping efforts and facilitate cooperative mapping activities and data accessibility. The workshop was sponsored by the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IWG-OCM), which was established in response to findings of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan and the 2004 National Research Council assessment of national coastal-zone mapping and charting activities. At the workshop, participants identified key user requirements and reviewed existing data systems and inventories before reaching a consensus to use Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) as the tool to build the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Inventory. They also formulated concrete recommendations to move this effort forward. Concurrent working groups, focusing on technical, metadata, and management issues and requirements, outlined a short-term strategy and a detailed list of actions for the next 3 months. In addition, representatives of each agency met to recommend individual agency contributions and discuss commitments to this effort. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was represented by John Haines (Coastal and Marine Geology Program coordinator), Fran Lightsom and Greg Miller (Woods Hole Science Center), Chris Cretini (National Wetlands Research Center), and Dean Gesch (National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science [EROS]). Dan Sandhaus attended to represent GOS. Haines also serves as a cochair of IWG-OCM. Lightsom was on the workshop planning committee and is continuing to serve on the project-management team for the inventory. For more information and specific results of the workshop, visit URL http://www.csc.noaa.gov/iwg/.
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in this issue:
Coastal Processes Affect a Restored Tidal Wetland Coral-Reef Investigation Featured in Molokai Times Open House at FISC St. Petersburg Workshop on Impacts of Sea Level Rise International Delta Roundtable Meeting 2007 SACNAS National Conference Ocean and Coastal Mapping Inventory Workshop Biologists Honored for Polar Bear Research Brian Atwater Receives Award, Elected to National Academy of Sciences Peter Barnes Receives Scientist Emeritus Best Publication Award Ralph Cheng Receives Distinguished Service Award Janet Thompson Receives Diversity Award G.K. Gilbert Helps Celebrate Alumni Reunion
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