Major Service Providers

Many of these services are provided through the NOAA Coastal Services Center. The Center is a partner in more than 100 ongoing projects geared toward resolving coastal issues in specific local, state, and regional locations. NOS's Office of Response and Restoration also provides coastal tools and technologies.

Tools and Techniques

Nontechnical Tools

Involving the public in the decision-making process is an important goal for all coastal resource management programs. The Web page Engaging Communities: Participatory Strategies for Coastal Managers profiles several successful techniques to get people more involved in coastal issues. State and local organizations use this information to improve their programs and efforts. Coastal Services, a bimonthly trade magazine for coastal managers, works in a similar way. The publication is an information resource that showcases innovative ways in which state coastal programs address the many issues that confront them.

The Coastal Management Fellowship Program brings new people and expertise to help state programs. Postgraduate students in the field of coastal resource management spend two years working for a state coastal management program. The students bring new expertise to the state efforts, and the fellows receive valuable work experience.

Topographic data, obtained from a sensor mounted on an airplane, helps officials identify properties most at risk (shown in shades of red) from erosion.

Technical Tools

NOS offers an entire suite of remote sensing products and services and a variety of geographic information system (GIS) services. Remote sensing involves the use of satellites, aircraft and other sensing devices to gather information about land and water. NOS provides remote sensing data to state coastal programs, including land cover, topography, and benthic habitat data. Remote sensing also is used to measure water quality.

GIS is a mapping information tool used within the coastal management community. NOS provides a variety of GIS data products, including digital shoreline data, a database of hurricane information, watershed database and mapping projects, and a GIS for the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. Other GIS tools include environmental sensitivity index maps, which help to identify coastal areas vulnerable to contamination. GIS also is used to help people gain access to the data contained in the extensive habitat characterizations produced by NOS for many regions in the coastal zone. The Integration and Development Program highlights additional GIS-related projects and services. GIS training and remote sensing training courses also are available.

NOS provides information and tools to help coastal programs create, share, and obtain data through the national spatial data infrastructure network. Scientists are creating data standards and delivery systems that will encourage wider use of data sets by different parties. In addition, NOS provides query management tools that help users analyze data within individual watersheds.

This is the first geographic information system created for the ocean. Officials use the Ocean Planning Information System to gain easy access to ocean-related data and information.

Smart Growth

"Smart Growth" is a term frequently used by coastal communities as they struggle to maintain the balance between growth and preservation. The Web site Alternatives for Coastal Development: One Site, Three Scenarios is a tremendous tool for this effort.

Using a real site in coastal Georgia, 3-D technology illustrates how various development scenarios (traditional, conservation, and new urbanism) might impact the site. The Web site contains a tremendous amount of social and economic data, which allows users to calculate the true costs of the various development components. Local communities use this information to guide them as they face similar situations in their communities.