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Technology Transfer of Analytical Tools to State Partners for the National Coastal Asssessment
Jane L. Copeland 1, John A. Kiddon 2, Henry A. Walker 2, Michael A. Charpentier 1, Henry W. Buffum 1, Cara A. Cormier 1, Nancy J. Cunningham 1 and Charles T. Audette 1
1 Computer Sciences Corporation, Narragansett, Rhode Island
2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ORD, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory,
Atlantic Ecology Division, Narragansett, Rhode Island
The National Coastal Assessment (NCA) is working in close partnership with EPA Regions 1, 2 & 3, and the 11 Northeast States to help monitor and manage conditions in the coastal ocean. Probability surveys have been in the field for 7 consecutive years (2000 through 2006), with the participating States taking increasing responsibility for sampling and analysis. A key and continuing part of the effort is the technology transfer of analytical methods that will help States and Tribes use the NCA baseline data in their own assessments. The philosophy behind our efforts is to make analysis methods using the NCA database as transparent and flexible as possible. This poster will illustrate some of the products we have been developing.
Tools are being provided on DVD and through a password protected website. Excel tools have been developed to help with the QA/QC effort. Web based GIS mapping tools and a customized ArcMap project on DVD allow States to quickly see how their State waters compare with neighboring states. Many States began using these tools in their own analysis and assessment work and have been taking greater levels of ownership in all aspects of the program as well as sharing their assessment results with neighboring States.
Future work will include research in electronic reporting, reproducible research, and web-based GIS analyses so that a user can access NCA data as well as analyses and methodologies used allowing for better documentation of analytical methods and the reproduction of NCA results by outside scientists.
Keywords: National Coastal Assessment, Analysis Tools, Partnership, GIS, Technology Transfer, Reproducible Research