Special Interest Meetings
Monday, January 27
9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (lunch break Noon to 1:30 p.m.)
Overview of National Geodetic Survey Tools and the Modernized National Spatial Reference System
In the next few years, the coordinates for every survey, map, lidar point cloud, aerial image, digital elevation model, and other critical geospatial dataset and product will be outdated. For the first time in over 30 years, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey will release a modernized version of the National Spatial Reference System, the authoritative system that defines latitude, longitude, heights, and the national shoreline and serves as the foundation for all U.S. federal maps and geospatial products. Not only will the modernized system provide benefits worth billions of dollars through increased accuracy, national consistency, workflow efficiency, and data interoperability, federal law requires that federal agencies comply with this type of accepted scientific standard. This change will have far-reaching implications for the use of federal funds for surveying, mapping, and production of geospatial products. Evaluating and addressing the impacts of these changes for existing data, products, and geospatial workflows will require time and resources, so now is the time to plan for the transition to the modernized system.
9:00 a.m. to Noon
FutureScape resilience simulation
FutureScape is a serious game designed to elicit human behavior in the face of climate change and simulate real-world policy deliberations under conditions of imperfect information, limited resources, and pressing time constraints. Players navigate future scenarios informed by real scientific data and models. FutureScape implements the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework, a decision-making tool adapted from real-world strategies to address ecological changes.
FutureScape was designed by an interdisciplinary team of coastal resilience and geospatial scientists, coastal planning specialists, and engagement and storytelling experts. The game debuted at an April 2024 workshop titled “Envisioning Transformations in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain,” which brought together experts from academia, state government, and nongovernmental organizations to collectively envision a just, sustainable, and resilient future for North Carolina’s coastal plain.
The Future of the U.S. Mapping Coordination Site
Ocean and coastal mapping data (e.g., seafloor characteristics, depth, topography, bottom type, geology) are critical to ensuring safety of navigation, assessing the impacts of coastal hazards, improving our understanding of ocean resources, and supporting the conservation, management, and balanced use of our oceans. These data are fiscally and logistically challenging to collect, often requiring collaboration on funding and priorities from multiple entities. NOAA’s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) program champions coordination and partnership across the entire mapping lifecycle, including funding, survey planning, data acquisition, data processing, data management, and data sharing for maximum use under the driving theme of “Map Once, Use Many Times.”
The U.S. Mapping Coordination site is a central resource for interagency and external stakeholder mapping data needs and requirements, mapping priorities, and mapping data acquisition plans. The site will be moving away from the Seasketch platform in early 2025 which presents opportunities for the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes mapping communities, especially those associated with regional mapping campaigns, to shape the site’s future and functionality.
In this session, NOAA’s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping team will provide an overview of the current site and some of its functionality and content. The team will then facilitate a discussion among participants about potential improvements to help inform the future of the U.S. Mapping Coordinate site. We will look at examples of other mapping coordination tools as well as discuss current mapping coordination challenges that the revamped website will address. Attendee feedback will influence the site redesign, and attendees will walk away with a clearer understanding of potential pathways to improve mapping coordination across all stakeholder groups.
Advancing Science and Service with NOAA’s New Flood Inundation Maps, Economic Data, and the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice
NOAA scientists are striving to better understand both the flood inundation mapping capabilities and the economic effects of coastal flooding to build resilience and improve delivery of services to the public and businesses. This special interest meeting will introduce participants to potential applications of new social science datasets, visualization tools, and the coastal inundation community of practice as a network for continuous engagement. First, this session will provide an overview of the real-time flood inundation mapping (FIM) services from the National Weather Service hosted on the new National Water Prediction Service site. These maps are event-based, graphic depictions of forecasted flood waters and intended to address the need for flood information for a variety of decision-makers with upcoming expansion to coastal regions. Second, we will describe the new Employment in Coastal Inundation Zones dataset and visualization tool rolled out in November 2024. Lastly, this session will share an overview of the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice, a national network of practitioners that facilitates peer-to-peer learning, information exchange, and collaborative engagement to advance coastal flooding science, knowledge, and solutions and allows for continued future engagement with NOAA on flooding challenges and gaps.
Monday, January 27: 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Simulation for Coastal Research and Management
Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) provide a range of remote sensing solutions for observing and mapping the coastal zone. Advancements in UAS technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for capturing data in a flexible and user-defined manner. Sensors, platforms, navigation systems, mission-control software, and post-processing tools continue to improve and expand our ability to map a wide range of coastal contexts, from urban settings to natural beaches, bluffs, dunes, and marshes. Lidar sensors are smaller, more powerful, and now capable of returning bathymetry data, in addition to topography, enhancing our ability to conduct marsh restoration projects where it is important to reveal microtopography and model tidesheds. Optical sensors allow us to acquire multispectral imagery and generate orthoimagery for feature detection or media campaigns; however, successful application of these technologies requires a nuanced understanding of its requirements, capabilities, and limitations. As small-scale UAS data collection grows, it is important that we connect with others to understand various collection and processing methods and data storage and sharing solutions. Participants will hear from practitioners who have successfully applied UAS to coastal projects around the country. Then, participants will share their experiences with UAS, so others can learn about the best practices, challenges, and successes of using these exciting and innovative technologies for coastal research and management.
Navigating Various Changing Water Levels Tools
Learn about new water level–related data products, tools, and web resources in an interactive format during this special interest meeting, hosted by subject matter experts from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). This session will demonstrate recent improvements on climate services focused around sea level change and coastal flooding that will support coastal communities with planning and risk assessment. This will be a three-hour interactive session using the newly released U.S. Sea Level Change site and Sea Level Calculator as a jumping off point to help users explore more in-depth resources on tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov and the Digital Coast. The session will include short presentations and demonstrations on tools and resources with follow-up exercises for users to explore the tool or resource and ask a few questions or complete tasks specific to their location. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop to fully participate in the activities. Other tools that may be presented include theSea Level Rise Viewer, Lake Level Viewer for the U.S. Great Lakes, Coastal Inundation Dashboard, High Tide Flooding Outlooks, Extreme Water Levels, and CO-OPS API Builder.
Tribal and Indigenous Technical Assistance Coordination and Planning
Though many state and federal groups have improved their support of Tribal and Indigenous nations in recent years, Tribal and Indigenous nations remain generally underserved by these agencies. One glaring need is improved coordination between these various funding and technical assistance groups, so they can learn from Tribal and Indigenous nations, share lessons learned, and work together to increase the amount and improve the quality of technical assistance provided to Tribal and Indigenous nations. This session will bring together key actors in the coastal management community to discuss past technical assistance, share successes and failures, provide suggestions from Tribal and Indigenous partners, and brainstorm a path forward for improving technical assistance and coordination in the future. This will be a learning and brainstorming session andalso a gathering place for attendees interested in this issue to further develop relationships and create a stronger, more well-connected community.