Data Management Plan

The ACFHP database consist of three primary data tables, joined within SQL Server, a relational DBMS: 1. The Bibliographic table provides information on over 500 selected documents and data sources on Atlantic coastal fish species and habitats. 2. The Assessment table provides information on habitat condition indicators, threats, and conservation actions. 3. The Geospatial table provides location references for information recorded in the Bibliography and Assessment tables. In addition, a separate table enables the many-to-many relationship between bibliographic entries and locations.

Process Steps:

• 2009-01-01 00:00:00 - The GIS base layer was developed in ArcGIS, and is subdivided into four zones - watersheds, estuaries, nearshore marine, and offshore marine. It is based on NOAA's Coastal Assessment Framework (CAF), including estuarine waterbodies and their associated watersheds. The Coastal Assessment Framework is a set of digital GIS layers, with lineage back to an earlier data atlas known as the National Estuarine Inventory (NOAA 1985). The NEI and CAF further subdivide estuarine waters into salinity zones (tidal fresh, mixing, and seawater), but these subdivisions were not used for the ACFHP spatial framework. Additional polygons were added for both State and Federal marine waters, based on legally-vetted boundary layers in the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC). State waters extend to the 3 nautical mile limit, and Federal waters extend to the 200 nmi Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Regional breaks were selected at Cape Cod, Cape Hatteras, and Cape Canaveral, creating four regions: North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and South Florida, consistent with generally accepted biogeographic classifications. The estuarine, watershed, and marine polygons were merged into a single polygon layer - 195 polygons total, preserving their attributes for region, state, zone (watershed, estuarine, marine), and waterbody name. (Citation: NOAA's Coastal Assessment Framework)

Hardcopy tech memo or other documentation, or custom spreadsheet versions of data are available upon request from: David Moe Nelson NOAA N/SCI-1 1305 East-West Hwy, 9th Floor Silver Spring MD 20910 phone 301-713-3028 x154 email david.moe.nelson@noaa.gov; Tech. Memo. pdf, and bibliographic and assessment information may be downladed directly from the homepage at the URL provided. Electronic spreadsheet versions may be requested from: David Moe Nelson NOAA N/SCI1 1305 East-West Hwy, 9th Floor Silver Spring MD 20910 phone 301-713-3028 x154 email david.moe.nelson@noaa.gov; go to http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/bhv/spatbibindex.html . The links to the left launch these three query modules: Bibliographic Query - using a set of sequential parameters in pull-down menus, this query generates a list of documents and data sources pertaining to a particular water body. Output includes standard bibliographic information such as Title, Year, Authors, Organization, and Publication Info - as well as Habitat Type, Information Type, and Web Location (if an item is available, a "Click Here" link is provided). Assessment Query generates a list of indicators (measures of habitat condition), threats (or stressors), and/or actions (conservation recommendations), for a specified waterbody or watershed, with sources cited. Geospatial Query provides a GoogleMaps interface to launch a query of either the bibliographic or assessment information.;