Data Management Plan

Spatial information on the arrangement of geological features, habitats and living marine resources on the seabed are often the foundation for decision-making in ecosystem management and ocean planning. Collecting information on the seabed depths and geomorphology is an expensive operation requiring airborne platforms like satellites, planes or drones, or small vessels to large research ships. Coordinating these data needs and data collection efforts will better leverage collective resources and meet shared goals. To help enable this coordination, in 2020 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed a spatial framework, process, and online application to identify common data collection priorities for seafloor mapping, sampling, and visual surveys along shore and offshore of the Southeast United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).

Twenty-five representatives from federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and non-governmental conservation groups, designated seafloor mapping priorities using an online prioritization tool. Participants allocated virtual coins across 5 km x 5 km grid cells to denote their organization’s regions of seafloor mapping needs. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed. Results were analyzed and mapped using statistical techniques to identify significant relationships between priorities, reasons for those priorities and data needs. These data are the summarized results from this project and can also be viewed in an online web map (https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=04cdd2a68c4f427f893f2042f326dc80).

Several common areas of interest were identified in the spatially explicit analysis of the responses. Nearshore surfzone along Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina were highlighted by several agencies and organizations interested in sediment and sand resources as well as potential for rocky reef habitats. Inshore estuarine areas were highlighted by state agencies and conservation groups interested in monitoring change in managed areas like National Estuarine Reserves. On the outer continental shelf, areas near Blake Plateau off South Carolina and the continental shelf break off North Carolina were identified by federal agencies and conservation organizations as areas of sensitive habitats or historically significantly shipwrecks and maritime resources.

The seafloor mapping prioritization approach described in the Buckel et al. (2021) report associated with these data provides recommendations to organizations charged with mapping the seabed for navigation and commerce as well as resource assessments and management. Already, the priority areas identified in this exercise are being used by NOAA to focus planned seafloor mapping missions. Furthermore, the outcomes from this regional exercise contribute into a National Mapping Prioritization under the lead of NOAA to coordinate mapping activities across the entire US EEZ. Together, these quantitative seafloor mapping prioritization approaches will enable improved coordination and more efficient allocation of resources needed to conduct seafloor mapping providing data to support environmental stewardship, safe navigation and commerce.

Process Steps:

• There were four main steps in the Southeast US spatial prioritization process. The first step was to identify the technical advisory team, consisting of individuals from NOAA’s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program, Office for Coast Survey, Office for Coastal Management, US Geological Survey, and University of South Florida. This advisory team invited 45 participants for the prioritization. Step two was to develop the spatial framework and an online application. To do this, the 365,709 square km region was divided into six subregions and 14,724 square 5x5 km grid cells. Existing relevant spatial datasets (e.g., bathymetry, protected area boundaries, etc.) were compiled to help participants understand information and data gaps and to identify areas they wanted to prioritize for future data collections. These spatial datasets were housed in the online application, which was developed using Esri’s Web AppBuilder. In step three, this online application was used by 25 participants to enter their priorities in each subregion of interest. Participants allocated virtual coins in the 5x5 km grid cells to denote their priorities. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed. Coin values were standardized across the subregions and used to identify spatial patterns across the Southeast US study region as a whole. The number of coins were standardized because each subregion had a different number of grid cells and participants. Standardized coin values were analyzed and mapped using statistical techniques, including hierarchical cluster analysis, to identify significant relationships between priorities, reasons for those priorities and data needs. This ESRI shapefile contains the 5x5 km grid cells used in this prioritization effort and associated the standardized coin values overall, as well as by justification, product, and organizational type. For a complete description of the process and analyses please see: Buckel et al. 2021. (Citation: Buckel, C.A., Taylor, J.C., Bollinger, M. 2021. Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping, Research, and Exploration for the Southeast U.S. Atlantic Coast. NOAA Technical Memorandum, NOS NCCOS 289. 71pp. doi:10.25923/qh2c-hs73)

For details of data quality control methods, see Lineage Sources. All users should independently analyze the datasets according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.

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