Current and Future Technology Applications for Coastal Zone Management. Bruce K. Carlisle, Acting Director Office of Coastal Zone Management

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1 Current and Future Technology Applications for Coastal Zone Management Bruce K. Carlisle, Acting Director Office of Coastal Zone Management

2 The Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program Approved in 1978; organized as a line office within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Employs 50 staff: technical specialists, planners, policy analysts, GIS/data managers, and administrative staff Hosts the state s s 2 National Estuary Programs Participates in regional, national, and international groups and organizations

3 CZM Program Areas Aquatic Invasive Species Coastal Access Coastal Hazards Coastal Smart Growth Emergency Management Habitat Assessment, Ocean Resources Management Ports & Harbors Planning Project Review Special Area Management Water Quality

4 Seafloor Mapping CZM and USGS Cooperative Initiative Goal: To produce high-resolution maps of seafloor topography and surficial geology Remote sensing technologies: Multi-beam bathymetry: seafloor morphology Side-scan sonar: substrate type Seismic reflection: sediment thickness Ground-truthing technologies: Sediment profile imagery Bottom photography Benthic grab Scuba Maps of seafloor environment provide foundation to characterize seafloor habitats and inform ocean planning

5 Seafloor Mapping Complete: 1. North Shore 2. Boston Harbor & Approaches 3. Ipswich Bay In Progress: 4. South Shore 5. Western Cape Cod Bay

6 Northern Massachusetts Habitat Classification Feasibility Study Applies four pre-selected frameworks to interpret seafloor mapping information Working toward adopting a single or hybrid framework for MA Image processing and GIS technologies Expected completion date: June 2007

7 Hazards Mapping Flood insurance and floodplain regs use flood velocity zones (V Zone) as basis for defining high-hazard hazard areas Many of the existing FIRMs are outdated and inaccurate The Primary Frontal Dune toe represents the landward extent of the V Zone Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR): remote sensing technology uses laser pulses and optical sensor to quantify distance in large areas quickly with high accuracy LIDAR data used to derive elevation and topography of beach

8 Primary Frontal Dune Mapping Transect = 64 Houses and vegetation removed via bald earth algorithm Transects set perpendicular to shore Quantitative procedure developed to delineate landward toe

9 Estuarine Marsh Mapping and Modeling Numerous tidal hydrology restoration projects throughout coastal MA Accurate assessment of current and future hydrodynamics is critical Digital terrain models and linked hydrological data Accurate wetland maps are key Salt marsh plant community mapping with image processing

10 Herring River Estuary Restoration Transport Model (URI, Spalding) Hydrology Salinity Sediment

11 Unsupervised Classification (ISODATA) Estuarine Marsh Plant Community Mapping Source data: Aerial Photography (R, G, B, NIR bands) LIDAR Field data collected with Real Time Kinetic GPS Image processing techniques: Band rationing Modified vegetation and wetness indices Unsupervised and supervised classification routines

12 Technologies for Future Applications: Near-shore Habitat and Hazards Mapping Ship-based seafloor mapping efforts are depth limited (>10m) Wetland and land-use/land use/land-cover coverage generally limited to upland and inter-tidal tidal areas Map shallow waters and terrestrial interface uplands: Multiple return LIDAR Multi spectral aerial photography Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Develop classification models capable of discriminating types and extents of tidal habitats Hazard vulnerability assessments, sea level rise predictions, and Flood Insurance Rate Map updates

13 Technologies for Future Applications: HAB Sensors In development by WHOI (Anderson), grant funds from CICEET Outbreaks each year (2005 severe) cause losses to fisheries and tourism Current methods labor & resource intensive and time- consuming Deployable sensor, fiber-optic technology Detects multiple species

14 Technologies for Future Applications: Coliform Bacteria Sensors In development by URI (Hanson), grant funds from CICEET Fecal contamination pervasive and harmful problem Current methods labor & resource intensive and have inherent time delays Developing new autonomous submersible instrument Enzyme-based technology with sensitive optical detection systems to detect the indicator bacteria

15 For more information: Bruce K. Carlisle (617)