Project Information

Title: GIS Mapping and Analysis: Restoration R092

Project Year and Number: 1992: R092

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: None

Principal Investigator (PI): Richard McMahon (Alaska Department of Natural Resources)

Managing Agency: ADNR

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: All Spill Affected Areas

Restoration Category: Damage Assessment

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract: The Geographic Information System (GIS) technical group was created following the Exxon Valdez oil spill to acquire, develop, and distribute a centralized Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) database. The information was divided into two basic categories: primary and thematic. Primary data layers include general inventory information such as shoreline oiling, surface oiling, shoreline treatment, coastal morphology, bathymetry, hydrography, wildlife habitat, land status, land cover, and land use. Thematic layers are specific to individual NRDA studies and include hydrocarbon information, wildlife distribution and abundance data, and survey transect designs. The GIS workload was distributed between the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to better utilize computer resources and staff expertise. The USFWS focused mainly on development of thematic data layers for wildlife resources and provision of analytical services to NRDA studies. The GIS will provide a reservoir of geographic data and assure the consistency and quality of these data. It also will provide managers, investigators, and peer reviewers with tools for spatial analysis as a means to better understand complex data. The overlay analysis and data integration capabilities of GIS provide an opportunity to create summaries useful for further statistical analysis by investigators. The USFWS will use GIS primarily as a synthesis and analysis tool for restoration activities. Examples of specific applications include: (a) relating marbled murrelet nest and activity data with land cover and timber information to help describe habitat requirements; and (b) using results from synthesis efforts to identify land protection measures needed to enhance recovery.


Proposal: Not Available

Reports:
Final Report: Not available. For current status, please contact us.

Publications from this Project: None Available

Datasets:
EVOSTC Data Archive: GIS coverages. Arc/Info Availability: Available through Alaska Department of Natural Resources fall 1996.