Digitalization of Coastal Management and Decision Making Supported by

Multi-Dimensional Geospatial Information and Analysis

Phase II (2001-2004) Introduction

This is a Phase II proposal submitted to the “Digital Government” Program. During the NSF-funded Phase I - planning project of “Digital Government: Digitalization of Coastal Management and Decision Making Supported by Multi-dimensional Geospatial Information and Analysis,” we have successfully organized a “Digital Government” Workshop, researched the potential of technologies and governmental operations to be supported, and developed/reconfirmed key collaborative government agencies at federal, state and local levels. This Phase II proposal describes the full efforts of the project.

The coastal zone represents diversified and important areas along the shoreline, ranging from swamps, farmland, recreation beaches, residential areas, industrial land, to harbors. The coastal environment is crucial to human being, wildlife, and properties in the zone. With the continuing trend of increasing population and economic activities in the coastal zone, a sustainable coastal environment is critical to all members of the zone. Recently, the coastal zone has been directly or indirectly affected by a series of problems such as global warming, climate change, sea level raising, coastal erosion, environmental contamination, and overpopulation. To give a detailed example in Ohio, 95% of Lake Erie shore is eroding (ODNR 1994). Erosion rates are as high as 110 feet per year. Nearly 2,500 structures are with 50 feet of destruction. Erosion caused economic losses exceed tens of millions of dollars per year. An urgent challenge is how to manage our coastal resources including land and waters.

Coastal management and decision making involve extremely comprehensive and critical governmental operations where the above problems and impacts have to be dealt with. Multiple federal, state, and local governmental agencies have to be coordinated. Geospatial information and analysis play a vital role in such operations. For example, a routine governmental operation at state and local level is to issue permissions to coastal development requests. Decisions on whether permissions should be approved must be made based on a scientific basis. Particularly, the following questions should be satisfactorily answered:

a) Where is the development area exactly located? How far is it from the coastline?

b) Will that be in an erosion or potential erosion area? If yes, when will the erosion damage be expected?

c) Will protection structure cause new erosion somewhere else?

d) Is there any social and/or environmental impact on the local communities, coastal land, and/or coastal ecosystem?

Without high quality geospatial information and analysis, answers to the above questions would not be objective. In fact, some of them were incorrect and caused legal and economical problems for the government. Other comprehensive governmental operations that can be supported by geospatial information and analysis include:

Ÿ Federal government: coastal resource management, shoreline mapping, coastal survey, change detection, and natural hazards mitigation; and

Ÿ State and local government: coastal erosion monitoring, coastal resource management, coastal forecasting, coastal development permission, and residential erosion awareness and watching system.

Digitalization of the above governmental operations will greatly enhance operational efficiency, interagency coordination, objectiveness of decision-making, and ultimately, cost-effectiveness of all levels of the government. Major coast-related federal agencies, Ohio state and local agencies were invited to and attended the NSF workshop held at the Ohio State University on June 14, 1999, for all level of governmental representatives and researchers to discuss problems, strategies, techniques, implementation, and cooperation for this Coastal Digital Government Project. Some of them were actually involved in initiating the concept. A mechanism of collaboration between universities and the government agencies was discussed and formalized.

For more information, email: li.282@osu.edu