Results from Scoping/User Needs Assessment:
The Nature Conservancy wrapped up their user needs assessment and produced a final report based on interviews and an online survey this summer. The purpose of their scoping effort was to better understand the processes currently used to make decisions, identify data priorities, and learn about the way people would like to interact with the data tools.
The report highlighted the desire for data integration and visualization tools to have the following attributes:
- A central clearinghouse that makes many types of data easily accessible
- User-friendly for people without special expertise
- High-quality data in a usable format and a variety of scales and resolutions
- Real-time data and fast downloads
- Ability to quickly add and visualize different types of data layers, such as relationships of shipping routes and wildlife habitats
- Multiple levels of access or interfaces for technical and non-technical users
- Include potential scenario-building tools
You can read the report here.
Advisory Group meeting:
The 9-member STAMP advisory group met for two days in late September 2012 to get an update on project progress, review data tools developed in other regions, and help guide next steps in shaping the tool.
Key discussion points included:
- Comprehensive data is not currently available to support fancy analytical tools for fisheries decisions. Simpler functions at this stage may be more useful, particularly since decisions regarding commercial fisheries are still in the distant future.
- Much of the existing data is patchy, but can still be useful if it is displayed clearly and adequately describes the limitations.
- The tool should incorporate as much fisheries data as possible
- The tool should incorporate some special capabilities into the tool to include “decision-support” attributes in addition to data access and visualization. These can demonstrate potential future capabilities if STAMP were to be expanded. Ideas include some type of special functionality relating to vessel corridors, marine mammals, and sea ice. These ideas are being further refined.
Tool Construction and Data:
- The AOOS Data team has been working on populating the STAMP tool with Arctic data layers, including forecast models, GIS layers, satellite imagery, and real-time sensors. There are currently about 400 data layers in the system. Examples include 25 years of daily sea ice extent from the NSIDC, surface current archives from UAF’s high frequency radar, USGS marine mammal boat surveys, 94 ice layers from the Atlas of the Cryosphere, and more.
- The Institute for Social & Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska is compiling spatial data on population, housing, income characteristics, energy prices, and capital projects.
- The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks continues to make progress on producing downscaled climate model layers for Alaskan coastal waters.
Recent STAMP Presentations:
- North Pacific Fisheries Management Council – Oct 5
- Northwest Arctic Borough Subsistence Mapping Workshop — Oct 25
- Barrow community – Nov 2
- Beaufort Sea Partnership (in Winnipeg, by webinar) – Nov 27
Upcoming Activities:
- STAMP team members Molly McCammon and Rob Bochenek will attend a meeting of the NPRB-funded Pacific Marine Arctic Regional Synthesis (PACMARS) project in Boulder, Dec 10-11th to discuss Arctic data
- The Nature Conservancy is producing a final report reviewing data tools developed in other regions, and their potential applicability to Alaska and STAMP. When complete later this month, this report will be posted on the STAMP website.
- The AOOS data team will continuing to work towards ingesting a list of prioritized Arctic data, with help from partners and other data providers.