NOS's Management and Budget Office is the focal point for all planning, management, budget, internal and external communication, and education activities at NOS Headquarters.
San Diego Bay shoreline survey from 1917 displayed as transparent image in Google Earth with recent satellite-derived image as base layer.
During fiscal year 2012, the Special Projects Division collaborated with the National Geodetic Survey to develop a web-based collection of 7,800 historical U.S. shoreline topographic images—the earliest dating back to 1841. The NOAA Historical Shoreline Survey Viewer allows users to view these historical images in Google Earth along with current satellite-derived shoreline images to see how U.S. coastlines have changed over time. The tool also provides data download options for users who wish to conduct more advanced analyses in Geographic Information Systems.
NOAA's Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Data Registry.
Data sharing is integral to collaborative, regional planning. This is especially true in the coastal and marine environment—where multi-jurisdictional issues are common—and is a recurring theme in the National Ocean Policy. In 2012, the Special Projects Division led the development and completion of a Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) Data Registry, a web-based collection of NOAA geospatial data sets that can support regional-level coastal and marine planning.
The registry contains approximately 50 data sets deemed essential by regional planning communities. Among these are bathymetry, navigational charts, essential fish habitat, human uses of marine space, and boundaries for U.S. Marine Protected Areas. These authoritative NOAA data sets are provided in a variety of formats, and many can be previewed, either individually or simultaneously with other registry data sets, before being downloaded. To reach an even broader audience, these data are also being added to Ocean.Data.Gov, the National Ocean Council's portal to support coastal and ocean planning.
NS&T sampling sites in Chesapeake Bay, Md.
In fiscal year 2012, the Special Projects Division worked closely with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop and launch a new Web mapping tool for the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, a group that conducts long-term monitoring of contaminants and other environmental conditions along U.S. coasts. Using a map-based interface, this new tool provides users with access to the full suite of NS&T data collected by the program since 1984. The data portal itself contains 35 studies, 400 scientific parameters, and over 1.1 million data records. With this new mapping tool, environmental managers and analysts can more efficiently find, display, and download data from the NS&T Data Portal.
In fiscal year 2012, the NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project (CSEP) expanded to include 140 educators in 40 states and the District of Columbia. The project provides professional development opportunities and supports a collaborative online learning community to increase climate science knowledge and engage students in local stewardship projects. Participants include educators from K-12 schools, community colleges, and informal institutions.
NOAA CSEP educators completed over 1,800 contact hours of professional development in climate change science and pedagogy via webinar and online tutorials, as well as face-to-face workshops. These activities were hosted by NOS and partnering organizations including the U.S. Forest Service, National Science Teachers Association, and American Meteorological Society. CSEP educators also organized full day peer workshops in Atlanta, Ga., Madison, Wis., New York City, and at the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, both in New York.
Diverse stewardship activities resulting from this project include elementary students in Washington, DC quantifying greenhouse gasses from vehicles idling outside their school and initiating a school-wide anti-idling campaign; middle school students in Hawaii studying the impacts of ocean acidification and initiating a "lower your carbon footprint" campaign; and high school students in Louisiana designing and implementing hands-on activities on renewable resources and climate change for elementary school students.