AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Dams and Sediment in the Hudson (DaSH) - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

Dams and Sediment in the Hudson answered key questions about how dam removal will impact conditions in the estuary and offered surprising new findings about tidal marshes in the Hudson River valley. The project used a multidisciplinary approach that combined field observations with an analysis of sediment transport using a proven hydrodynamic model.

Researchers surveyed 17 representative dams in the Lower Hudson River watershed by measuring water depth and sediment thickness and collecting sediment cores. Results were extrapolated to the 1700 registered dams located on tributaries of the Lower Hudson River to estimate the total amount of sediment trapped in the watershed. These observations were complemented by an analysis of sediment discharge data from existing monitoring stations on tributaries to characterize typical sediment input to the estuary and conditions following major storm events. A numerical model of circulation and sediment transport in the estuary was used to evaluate the impact of dam removal scenarios. To understand sediment contributions to tidal wetlands along the Hudson, researchers collected transects of sediment core from 6 representative tidal wetlands and coves. Geochronological data of sediment cores combined with an analysis of historical and aerial photos was used to assess when wetlands began to form and their rates of accumulation.

Results show that dam removals would have a minimal impact on sediment supply to the estuary and tidal wetland growth. Only 10% of dams in the Lower Hudson River watershed are effective sediment traps, and the potential amount of sediment that would be released if all dams were removed represents less than 2 years average sediment input from the watershed. Tidal wetlands along the Hudson were found to be remarkably young and rapidly accumulating sediment despite the presence of dams, growing vertically at rates several times faster than sea level rise.

Tags: atmospheric/ocean indicators, climate indicators, dam, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, earth science, environmental assessments, environmental governance/management, environmental impacts, fluvial landforms, geomorphic landforms/processes, hudson river nerr, human dimensions, inundation, land surface, national ocean service, nerrs, noaa, ny, office of coastal management, sea level rise, sediment, u.s. department of commerce, watershed/drainage basin
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
NOAA Office for Coastal Management Coastal Inundation Digital Elevation Model: USVI

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. It depicts potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at sea level rise and coastal flooding impacts. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer may be accessed at: https://coast.noaa.gov/slr.
      
This metadata record describes the Puerto Rico digital elevation model (DEM), which is a part of a series of DEMs produced for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer described above. This DEM includes the best available lidar known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications. This DEM data includes St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.
      
The DEM was produced from the following lidar data sets:
      1. 2018 USGS Lidar DEM: Post Hurricane Maria - USVI      
      
The DEM is referenced vertically to the Virgin Islands Vertical Datum of 2009 (VIVD09, Geoid12B) with vertical units of meters and horizontally to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83 2011). The resolution of the DEM is approximately 3 meters.

Tags: atlantic ocean, bathymetry/topography, caribbean sea, coastal processes, dem, digital elevation model, digital elevation/terrain model (dem), doc/noaa/nos/ocm, earth science, elevation, flooding, geomorphic landforms/processes, inundation, land surface, lidar, national ocean service, noaa, north atlantic ocean, ocean, office of coastal management, sea level changes, sea level rise, terrain elevation, topography, u.s. department of commerce, virgin islands
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Resilience and Positive Feedbacks: Water Quality Management and Eelgrass Health in the Great Bay Estuary - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

An interdisciplinary effort to examine eelgrass health has increased trust among partners and inspired ideas for new management strategies by municipalities and state agencies.

The Project
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) has been declining in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire over the past 20 years. Eelgrass has long been considered an indicator of estuarine health since declines in its distribution usually signal detrimental change in water quality. The sustained decline in eelgrass in Great Bay led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a Total Nitrogen General Permit in 2020 to curb both point and nonpoint sources of nitrogen (N) input in the Bay. Thanks to significant upgrades to wastewater treatment plants, nitrogen inputs have been declining. This project sought to determine whether those reductions improved eelgrass health or resulted in positive feedback that enhanced the resilience of eelgrass in Great Bay Estuary.

Building on existing regional collaborations, this project explored connections between eelgrass health, water quality, and water flow patterns in Great Bay. The project team combined hydrodynamic modeling and new field observations to examine potential stressors of eelgrass, including water residence time, nitrogen loading, in situ nitrogen processing, sediment dynamics, and light availability. A Project Advisory Committee made up of individuals from 14 organizations was formed to provide input to the project team and to ensure results were relevant, trusted, and useful within the current management context.

The project's hydrodynamic modeling found that Great Bay may be more sensitive to nitrogen loading than previously thought, because water can "reside" in the Bay far longer than expected. The project results also emphasized the need to prioritize sediment management along with nitrogen management. The project produced a wealth of resources, including a comprehensive technical report and an interactive story map. Project outcomes are directly informing adaptive management plans developed by communities, as well as future modifications to the EPA permit requirements. The momentum and funding from this project has also inspired several educational products associated with Great Bay NERR, including a new eelgrass exhibit, traveling education trunks for teacher classrooms, and a "Teachers on the Estuary" Workshop focused on eelgrass.

Tags: bed shear stress, biomass, biosphere, carbon, denitrification, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, earth science, ecosystems, eelgrass, estuary, grain size, great bay nerr, growth, hydrodynamics, isotope, loss-on-ignition, macroalgae, marine ecosystems, national ocean service, nerrs, nh, nitrogen, noaa, office of coastal management, particle dispersion, plastochrone interval, redox, sav/sea grass bed, seaweed, sediment, u.s. department of commerce, velocity, water, water residence time
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
NOAA Office for Coastal Management Coastal Inundation Digital Elevation Model: Guam

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. It depicts potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at sea level rise and coastal flooding impacts. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer may be accessed at: https://coast.noaa.gov/slr.
      
      This metadata record describes the Guam digital elevation model (DEM), which is a part of a series
      of DEMs produced for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's Sea Level Rise and Coastal
      Flooding Impacts Viewer described above. This DEM includes the best available lidar known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications. This DEM includes data for the island of Guam. 
      
      The DEM was produced from the following lidar data sets:
      1. 2020 NOAA NGS Topobathy Lidar DEM: Guam 

      
      The DEM is referenced vertically to the Guam Vertical Datum of 2004 (GUVD04) with vertical units of meters and horizontally to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The resolution of the DEM is approximately 3 meters.

Tags: coastal elevation, coastal processes, continent, dem, digital elevation/terrain model (dem), doc/noaa/nos/ocm, earth science, flooding, inundation, land surface, lidar, light detection and ranging, national ocean service, noaa, north america, oceans, office of coastal management, sea level rise, terrain elevation, topography, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, vertical location
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
2017 OCM Unmanned Aerial Systems Lidar: San Francisco Bay NERR

Quantum Spatial (QSI) and PrecisionHawk (PH) collected lidar for a test site within the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (SFBNERR) Rush Ranch location using an unmanned aerial system (UAS).  The target area covered approximately two square miles, although approximately three square miles of data were collected. A DJI Matrice 600 hexacopter platform was used, carrying a YellowScan lidar system. The system provides 2 returns (strongest and last) with a pulse rate of 300 kHz using a 903 nm wavelength laser. Flights were conducted from September 5-7, 2017 and were flown at 50 meters above ground level.

Specifications for the collection included 30 pulses per square meter and 0.10 meter RMSE vertical accuracy in non-vegetated areas. The average first return density was over 400 points per square meter. Classified ground point density varied spatially depending on vegetation with areas of no penetration and areas with over 60 ground points per square meter.

Deliverables included the lidar point cloud in LAS/LAZ format. Data were delivered in UTM zone 10 NAD83(2011) horizontally and NAVD88 (Geoid12b) meters vertically.
Lidar point clouds were projected back to geographic coordinates for storage in the Digital Coast Data Access Viewer and the vertical datum was converted to the ellipsoid.

Tags: bare earth, bare ground, bathymetry/seafloor topography, california, coastal elevation, coastal processes, continent, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, drone, earth science, high-resolution, land surface, lidar, light detection and ranging, national ocean service, noaa, north america, oceans, office of coastal management, seafloor topography, terrain elevation, topographical relief maps, topography, u.s. department of commerce, uas, united states of america, unmanned aerial system
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
NOAA Office for Coastal Management Coastal Inundation Digital Elevation Model: Florida, Northeast

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. It depicts potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at sea level rise and coastal flooding impacts. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer may be accessed at: https://coast.noaa.gov/slr.
      
      This metadata record describes the Florida Northeast digital elevation model (DEM), which is a part of a series of DEMs produced for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer described above. This DEM includes the best available lidar known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications. This DEM includes data for Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns Counties.
      
      The DEM was produced from the following lidar data sets:
      1. 2018 Florida Peninsular FDEM - Clay
      2. 2018 Florida Peninsular FDEM - Duval
      3. 2019 Florida Peninsular - Flagler
      4. 2018 Florida Peninsular FDEM - Nassau
      5. 2017 City Of Palm Coast, Florida Lidar
      6. 2018 Florida Peninsular - Putnam
      7. 2018 Florida Peninsular FDEM - St. Johns

      
      The DEM is referenced vertically to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) with vertical units of meters and horizontally to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The resolution of the DEM is approximately 3 meters.

Tags: airplane, bathymetry/topography, clay county, coastal elevation, coastal processes, continent, dem, digital elevation model, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, duval county, earth science, elevation, flagler county, flooding, florida, inundation, land surface, lidar, light detection and ranging, nassau county, national ocean service, noaa, north america, oceans, office of coastal management, putnam county, sea level rise, st. johns county, terrain elevation, topography, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us, vertical location
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Storm Stories: Communicating Hurricane Impacts using Monitoring Data and Visualizations - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

By pairing water quality and meteorological data with visible impacts, reserves can illustrate storm impacts and connect local communities to science.

The project
This project developed through conversations among the southeast and Caribbean region National Estuarine Research Reserves while discussing the need to respond to regional hurricanes including Dorian, Michael, Florence, Maria, Irma, and Matthew. Storm events damage not only the built infrastructure of local communities, but also the natural areas within and surrounding the reserves. The reserves wanted tools to help communicate about storm impacts using monitoring data and information collected through the System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP), including salinity, dissolved oxygen, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and water depth. By pairing water quality and meteorological data with visible impacts, reserves can illustrate storm impacts and connect local communities to science.

The final communications products include pictures, hurricane path maps, SWMP data analyses and visualizations, and text to help connect the quantitative storm story to the visual impacts observed in reserve local communities. Tools that enable communication about storms with local communities allow reserve educators and local teachers to discuss storm event impacts with their students. They also enable the Coastal Training Program to communicate with natural resource managers and local decision makers about observed negative environmental changes such as fish kills, increases in invasive vegetation, and native vegetation die-off.

Tags: ace basin nerr, climate change, communication, de, delaware nerr, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, fl, guana tolomato matanzas nerr, hurricane, jobos bay nerr, national ocean service, nc, nerrs, noaa, north carolina nerr, north inlet-winyah bay nerr, office of coastal management, pr, sc, swmp, u.s. department of commerce
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Weather Radar Impact Zones

These data represent an inventory of the national impacts of wind turbine interference with NEXRAD radar stations. This inventory was developed by the NOAA Radar Operations Center (ROC) to establish variable zones that delineate the possible impacts that wind turbines may have on radar operations. The inventory scheme includes four zones that take in to account terrain, distance, and the number of elevation angles impacted. ROC requests various degrees of consultation with the developer depending on the zone. No Build - No wind turbines permitted Mitigation Zone - Significant impacts likely Consultation Zone - Significant impacts possible Notification Zone - Impacts not likely

Tags: continent, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, doppler, earth science, environmental governance/management, human dimensions, marinecadastre, national ocean service, noaa, north america, office of coastal management, renewable energy planning, territorial sea, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Evaluating and Enhancing Eelgrass Resiliency and Restoration Potential in a Changing Climate - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

A network of the intended users from reserves, state agencies, and Chesapeake Bay nonprofits developed a framework to guide eelgrass restoration efforts with an emphasis on climate resilience.

In the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, warmer water temperatures in recent years have resulted in large scale diebacks of eelgrass meadows (Zostera marina). Historically stable, dense eelgrass meadows have converted to low-density, ephemeral meadows. In contrast, many eelgrass populations in Back Sound, North Carolina appear to be more resilient to warming water temperatures. Restoring this iconic species in Virginia and beyond will require understanding the drivers of eelgrass resilience to climate change.

By coordinating a network of the intended users from reserves, state agencies, and Chesapeake Bay nonprofits, this project compared resiliency traits of eelgrass populations in Virginia and North Carolina. The project team worked with a user advisory group, which held regular brainstorming meetings, to design an approach that would inform management decisions related to eelgrass, especially restoration. The team conducted reciprocal restoration trials of Virginia and North Carolina eelgrass seeds (i.e. planting seeds sourced from NC at restoration sites in VA, and vice versa). In addition, the team performed whole genome sequencing of eelgrass sourced from both VA and NC. Restoration trials showed that seeds sourced from NC performed better than local VA seeds at some, but not all, of the restoration sites in VA. Genomic results confirmed that eelgrass populations in VA and NC are locally adapted and use different molecular pathways to achieve resilience to warming conditions.

These results offer insights into the drivers of these regional differences in eelgrass resilience. They indicate the importance of seed sources in potential future eelgrass restoration, in addition to focusing on site selection. The team used the results to develop a draft decision-making framework to guide eelgrass restoration efforts with an emphasis on climate resilience. The framework integrates genomic data, environmental monitoring, and site-specific stressor assessments to inform donor site selection and restoration planning. This framework not only synthesized a wide range of data but also incorporated early and consistent input from the End User Advisory Group, which helped ensure that it was both scientifically rigorous and practically relevant.

Tags: biosphere, chesapeake bay, climate change, common garden, doc/noaa/nos/ocm, earth science, eelgrass, eelgrass genomics, national ocean service, nerrs, noaa, office of coastal management, par, percent cover, reclamation/revegetation/restoration, restoration, seagrass, seed bank, seed source, seed viability, shoot density, snps, stress, thermal adaptation, transplant, u.s. department of commerce, va nerr, vegetation, water quality, zostera marina
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Transfer of a Low-cost Tidal Wetland Water Level Monitoring System: Hyperlocal Calculations of Inundation and Tidal Datums for Understanding Change and Restoration Planning - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

A transfer project brought low-cost arm-and-float water level loggers and tidal calculation expertise to seven reserves to help characterize flooding dynamics for different marsh habitat features and inform targeted management activities.

The Project
Reliable water level information is vital for understanding how tidal flooding and inundation affect coastal wetlands. Despite the rich body of tidal wetland studies in the Reserve System,  availability of small-scale, wetland feature-specific water level monitoring data has been minimal even for reserves with well-developed wetlands and water level monitoring programs. In some cases, the nearest NOAA tidal station is located too far from a reserve's wetlands to serve as an appropriate reference when assessing flooding regimes. By producing high-precision water level monitoring data, reserves can document variability among tidal wetland features, ultimately informing potential management activities. These data and analyses can then help to plan targeted restorations or manipulations that improve habitat resilience to sea level rise.

The project team employed a targeted training approach to install Arm-and-Float water level loggers - novel equipment designed and field-tested by the project lead at Waquoit Bay NERR - and bring expertise in hydrodynamic monitoring and tidal datum calculation to six other reserves. Research and stewardship staff served as the primary users and provided 10-14 sites where detailed water level information would help to guide restoration or understanding of vegetation monitoring trends as they relate to inundation periods. Local NERR staff also assisted with equipment deployment, retrieval and elevation surveys at their logger sites. The project deployed instruments at numerous sites across participating reserves over a period of 1-2 years. The team analyzed data associated with a subset of these deployment periods and provided reserve staff at these locations with tidal datums associated with specific marsh features.

Tags: doc/noaa/nos/ocm, fl nerr, flooding, great bay, guana tolomato matanzas, hydrology, ma nerr, marsh resilience, me nerr, monitoring, narragansett bay, national ocean service, nerrs, nh nerr, noaa, north inlet-winyah bay, office of coastal management, ri nerr, sc nerr, u.s. department of commerce, waquoit bay, wells
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce