This website was archived in 2016, when the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance formally ended. It is no longer being updated.

Regional Information Management System


10020972456_b2f4befb25_bA team of natural resource managers, scientists, and information management system experts have partnered to develop a regional Information Management System (RIMS) and recommend decision support tools that will support regional collaboration and decision-making. In addition to regional-level stakeholders, state and local coastal managers and decision makers will also be served by this project, which will enable ready access to new and existing data and information. The collection and synthesis of spatial data into a suite of visualization tools is a critical step for long-term collaborative planning in the South Atlantic region for a wide range of coastal uses.

Goal – Develop a RIMS and data discovery tool which could be used to for future decision-making related to coastal and marine planning.
Focus Area – Coastal NC, SC, GA and FL
Timeline – 22 months, starting Jan 2012

Deliverables:

  • An assessment of geospatial data and technology needs. This assessment has helped to identify data use, data gaps, and geospatial technology use by coastal resource managers for each of the GSAA states,
  • An initial RIMS (regional portal) that meets the core needs of the GSAA and demonstrate its capability to support analysis of coastal and marine management issues.
  • A report that assesses existing coastal and marine data products and tools, and their potential applicability in the Southeast region.

FUNDED PARTNERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Center for GIS at Georgia Tech University – GA technical lead, decision support tool analysis, and GIS expert
Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab – evaluation of data portals, publication of white paper, portal and decision support tool expert
East Carolina University – NC data layer development
SC Department of Natural Resources – regional data sets and analysis of data gaps, data layer development expert
SECOORA – project manager, data management expert
The Nature Conservancy – regional data layer development, decision support tool analysis, portal and decision support tool expert
University of South Carolina – IMS and relational database development, data management expert

MANAGEMENT TEAM MEMBERS

Serving in advisory capacities and as contributors of data and information:
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Coastal Management Division; South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources Division; Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA Coastal Services Center, and NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center / National Coastal Data Development Center.

PROJECT TEAM

LEAD PI
Debra Hernandez – Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association – debra@secoora.org

STATE AGENCY LEADS
Mike Lopazanski – NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Elizabeth Von Kolnitz – S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control
Jill Andrews – GA Dept. of Natural Resources
Michael Carothers – FL Dept. of Environmental Protection

TECHNICAL LEADS
Ken Richardson – NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Bob Van Dolah – SC Dept. of Natural Resources
Tony Giarrusso – GA Institute of Technology
Gary Cook – FL Dept. of Environmental Protection

For more information: www.southatlanticalliance.org or email Debra Hernandez at – debra@secoora.org

Funding for the GSAA and this project is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).