File Geodatabase Feature Class
Tags
Ocean Use, Shore Use, Socioeconomics, environment, Sailing, Charter Wildlife Viewing, Recreational Shore Fishing, Recreational Kayak Fishing, Recreational Fishing From Motorized Vessels, oceans, Swimming, Charter Diving and Snorkeling, Scenic or Natural Views, Recreational Waterfowl Hunting, Historic or Cultural Use, Charter Party Cruises, Recreational Shellfish Harvesting, Surface Water Sports, Recreational Dive Fishing, Sailing, Non-consumptive Use, SCUBA/Snorkeling/Diving, Recreational Use, Charter Scenic Viewing, Motorized Boating, Paddling, Fishing, Recreational Waterfowl Hunting, society, Charter Fishing, Charter Scenic Viewing, Fishing, Charter Wildlife Viewing, society, Atlantic Coast, Cultural Use, Charter Transport, Eastern Shore, Accomack County, Northampton County, Virginia Beach
This dataset contains recreational use information for Virginia's Atlantic Coast compiled for ocean planning efforts to reduce marine-use conflicts, maximize use efficiency, and enhance environmental and economic productivity.
As a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), Virginia, through its Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program, collected information on how the public uses the Atlantic coast of Virginia through a two day particpatory GIS workshop in July of 2012. These baseline data were collected to inform planning efforts being undertaken by Virginia CZM to help develop a Virginia Ocean Plan, to help Virginia CZM and the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission (A-NPDC) to continue development of the Seaside Special Area Management Plan, and to be incorporated into a regional recreational ocean use dataset that will eventually be displayed on the MARCO data portal. Collecting data on the variety of ways the public uses the Seaside Bays and Atlantic Ocean will help to plan for reducing use conflicts in our coastal waters, maximizing efficiency, and enhancing environmental and economic productivity. State and federally managed waters of Virginia and the U.S. are used in many ways: commercial fishing, aquaculture, shipping, military exercises, sand mining, habitat for wildlife, and recreation. With new and expanding coastal and ocean uses emerging such as energy production and increased shipping and considering Virginias coastal population is increasing (from 3.6 million in 1986 to 5.1 million in 2010), the pressure is mounting to ensure that there is space for both traditional and new uses and that conflicts are minimized. Some mapped human use data existed, but prior to this project, Virginia had no recreational water use data for its Atlantic coast and Seaside Eastern Shore Bays. This data was colected using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center Participatory Mapping Method: http://marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov/dataanalysis/mapping_ocean_uses/welcome.htmlThis data is available to view on the Virginia CZM Program's online mapping portal, Coastal GEMS, at www.coastalgems.org
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas Center (MPAC) and Coastal Services Center (CSC), Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (VA CZM), Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission (A-NPDC), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Center for Environmental Studies (CES)
There are no access and use limitations for this item.
Extent
| West | -76.130345 | East | -68.821666 |
| North | 38.087706 | South | 36.535621 |
| Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
| Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas Center (MPAC) and Coastal Services Center (CSC), Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (VA CZM), Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission (A-NPDC), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Center for Environmental Studies (CES)
ground condition
A detailed spreadsheet is available that describes decisions made during processing of the workshop data. Contact the Point of Contact for more information on the project and data processing.
Logical consistency was maintained by comparing data before and after each process step, and by comparing final product to source data.
Attribute accuracy was maintained by comparing data before and after each process step, and by comparing final product to source data.
Final edits will be made to dataset based on participant response.
Follow-up meetings with workshop participants will be planned for comment on preliminary results. Participant input will be recorded for future edits.
Data were digitized by workshop participant groups in Melfa, VA.
Data were processed by Project GIS Specialist to clean artifacts created during the live, participatory mapping process.
Data normalized for each use. For the footprint, an analysis cell with any number greater than 0 became a 1. For dominant, if the number of workshop groups who mapped a cell as dominant was at or greater than 50% of the groups who mapped that use, the value became a 1. All other cells became a 0, so that the final field values are binary (1= Yes, 0 = No)
A spatial join analysis was run for each use using 1 nautical mile squared microblocks as the zonal layer to determine the number of groups that identified a use in each grid cell.
Processed data was analyzed for completeness and consistency. Uses that seemed inconsistent or incomplete were marked for further investigation.
Use-specific procedures were performed based on participant input. This involved adding or removing areas as instructed by workshop participants based on certain depths or distances from shore.
All polygons were clipped to the project boundary to remove land and any marine areas outside the scope of the workshop.
Data from each group were reviewed following the workshop to: a. Detail any instructions from participants to add/remove areas in post-processing b. Review GIS technician and facilitator workshop notes for any relevant data editing comments c. Discuss any areas that might require special attention or follow up.
An ArcGIS Explorer Online map was created with separate layers for each recreational use and sent out to workshop participants and other reviewers for validation.
The ability for reviewers to pan and zoom on the draft maps, change base layers, transparency, and turn on additional reference data builds on the technology used to create the data during the workshop allowing reviewers to complete a more thorough review than static maps would allow.
The processed data from the workshop was made final without further revision after all reviewers who responded confirmed that the data reflected their input and knowledge.
Internal feature number.
Esri
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Feature geometry.
Esri
Coordinates defining the features.
Length of feature in internal units.
Esri
Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Area of feature in internal units squared.
Esri
Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.