Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

Power Amidst Renewal: Foundation Support for Sustaining Advocacy After Disasters

Follows up a 2007 report on the effectiveness of foundations and nonprofits in advocating for systemic changes in the Gulf Coast and lessons learned. Calls for collaboration, regionalizing agendas, and integrating advocacy into missions and grant periods

The State of Adaptation in the United States: An Overview

Over the past two decades the adaptation landscape has changed dramatically. From its early days as a vague theoretical concept, which was often viewed as a threat to advocating for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it has developed into a widely, albeit not universally, recognized governmental mandate to reduce societal vulnerability to climate change. While it is important to appreciate the progress that we are making on this issue, it is impossible to ignore the urgent need to do more. Smart investment can be made by reflecting on what is already underway in order to determine where to build on existing efforts and where to innovate new approaches to fill the gaps in the path forward. In this report we provide illustrative examples of the variety of work on climate change adaptation that is underway in the United States. This is by no means an exhaustive survey of the field; however it does provide insight into the dominant focus of work to date, the resultant gaps, and the opportunities available for advancing this essential aspect of sustainability. We focus on four areas of activity -- agriculture, natural resources, human communities, and policy. The general trends relevant to these sectors can be applied more broadly to other sectors and countries. Adaptation can be thought of as a cycle of activities that ultimately -- if successful -- reduces vulnerability to climate change. This process starts with identifying the impacts of climate change to determine the types of problems climate change might pose. This includes all of the research on the causes and the global, regional, and local manifestations of climate change, often referred to as impacts assessments

Living Shorelines & Resilience in Southern California: A Summary of a Series of Workshops held as part of The Resilient Coastlines Project of Greater San Diego

In 2016, a series of workshops were held to discuss living shorelines in SouthernCalifornia. The workshops specifically focused on the unique benefits, challenges andopportunities for implementing living shorelines in the region, and the nexus betweennature-based solutions and ongoing local adaptation planning. Approximately 140participants partook in these dialogues, and some of the key themes that emergedinclude: Letting nature do the work for you Designing for the future Integrating nature into shoreline management projects Project goals distinguishing living shorelines Engineering and urban living shorelines Space constraints along urban coastlines Permitting pathways to support demonstration projects Living shorelines and phased sea level rise planning Designing with watersheds and sediment management in mind Exploring emerging commercial opportunities Public access and project success Planning for living shorelines alongside the community Sharing monitoring and best practices to ensure future success Citizen science and socio-ecological monitoringThe workshops provided the first ever opportunity for Southern California stakeholdersto outline what is unique about designing living shorelines in the context of SouthernCalifornia shorelines for state and federal entities

Kresge Foundation 2010-2011 Annual Report

Contains an introduction to Kresge's strategy; board chair's letter; president's letter; foundation timeline; program information; grant summary, including geographic distribution; grants lists; financial summary; and lists of board members and staff

Roadmap for Wildfire Resilience: Solutions for a Paradigm Shift

Though fire is a natural ecological process in many forest ecosystems, extreme wildfires now pose a growing threat to the nation's natural resources and communities. These trends will continue to worsen absent bold and transformative policy action to change the trajectory of how we manage and prepare for wildfire impacts.The Nature Conservancy and the Aspen Institute have spent the last year responding to this opportunity by hosting a series of workshops that sought input from all levels of government, Tribal Nations, the private sector, fire-prone communities, philanthropists, academics and other stakeholders, culminating in a Roadmap for Wildfire Resilience. The Roadmap concentrates on the two pillars of the 2014 National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy—resilient landscapes and fire-adapted communities—that require an investment commensurate with the third pillar—safe and effective wildfire response—to alter the current wildfire trajectory. This Roadmap weaves together lessons from decades of policy and practice with forward-thinking approaches that incorporate new technology and knowledge.Decision makers, advocates and other interested readers are invited to use this Roadmap to advance a more strategic and coordinated approach to wildfire resilience in ways that contribute to addressing climate change, promoting ecosystem health, advancing economic recovery and supporting historically underserved and excluded communities

Assessing the Efficacy of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan

California’s wildfire threat eclipses current forestry management and wildfire mitigation strategies in place to protect people, infrastructure, and the natural environment. Climate change escalates wildfire risks with declining water supply coupled with hotter, drier conditions. California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan attempts to integrate and build upon previously successful wildfire resilience plans to amplify the scale and pace of the state’s land management and community protections. This research assesses the plan’s efficacy to respond to the growing wildfire threat. This study investigates if there is equitable planning for the needs of high-wildfire risk groups living in the WUI and on tribal lands. It also compares the plan structure and initial implementation against a wildfire & forestry management planning framework to determine its potential for success. Lastly, this study reviews the forestry-, community-, economy-, and technology-focused actions against the Arup City Resilience Framework to identify strengths and opportunities for a resilient wildfire management approach. Land treatment and resident outreach and education efforts planned for WUI areas target the key protective needs for those communities. Most work to improve training, grant funding, and partnership opportunities for Native American Indigenous communities is structured through federal and state approval systems. To make wildfire management practices more equitable, more authoritative power should be given to Tribal leadership and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) should be meaningfully integrated into prescribed fire training and goals. The structure of the Action Plan satisfies all planning criteria, but the development of the proposed Forest & Wildland Stewardship Interagency Tracking System will enhance consistency, transparency, and accountability of progress reporting and accessibility. The key actions fulfill Arup’s twelve resilience dimensions, but a gap analysis identifies opportunity for future planning to build upon safeguards to human health. State facilitation of county-level emergency plan sharing will strengthen multi-jurisdictional coordination and instill a shared sense of ownership in building California’s wildfire resilience

Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia Management Plan: 2022-2027

Established through the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) represents a partnership program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the coastal states to promote informed management of the Nation’s estuaries and habitats. Designated in 1991, and administered by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of William & Mary, the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERR-VA or Reserve) is one of 30 protected areas, which encompass over 1.3 million acres and make up the NERRS. As the nation\u27s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay contains a diverse collection of habitats and salinity regimes. In order to incorporate the diversity of habitats in the lower Bay subregion, CBNERR-VA incorporates a multi-component network along the salinity gradient of the York River estuary (YRE). The Reserve’s four components are: (1) Goodwin Islands (148 ha; 366 ac), an archipelago of polyhaline saltmarsh islands surrounded by inter-tidal flats, extensive submerged aquatic vegetation beds, and shallow open estuarine waters near the mouth of the YRE; (2) Catlett Islands (220 ha; 542 ac), consisting of multiple parallel ridges of forested wetland hammocks, maritime-forest uplands, and emergent mesohaline salt marshes; (3) Taskinas Creek (433 ha; 1070 ac), containing non-tidal feeder streams that drain oak-hickory forests, maple-gum-ash swamps and freshwater marshes which transition into tidal oligo and mesohaline salt marshes; and (4) Sweet Hall Marsh (443 ha; 1094 ac), an extensive tidal freshwater-oligohaline marsh ecosystem located in the Pamunkey River, one of two major tributaries of the York River. This plan aligns with and complements the NERRS 2017-2022 Strategic Plan and VIMS\u27s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan while building upon previous accomplishments and the desire to address current priority issues and meet future challenges. Its intent is to provide a vision and framework to guide Reserve activities for program undertakings over the five-year period from 2022-2027

Supporting evidence-based adaptation decision-making in South Australia: a synthesis of climate change adaptation research

This research synthesis provides policy-makers and practitioners with an understanding of the building blocks for effective adaptation decision-making, as evidenced through the NCCARF research program. It synthesised a portfolio of adaptation research for each Australian state and territory and addressing the complex relationships between research and policy development.   Each state and territory synthesis report directs users to research relevant identified priorities