NCORE
National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research
University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149
 

 

 

 

GIS Initiatives

In keeping with NCORE's mission to bring the management of coral reefs and their associated ecosystems into the 21st century, we will build upon recent developments in GIS and incorporate these into broadly-accessible models that can be disseminated widely. The development of two-dimensional digital maps provided resource managers enhanced depictions of the horizontal spread of resources (and their surrounding environments). However, they are unable to provide good visualizations of the vertical composition of the area. Thus, the development of highly, interactive three-dimensional (3D) maps is at the heart of our GIS initiative.
Implementation of the GIS initiative will include: (1) the collection of geo-corrected and geo-referenced satellite images and digital maps; (2) ground-truthing and the development of the 3D models; and (3) the dissemination of the products in a form that will allow researchers and scientists to overlay additional layers of geo-referenced dynamic data in support of regional environmental management.

Coupled with an overlay of dynamically simulated ecological agents, 3D digital maps will give managers and researchers a better view on how all of the elements of the ecosystem react to disturbances (natural or man-made) by showing the complete spectrum of the area.

A similar effort is now being conducted for the Bahamas through the Bahamas Biocomplexity Project  initiated by a consortium of research institutions including NCORE. To date, the following are some of the digital maps that are used and are available from project sites:
 

Maps Java 2 Version* HTML Remarks
Puerto Rico  AEJava version HTML version Metadata/Credits
The Bahamas  AEJava version HTML version Credits

Florida Keys
(recreational data layers)

(will be made available soon) (will be made available soon)  


* Accessing digital maps through this option is faster and resolution is better as compared to the HTML version. However, this version may not execute in Internet browsers that does not support Java 2 scripting. Since this option requires ArcExplorer Java Virtual Machine, the browser  will first test the presence of the ArcExplorer Java Virtual Machine. If this is not installed, installation options will be provided. It may be necessary to restart the web browser to effect the changes. For inquiries, please contact Johnathan Kool.

Please contact NCORE to access higher resolution maps or other digital maps.