Coastal Informatics

The field of web-based coastal atlas informatics presents experts with a variety of unique considerations in an area where accuracy is of vital importance and proper representation of spatial data come to the forefront. Coastal Informatics: Web Atlas Design and Implementation reviews and presents the latest developments in the emerging field of coastal web atlases through a series of case studies giving practical guidance on geographic data management and documentation through standards-based metadata, as well as making underlying geographic databases interoperable. Readers will find this book of practical use in Web atlas design, development and implementation, improving spatial thinking in the coastal context.

Dawn Wright is a professor of geography and oceanography at Oregon State University, and the director of the Davey Jones' Locker Seafloor Mapping/Marine GIS Laboratory. Her research interests include geographic information science, coastal web atlases, benthic terrain and habitat characterization, tectonics of mid-ocean ridges, and the processing and interpretation of high-resolution bathymetry and underwater videography/photography. She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Transactions in GIS, Journal of Coastal Conservation, The Professional Geographer, and Geography Compass, as well as on the US National Academy of Sciences' Ocean Studies Board, Committee on Strategic Directions in the Geographical Sciences for the Next Decade, Committee on an Ocean Infrastructure Strategy for US Ocean Research in 2030, and the Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data. She serves on the Technical Advisory Board of the Marine Metadata Interoperability project. Dawn's other books include Arc Marine: GIS for a Blue Planet (with M. Blongewicz, P. Halpin, and J. Breman, ESRI Press, 2007), Place Matters: Geospatial Tools for Marine Science, Conservation, and Management in the Pacific Northwest (with A. Scholz, Oregon State University Press, 2005), Undersea with GIS (ESRI Press, 2002), and Marine and Coastal Geographical Information Systems (with D. Bartlett, Taylor & Francis, 2000). Dawn holds a Ph.D. in Physical Geography and Marine Geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Edward (Ned) Dwyer has a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in remote sensing and image processing technology. He has worked in the area of terrestrial and marine remote sensing applications for many years using data from both optical and synthetic aperture radar sensors. Since joining the CMRC in 2002 he has been the project manager of the Marine Irish Digital Atlas, with particular responsibility for metadata specification and data acquisition. He is also researching climate observation systems in Ireland in regard to the Global Climate Observing System requirements. He is currently the co-chair of the International Coastal Atlas Network and an occasional lecturer on remote sensing and GIS topics at University College Cork.

Valerie Cummins is the former director of the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork, and recently appointed as the Director of Ireland's Maritime & Energy Research Campus and Commercial Cluster (MERC3). Her research interests cover a range of coastal governance issues including public participation, intuitional aspects of geomatics, capacity building for coastal management, and the science and policy interface and ecosystems frameworks. She is currently reading for a PhD on organizational tools for sustainability science in coastal zone management. She was instrumental in securing funding for the development of the Marine Irish Digital Atlas and has overseen the project since its inception. This activity led to her being a co-founder of the International Coastal Atlas Network. She contributes to the editorial panel of the international Marine Policy journal published by Elsevier and is a member of the Marine Geography Commission of the International Geographic Union.