Digital Great Lakes

The vision of the National Sea Grant Program’s Digital Ocean theme is that all the data needed to understand the oceans will be available, accessible, and easily integrated into models that help us with sustainable management of ocean resources. We are asked to imagine the oceans on a microchip. Another way to conceptualize the Digital Ocean is as the data infrastructure needed to address issues as diverse as hurricane forecasting, fisheries management, and water quality monitoring.

There is a logical extension of the Digital Ocean concept to the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have been described by Robert Ragotzkie as a microcosm of the world ocean. They are large in size and mimic many oceanic characteristics relating to circulation patterns, waves, and tides. The Great Lakes possess diverse resources, which are intensively utilized by a regional population of over 50 million. The management structure of the lakes is complex, with institutional arrangements ranging from local to international. Drawing on these facts, Ragotzkie argues that “the Great Lakes constitute a scientific, resource, and management model of the ocean from which much can be learned.” The Digital Great Lakes concept provides the regional data infrastructure to support managing the Great Lakes using a whole ecosystem approach. It extends beyond solely open water observations to include integration of mapping data and observations to the extent of the watershed. It could ultimately include atmospheric and underground resources outside the basin. Implementation of the Digital Great Lakes will allow exploration of “what-if” alternatives for Great Lakes management akin to “SimGreatLakes” modeling.

		Activities

Great Lakes Observing System - Education and Outreach
The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) promotes access to real-time and historic data on the hydrology, biology, chemistry, geology and cultural resources of the Great Lakes, its interconnecting waterways and the St. Lawrence River. GLOS is a regional node of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) initiative. The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network is working to build an education and outreach program to support GLOS. For more information on how GLOS can be applied to coastal issues facing Wisconsin, contact Jim Lubner, Marine Safety and Education Specialist (email: jflubner *at* aqua.wisc.edu) or David Hart, Geographic Information Systems Specialist (email: dhart *at* aqua.wisc.edu).
http://www.aqua.wisc.edu/glos/

Paddle-to-the-Sea -- Google Earth Application
Paddle-to-the-Sea has taught children and adults alike about the natural and cultural wonders of the Great Lakes. It remains timely 66 years after its initial publication. Follow Paddle-to-the-Sea, a carving of a young Indian boy in a canoe, on a journey through all the Great Lakes. This Google Earth application was developed by David Hart, GIS Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute and Noah Hart, student at Madison West High School during the summer of 2007. It includes themes, key words, and Web Sites from each chapter, along with path of Paddle's journey to the sea and links to Great Lakes data.
http://aqua.wisc.edu/glct/maps/kml/Paddle_to_the_Sea.kmz

Wisconsin's Lake Superior Coastal Mapping Portal
This project, funded by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, promotes the development of a 'dynamic and distributed GIS' to support integrated coastal management along the Lake Superior coast of Wisconsin.
http://maps.aqua.wisc.edu/

Great Lakes Circle Tour - Coastal Access Guide
The Great Lakes Circle Tour leads you around the largest freshwater system on the planet – but the main route often takes you far from the water's edge. This web site shows you where to pull off the highway for a quiet beach, a hidden lighthouse, or a secluded park. A variety of web mapping software was used to develop the site. This allowed us to uncover the benefits and drawbacks of each technology. The main site is developed using the Google Maps interface. That makes it easy for people to use with a simple web browser like Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Virtual Earth software such as Google Earth or NASA World Wind make it possible to integrate different features and simulate flying down the Circle Tour. Open source software such as MapServer, Chameleon, and OpenLayers allow us to pull in information from other data custodians and share our maps as well.
http://www.aqua.wisc.edu/glct/

Wisconsin County Web Mapping Sites
Most county governments in Wisconsin (65 of 72 or 90%) are developing interactive web mapping sites. This web site provides a means to access those that are available to the public and to track sites in development.
http://coastal.lic.wisc.edu/wisconsin-ims/wisconsin-ims.htm

Wisconsin Coastal Image Server
A web site that provides access to current and historical aerial photographs, USGS topographic maps, and shaded relief maps for the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior coasts of Wisconsin.
http://ortho.lic.wisc.edu/orthoserver/

		Links

Great Lakes Current Conditions
Rochelle Sturtevant at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab - Great Lakes Sea Grant Extension Office has compiled useful links to current observations for the Great Lakes.
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/glwlphotos/CurrentConditions.html

specialist:
David Hart
dhart@aqua.wisc.edu

location:
UW-Madison
1975 Willow Dr
Room 201
Madison, WI 53706

phone:
(608) 262-6515

fax:
(608) 262-0591

David joined the Wisconsin Sea Grant Advisory Services team in 2002, after working with Sea Grant on coastal GIS applications through the UW-Madison Land Information and Graphics Facility. As one of the few full-time Sea Grant GIS specialists in the country, David provides assistance to local governments and other coastal constituents in the areas of coastal hazards, land use, floodplain management and water quality. He also makes these tools available for other Sea Grant Advisory staff. David holds an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and a Ph.D. in Land Resources from the UW-Madison.

All photos used with permission.

University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, 1975 Willow Drive FL 2, Madison, WI 53706-1177 ph 608-262-0905
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