Abstract

Developing a regional monitoring geodatabase for the Southern California Bight
Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources
Authors: Rebecca Schaffner

The Bight Program is a multi-agency regional survey that samples the coastal waters and benthic communities of southern California every five years, spanning habitats from estuaries to offshore waters up to 1000m deep. Sample types include benthic grabs, trawls, sediment chemistry and toxicity, and harmful algae species. Sampling was conducted in 1998, 2003, and 2008, and has resulted in thousands of geographically indexed data points. It is required that this data be made available to scientists and the concerned public, therefore it must be collected into a format that allows for multiple modes of analysis and dispersal. Organizing, analyzing, and mapping this large and valuable dataset can be streamlined using GIS resources including the ArcMarine data model, ArcGIS Online, and other tools. This presentation will describe the steps taken to assure the quality and integrity of the data and incorporate it into a flexible data storage and mapping application.