GIS data portal enables ecosystem-based management Keeping NATURE and MAN in Balance Visitors seine for fish and crabs in the shallows of the Hudson River, part of the Esopus Meadows, which has abundant aquatic wildlife and forest ecology. By Katie Budreski, Stone Environmental, and Karen Richardson, Esri An online atlas and geoportal makes more than 400 datasets available for managing the shoreline of the North Atlantic Ocean, estuaries, and portions of two of the five Great Lakes that are within the State of New York. Developed by the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council, the atlas and geoportal are used for ecosystembased management (EBM). EBM is the study of activities within specific geographies with the goal of finding ways for humans and nature to coexist in a sustainable manner. Used mainly to study terrestrial environments, EBM has gained recent popularity in marine studies as communities search for solutions to ailing fisheries and ocean ecologies. Spatial data plays a key role in assisting communities practicing EBM because this management approach is place based and studies are focused on activities in specific geographies. New York State uses EBM for managing the shoreline of the Northern Atlantic Ocean and its estuaries as well as portions of two of the five Great Lakes. To do this effectively, the state created The New York Ocean & Great Lakes Atlas (nyoglatlas.org) and geoportal (portalnyoglecc.nyoglatlas.org). The atlas is used by the general public as well as local, regional, and state decision makers to view and explore more than 400 datasets about the region. The GIS Portal Toolkit [now known as the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension] helps visitors easily navigate the vast catalog of data accessed via the geoportal. The Geoportal extension includes a catalog service and a Web application. An Innovative Way to Manage the Marine Environment The New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Council, created in 2006, is charged with protecting, restoring, and enhancing New York’s ocean and Great Lakes ecosystems while taking into account sustainable economic development and job creation. The council is chaired by the commissioner of Environmental Conservation and composed of commissioners from Agriculture and Markets, Economic Development, and Transportation, as well as the secretary of state, the president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the interim chancellor of the State University of New York. Stone Environmental, an Esri business partner based in 24 ArcUser Summer 2010 The deep-water harbor of Greenport has been a working seaport since the 18th century and continues to be a vital hub both environmentally and economically for the area. Montpelier, Vermont, helped create the atlas. When launched in July 2008, the atlas was composed of a Web-based mapping application and more than 200 datasets. Users could view the datasets, download metadata and spatial data in multiple formats, and view attributes of the data. While the council had technically met its mandate, it was clear that an online catalog would be necessary to help navigate the available datasets. Portal Makes Data Searchable After reviewing several technologies, the council implemented the GIS Portal Toolkit because it had—out of the box—the functionality that the council required. Sophisticated searching capabilities, the ability to establish user accounts and data provider access, and flexible metadata authoring tools were very important and readily available in the software. In addition, Esri’s open software environment aligned with the council’s vision for future enhancements outlined in its fiveyear strategy document. The portal provides a robust way for users to search all the data holdings at the atlas. Users of the portal can perform metadata searches by keyword, data type, data category, date modified, and geographic location. Information for specific areas of interest can be easily found and compared in this manner. Once found, the search results can be www.esri.com