CAMEO: Building the Foundation - An Integrative Approach to Managing the Dewatering of Estuaries (2009-Present)

This project, funded by NOAA, will conduct ecosystem and human dimensions research to develop integrative decision-support tools. These tools will provide decision-makers information for managing freshwater inflows to estuaries. The project addresses two main goals of the Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO) program: (1) integrate information from experimental, observational, human dimension, and modeling approaches and (2) provide science-based information to policy makers and managers. This project involves all areas of research at the Harte Research Institute, and the CMGL's portion involves using remote sensing technologies to compare the spatial and temporal variation of suspended sediments in three Texas estuaries and relate those variations to freshwater inflow. This analysis will allow prediction on how estuaries may respond to continued dewatering or watering.

Coastal Geohazards Mapping for Mustang and North Padre Islands (2008-Present)

This work, funded by the Coastal Bend Bays Estuary Program and the Texas General Land Office, is developing a geohazards map of North Padre and Mustang Islands. The project is an outgrowth of a geohazards map completed of Galveston Island, which the City of Galveston is now incorporating into their planning process. The map will consider the spatial and temporal patterns of geological processes, geomorphology, and geoenvironments (e.g., wetlands and dunes) that combine to create potentially hazardous conditions. Features that mitigate hazardous conditions, such as dune ridges, will also be mapped. Model projections on how the island will change in 60 years will be incorporated in the map so that people may plan for the future. The goal is to provide information to the planning process, but it will also serve to increase public awareness of the natural physical processes acting on the islands.

Evaluation of Ecosystem Services of Coastal Habitats (2008-Present)

This work, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency will produce procedures and tools for mapping ecosystem services and the values of those services for Gulf of Mexico coastal habitats. Mustang Island, Texas, a typical Gulf barrier-island system, is serving as the study area for developing and testing tools that may be applied in many Gulf coast settings. Products will be integrated with and use habitat data compiled in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Habitat Identification and Characterization Team's Internet-based geospatial database system. This project, therefore, will widely provide decision support tools and information needed to implement ecosystem-based management.

Gulf of Mexico Alliance: Identification and Characterization of Gulf Habitats (2008-Present)

This major project, funded by NOAA, supports the Gulf of Mexico Alliance's Ecosystem Integration and Assessment Priority Issue Team. The primary goal of this project is to improve management of Gulf habitats through the creation of a publicly accessible Internet portal for searching, viewing, analyzing, and downloading habitat related geospatial data. Through partnerships with Gulf States and federal government agencies, we are compiling geospatial data on habitats and developing tools for accessing and analyzing habitat related geospatial data. These tools and data will be used by coastal resource managers for evaluating permit applications, tracking environmental trends, and developing and implementing ecosystem-based management policy. Work will be done in close partnership with federal and Gulf state agencies.

Shoreline Change and Beach/Dune Morphodynamics Along the Gulf Coast (2010-Present)

This work is funded by the Texas General Land Office and the Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Service (MMS). The goal of this project is to improve the management, protection, and restoration of the beach/dune system along the Texas Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Protection of the natural foredunes and their enhancement is an excellent way to decrease the susceptibility of the shoreline to storm damage, while improving the beach/dune environment. Up-to-date knowledge of the vegetation cover, volume, and morphology of beaches and dunes is a fundamental dataset for determining the susceptibility of the coast to storm damage and ongoing erosion. This project will provide data, maps, and analyses that are needed to plan the future of the shoreline. State-of-the-art lidar technology and analysis methods will be used.

Beach Dynamics Study - Profile Comparison Graph

Beach and Dune Volume Changes for South Padre Island, Texas

Texas Shoreline Type Mapping (2010-Present)

This Texas General Land Office Oil Spill Prevention & Response Program project will provide up-to-date shoreline type classifications in the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) ranking system for the upper Texas coast. It will update and improve the accuracy and resolution of the ESI shoreline data in the current Texas General Land Office's Oil Spill Planning and Response Atlas. The shoreline developed for this work may also be used for shoreline change analysis and the new low-altitude oblique photography and video acquired for this project will allow shoreline inspections for a variety of purposes.