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  NC National Estuarine Research Reserve

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  NERR's Centralized Data Management Office

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  Deep Sea Coral Research

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  NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service

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  Hollings Marine Laboratory

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  S.C. Sea Grant Consortium

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  NOAA's Coastal Services Center

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  NOAA's National Weather Service in North Carolina

NOAA Coastal Services Center

NOAA is a world leader in coastal science and management. NOAA's Coastal Services Center provides the up-to-date technology, information, and management strategies needed to address complex coastal issues. Center constituents include local and state governments, coastal regulatory programs, land trusts, Sea Grant, floodplain managers, research reserves, and emergency managers.

The headquarters for the organization is located in Charleston, South Carolina. A sample of some of the products and services offered by the Center are profiled below.

Land Cover Data

Land cover maps made from remotely sense data document how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, impervious surfaces, and other land and water types. By comparing land cover maps over a period of time, users can also document land-use trends and changes. Land cover data is now available for nearly all of the developed areas of the nation's coasts, and a process is in place to update these data every five years.

These data sets are available, free of charge, from the Center's website. Land cover data is most frequently used to:

• Document changes over time.
• Evaluate the cumulative effects of development.
• Determine impacts on water quality and habitat health.

Furthermore, land cover data is often the baseline data set needed for many predictive models, from sea level rise to water quality degradation. To access the land cover data, visit the NOAA Coastal Services Center's Website.

Training Coastal Professionals

The Center has a broad training curriculum that spans everything from management to technical skills. Course titles include "Introduction to GIS", "Coastal Inundation Mapping", "Planning for Meaningful Evaluation", and "Web Content Design". More than 90 percent of the course participants say their time was well spent and that they achieved their learning objectives.

While the Center has a training facility in Charleston, South Carolina, some of the courses are available on-line and most can be brought to a local facility for a minimum cost. These courses help programs reach important goals and provide attendees with worthwhile information they can apply to their workplaces.

Visit the Coastal Services Center's Training Website to see class descriptions and to learn more about hosting requirements.

On-Line Flood Inundation Maps Provided

The Center is working with the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide on-line access to flood severity maps for 17 flood forecast locations in southeastern North Carolina and 20 locations in the Gulf of Mexico. These maps, based on high-resolution digital elevation data and hydraulic modeling, contain visual and interactive information on the extent and severity of floods. The information will assist local officials and emergency managers when making evacuation and road closure decisions. View the Coastal Services Center's Regional Projects Website for more projects in the Carolinas.

Contact the Costal Services Center at csc@noaa.gov to learn more.