This JavaScript application works in Internet Explorer 5 and up only for now. This version is set to be user selected
for fixed screen resolutions of 1024 x 768 and 1600 x 1200. The next major iteration will automatically adjust for
the viewer's screen size.
Data used to produce these image layers have been gathered from many places. Two outstanding sources are the
US Geological Survey and the National Marine Fishery Service. All layers were entered and scaled using ArcView,
exported as bitmaps, and then saved for the most part as transparent .gifs. The JavaScript code was substantially
modified from an existing Macromedia script, the remainder of the html was developed as it went along. Other
changes increasing functionality are planned for the near future. It remains a work in progress.
Basic data layer descriptions and sources include:
1. Shaded bathymetric background image for the Gulf of Maine at all scales was obtained from the Roworth/Signell
Digital Bathymetry of the Gulf of Maine website: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of98-801/bathy/data.htm
Shaded bathymetric background for the New York Bight area is from the USGS HARS study (B. Butman, et al),
see http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of00-503/
2. Layer labeled 'High Resolution Bathymetry' was constructed using GeoZui3d (see Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
at UNH), using a 471 meter grid found on the website above. The grid was reformatted using a Python script provided
by Norman Vine on the "DVD 2002" produced by Chris Polloni, etal for use with GeoZui3D. The 3D grid was then colored
by first developing a color lookup table, applying it, and then capturing a screen shot. The resultant image was then
entered into ArcView after building a worldfile for registration purposes.
3. Digital coastal and offshore charts (in .bsb and .kap format) are available via MapTech, ver. 5/1998.
They were geographically registered within ArcView using the Chartviewer extension developed by NOAA.
see http://www.csc.noaa.gov/products/chartview/chartview3.html
Digital fishing maps (in .tiff and .sid format) are available from NOAA CD, "Scanned NOS Bathymetric Charts,
Volume 1: U.S. East Coast, Maine to Georgia", available from National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado.
Charts were reprojected as necessary. A worldfile has been developed that registers these images to the correct
geographic space within ArcView for the WGS(1984) used in the original MapTech files.
4. Bathymetric contours for 50 and 100 fathoms, modified from contours available at the Roworth/Signell
Digital Bathymetry of the Gulf of Maine website: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of98-801/bathy/data.htm#Contours
5. The 'State waters - 3 mile limit' layer title is somewhat misleading as can be seen in the image display. Although
the application of the law generally results in the boundary being about 3 miles offshore, there are two areas seen
within the view where the boundary is significantly further offshore. Here the federal government has ceded
administration of areas described as 'enclosed bays', in this case the entrance to Boston Harbor area and Cape Cod Bay,
to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Although there are still unresolved legal issues, this situation has
the additional impact of leaving these areas beyond the administration of the shoreside towns.
5. The Western Gulf of Maine Closure, 1998 (black outline), was added the the three instituted in late 1994.
All were originally enacted in order to reduce groundfish mortality during this time of rebuilding.
For official Closed Area coordinates see http://www.nero.noaa.gov/ro/doc/info4.pdf or Barbara Stevenson's website
http://www.bdssr.com/fisheries/management/closures/closure_coordinates_home.htm
6. Map of current velocity, 1 meter off bottom, for the Massachusetts Bay area, scanned from USGS Open File Report 92-202.
Butman, B., M.H. Bothner, J.C. Hathaway, H.L. Jenter, H.J. Knebel, F.T. Manheim, R.P. Signell (1992)
Contaminant Transport and Accumulation in Massachusetts Bay and Boston Harbor: A Summary of U.S. Geological
Survey Studies, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-202, 42p.
7. Plots of juvenile cod, haddock, and scallop NMFS, Northeast Fishery Science Center, Woods Hole
Data from the NEFSC groundfish and scallop surveys 1982 thru 1996. For groundfish increasing size indicates
larger number per tow.
8. Plot of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries annual trawl survey, small cod (<15cm) data (Howe, et al),
1982-2002 using disc net. Yellow markers indicate 10 individuals or less per tow, green 11 to 14 per tow.
9. Boatracs scallop fleet position plots Paul Rago, NMFS, NEFSC, and Mike McSherry, NMFS, NERO
The scallop fleet is required to maintain a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) since 1998 that records vessel
position generally each hour and is accurate within about 1100 feet. The images used in this effort were
originally generated by Rago and McSherry for presentation at the Gear Effects Workshop, November 2000.
Fishing effort was approximated by only counting those positions where the distance moved was 5nm or less
for the hour between polling by the satellite. Red color indicates the top quartile of effort binned into
1 mile squares, then proceeding on down through yellow, green and blue.
10. Plots of vessel sightings and fixed gear buoys were scanned from:
Wiley, D.N., J.C.Moller, K.A. Zilinskas, The Distribution and Density of Commercial Fisheries and Ballen Whales
within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary: July 2001-June 2002, Marine Technology Society Journal,
J.Lindholm ed, Vol.37, No.1, Spring 2003, pp35-53.
11. Trawl tracks from fishing vessel plotters have beeen submitted from Frank Mirarchi via Christiaan Adams of
MIT Sea Grant. They are not meant to be complete examples of towable bottom but represent what trawlers see on
their plotter screen for a small area of the deeper water along the western side of the bank. Tracks are not to
scale in the sense that the line width does not represent trawl width or area swept.
12. USGS Multibeam Bathymetry for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Page Valentine, et al
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of99-363/index.htm
13. Essential Fish Habitat (juvenile) maps Mike Pentony, New England Fishery Management Council, 1998-99
The short version of how this map was produced was by combing the NMFS/NEFSC trawl survey data for the
juveniles of each managed species, then binning them by 10min lat/lon 'squares'. The data was further sliced
to determine whether the square was in the top two quartiles, the third quartile or the 90%ile. The specific
quartile selected to assign EFH for each species was determined independently, meaning that for some species
the 50%ile was used, for others the 75%ile, and so on, on a species by species basis. At that point the map
for each was made binary, each square either was or was not considered EFH. The resultant maps for all species
were then added up with higher numbers of species yielding darker green shades. Some additional data was in-
corporated into the EFH designation, estimated at 10% or less contributed from both the commercial fishing
and scientific communities.
14. Vessel Trip Report (VTR) maps David Stevenson, NMFS, NERO
These images were prepared from information provided by vessel skippers at the end of each fishing trip, a
requirement for most multispecies and scallop permit holders in the Northeast Region. Data was then
binned into 10 minute 'squares'. Black squares are coded to represent the top 50% of effort (the top two
quartiles), grey the next quartile (black and grey total 75% of effort), the white or transparent 'squares'
are the next 15% (total 90%) and the blank areas of each map are the least used 10% bottom for the gear type.
15. USGS sample points plotted from the grab sample database and sediment map extrapolated from points.
Larry Poppe and Chris Polloni, eds. CD-ROM, see http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of00-358/text/contents.htm
Data from a more comprehensive effort has just been released but has not been integrated as yet.
x. Theroux/Wigley image layer scanned from the NOAA Technical Report NMFS 140, December 1998. --> Not yet
x. Frontal probability image Jim Bisagni, SMAST, and Tim Mavor, NESDIS --> Not yet
This image was produced by Bisagni and Mavor, using NOAA AVHRR data from the years 1978 to 1995 for the
GLOBEC Georges bank program. Color codes represent the probability of a temperature front being present,
with red the highest, then on down to yellow, light blue and so on. Fronts are not stationary, varying
with tide state, wind strength and direction, and season, producing movement that results in the 'blurring'.
x. SeaWiFs color animations Andy Thomas, University of Maine --> Not yet
http://wavy.umeoce.maine.edu/sorry.html
While there are many sources for satellite imagery, this site is especially well laid out and accessible.
N.B.- this file is preliminary and will be updated as more information is gathered... 1 March 2004.