Undersea with GIS

Abstract

Humankind has made more progress during the past 20 years in mapping the surface of neighboring planets than during the past 500 years in mapping the final frontier of Earth: the oceans. Indeed, we still know more about the dark side of the moon and the topography of Venus and Mars than we know of our own ocean floors. For example, it was widely reported in early 2000 that the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) mapped 80% of the Earth's surface, when in reality this was 80% of Earth's land mass. Although a spectacular mission, the submerged portions of our planet (71% of the Earth's total surface) were still out of reach to the space shuttle's sensors. And yet the development in the last 10-20 years of sophisticated technologies for ocean data collection and management, including GIS, hold tremendous potential for mapping and interpreting the ocean environment in unprecedented detail. And for geographers, as well as the general public, maps still come to mind as the foundation of geographic inquiry. Undersea With GIS focuses on recent technical advances in mapping the deep oceans, coasts, and estuaries with GIS, as well as nautical charting and scientific visualization. Also included is a special section on Internet delivery of these products, as well as a CD-ROM with GIS tools and extensions for oceanographic applications. So many advances have been presented in excellent form at recent ESRI User Conferences that the book includes papers from the Coastal, Ocean, and Marine Resources track at the 1999 and 2000 ESRI User Conferences, as well as selected projects featured in past ESRI Map Galleries and at the 1999 User Conference Special Exhibition on Ocean GIS. Royalties from the sales of Undersea With GIS were donated to the Oregon chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and the Oregon State University Diversity Internship Program in Marine Sciences.

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