| Title | Habitat mapping and assessment in Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf wind energy areas |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Kentner, V; Guida, V; Johnson, D; Brink, J |
| Source | Program and abstracts: 2017 GeoHab Conference, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; by Todd, B J ; Brown, C J; Lacharité, M; Gazzola, V; McCormack, E; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8295, 2017 p. 65, https://doi.org/10.4095/305873  Open Access |
| Links | GeoHab 2017
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| Year | 2017 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Meeting | 2017 GeoHab: Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping; Dartmouth, NS; CA; May 1-4, 2017 |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Program and abstracts: 2017
GeoHab Conference, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| File format | pdf |
| Area | Atlantic Ocean; United States of America |
| Lat/Long WENS | -78.0000 -62.0000 43.0000 33.0000 |
| Subjects | marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; environmental geology; geophysics; engineering geology; mapping techniques; oceanography; marine environments; coastal studies; conservation; marine
organisms; marine ecology; resource management; biological communities; environmental studies; ecosystems; continental margins; continental shelf; energy resources; bathymetry; seafloor topography; bedforms; marine sediments; photography; benthos;
geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; sonar surveys; side-scan sonar; grain size analyses; salinity; temperature; modelling; Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf; Biology; Wind energy; Fisheries; Fisheries management; Fisheries
resources |
| Program | Offshore Geoscience |
| Released | 2017 09 26 |
| Abstract | The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to conduct a comprehensive study of eight wind energy areas (WEAs)
located along the Northwest Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from North Carolina to Massachusetts. The purpose of the study is to assess the current state of the WEAs and determine their suitability for the development of wind turbines.
To
assess each WEA, NOAA NEFSC has compiled data from a variety new and existing data sources. The data collected includes high-resolution bathymetry from multibeam sonar (2m) and microtopography from side scan sonar (cm level), physical sediment
samples from USGS and visual analysis of imagery from HabCam IV and SMAST camera pyramid, CTD scans, benthic infauna samples from sediment samples, and epifauna from trawls. The compiled data will serve as a comprehensive benthic habitat database
that can be used as a baseline for evaluating impacts within the WEAs and across the entire OSC. The goal of this study is to create a comprehensive habitat assessment of each WEA including establishing relationships between physical and biological
features in an effort to describe habitat distributions.
This study is utilizing several techniques to assess the habitats within the WEAs. We are applying the coastal and marine ecological classification standard (CMECS) to describe and classify
the biological communities and the ecosystems within the WEAs. We are conducting various interpolations of the sediment compositions and grain size analysis to characterize the seafloor. We are also mapping multidimensional habitat features in 3D by
combining benthic sediment and community data with the ranges of salinity and temperature across depth as well as across time. This assessment can be used in modeling habitat suitability for fisheries stocks and ecosystem assemblages. When combined,
these techniques give insight into the environmental and community interactions in each wind energy area, providing area-specific overviews of marine habitat characteristics and vulnerability to wind energy-related development in WEAs for
consideration by BOEM and offshore wind developers. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The sixteenth annual GeoHab Conference was held this year (2017) at the Waterfront Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,
Canada. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 305873 |
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