Produce Northeast Fisheries Science CenterEcosystem Status Report (a first step in the larger NOAA Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Integrated Ecosystem Assessment) – Revised 11 June 2012
Point of Contact Name
Jon Hare – NOAA NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)
Goal
Efficient generation of figures and tables representing ecosystem data and information products for the bi-annual (or annual) NEFSC Ecosystem Status Report (ESR).
Summary
The ESR addresses the Driver-Pressure-State portion of the greater Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (D, P, S, I, R) framework and presents the ecosystem status based on data and information products representing climate forcing (D), physical pressures (P), primary and secondary production (S), benthos (S), upper trophic levels (S), anthropogenic factors (D, S), and integrated ecosystem measures (S). Data and information products include indicators,time series, geographic maps,(in the future, thematic maps), and uni-variate and multi-variate analyses. Data and information products are derived for the NEUSCS (Northeast United States Continental Shelf)Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) as a whole and ecological production units within the LME(e.g. eco-regions). At present, the scale hierarchy for these units is simple but must accommodate future spatially explicit/ contained definitions.
Indicators are an organizing concept that can have more or less specific meaning depending on the groups developing them. (See definition in 2009 ESR on p. 33 (glossary) which defines the meaning for NEFSC). Here we use the more broadly defined data and information products since some of the material included in the ESR does not fit within the definition of indicator.
Specific NEFSC scientists have responsibility to provide specific data and information products for the ESR. The means generation of products is delegated to these scientists. Typical products are data, tables (intermediate) and figures, but at present no description of the production is included in the ESR. There are descriptions of the process(es) but are held separately at present. A consistent look and feel for the figures is a requirement (currently implemented in R).
The framework developed under this use case will retrieve data, complete and report QA/QC, conduct standard analyses, provide iterative and interactive visualization, allow for interpretation and generate final graphics, which will be embeddable into Web pages and portable document formats (e.g. PDF). In addition, the data represented in each figure will be available. The framework will also document the specific process for each data and information product, including source code, data, description, and related contextual information suitable for traceability, repeatability, explanation, verification, and validation.
The framework will be scalable, using the same architecture components/structure for each data and information product, thereby allowing the addition and subtraction of data and information products in futureESRs. Monthly, automated iteration on current data and information product generation and versioning is planned. In the longer term, preservation, of the Open Archival Information System- Archival Information Package (OAIS-AIP) variety is also desirable.
Actors
Data Preparation Actor (secondary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Data Preparation Reviewer (primary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Data Analyzer (primary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Visualization Producer (primary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Data and Information Product Interpreter (primary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Writer (primary)
Ecosystem Assessment Scientist Compiler/Editor (primary)
Data Manager Archiver (secondary)
List actors, people or things outside the system that either acts on the system (primary actors) or is acted on by the system (secondary actors). Primary actors are ones that invoke the use case and benefit from the result. Identify sensors, models, portals and relevant data resources. Identify the primary actor and briefly describe role.
Preconditions
Raw Source data and information products exist and are accessible. 24 April 2012: Jon H. requested a secure ftp site for NMFS non-public source data for the ESR.
Subset elements of full Description are passed on for the ESR are defined
Table of Contents, list of desired data and information products for the ESR are defined
Each Ecosystem Assessment Scientist has been identified for each data and information product
Triggers
The ESR will be created every other year. The trigger is from chief of NEFSC Ecosystem Assessment Program.
Basic Flow
Foreach data and information product:
- Raw Source data is are retrieved and preliminary data products are prepared
- Preliminary data products are archived
- Iteration and interactive visualization/ analysis of preliminary data products
- Iterative products are archived
- Final product, table of data used, and full description, and subset descriptionis are produced
- Final product, table of data used, and full description, and subset description are archived
- Final product, table of data used, and subset description delivered
- Interpretation and written description of data and information products
- Creation of final ESR
Alternate Flow
Manual implementation of basic flow
Post Conditions
ESR produced by June 30 of every other year.
Preliminary data products are archived
Iterative products are archived
Final product, table of data used, and subset and full description are archived
Party hosted by NEFSC management (Mike F)
Activity Diagram
Here a diagram is given to show the flow of events that surrounds the use case. It might be that text is a more useful way of describing the use case. However often a picture speaks a 1000 words. [Here, we can insert the diagram that is currently on Google doc.]
Notes
There is always some piece of information that is required that has no other place to go. This is the place for that information.
The 2011 ESR will be generated using the current system. The 2013 ESR will be created using the new framework. Improvements/changes will be made iteratively every two years.
9 Ecological production units have a wide variety of attributes used to define the geometric polygons that define them )*notes – outside of ESR*.
Resources
In order to support the capabilities described in this Use Case, a set of resources must be available and/or configured. These resources include data and services, and the systems that offer them. This section will call out examples of these resources.
Data: (see below)
Data / Type / Characteristics / Description / Owner / Source System(Dataset name) / Remote, in-situ, etc. / Eg. – no cloud cover / Short description of the dataset, possibly including rationale of the usage characteristics / USGS, ESA, etc. / Name of the system which supports discovery and access
Modeling Services
Model / Owner / Description / Consumes / Frequency / Source System(model name) / Organization that offers the model / Short description of the model / List of data consumed / How often the model runs / Name of the system which offers access to the model
Event Notification Services
Event / Owner / Description / Subscription / Source System(Event name) / Organization that offers the event / Short description of the event / List of subscriptions (and owners) / Name of the system which offers this event
Application Services
Application / Owner / Description / Source System(Application name) / Organization that offers the Application / Short description of the application portal / Name of the system which offers access to this resource
Other resources
Resource / Owner / Description / Availability / Source System(eg. Sensor name) / Organization that owns/ manages resource / Short description of the resource / How often the resource is available / Name of system which provides resource
List of ESR Indicators
Indicators / Time Period / SourcePhysical Drivers
North Atlantic Oscillation
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Niño 3.4 SST anomalies / 1960-2007
1960-2007
1982 - present /
Human Drivers
Population
Income / 1968-2006
1968-2006 /
Physical Pressures
Temperature
Extended Reconstructed SST
Coastal Temperature, Virginia
Coastal Temperature, Woods Hole
Costal Temperature, Boothbay Harbor
Survey sea surface temperature
Survey bottom sea temperature
Thermal Habitat <4oC
Thermal Habitat >5oC and <15 oC
Thermal Habitat >16oC / 1960-2007
1960-2007
1960-2007
1960-2007
1977-2007
1977-2007
1982-2007
1982-2007
1982-2007 /
ftp://ftp.nefsc.noaa.gov/pub/hydro/spool_hydro/
NEFSC Archives
Maine Department of Marine Resources
NEFSC Survey Data Base
NEFSC Survey Data Base
Ecosystem Assessment Program
Ecosystem Assessment Program
Ecosystem Assessment Program
River Discharge
River Flow-Gulf of Maine
River Flow-Middle Atlantic Bight
River Flow-Southern New England / 1960-2007
1960-2007
1960-2007 /
Wind Fields
Wind Stress, Cape Hatteras
Wind Stress, New York
Wind Stress, Georges Bank
Wind Stress East-West, Cape Hatteras
Wind Stress East-West, New York
Wind Stress East-West, Georges Bank
Wind Stress North-South, Cape Hatteras
Wind Stress North-South, New York
Wind Stress North-South, Georges Bank / 1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007
1967-2007 /
Other
Stratification
Survey surface salinity
Survey bottom salinity
Gulf Stream Location
%Labrador-Subarctic Slope Water in GoM / 1977-2007
1977-2007
1977-2007
1977-2007
1977-2007 /
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
ftp://ftp.nefsc.noaa.gov/pub/hydro/spool_hydro/
Human Pressures (Fishery Removals)
Number Groundfish Vessels
Landings, Principal Groundfish
Landings, Other Fish
Landings, Small Pelagics
Landings, Crustaceans
Landings, Molluscs / 1965-2008
1960-2008
1960-2008
1960-2008
1960-2008
1960-2008 / NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System
NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System &
NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System &
NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System &
NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System &
NEFSC Comm. Fish. Database System &
Ecosystem State Variables
Plankton
Continuous Plankton Recorder Color Index
Annual chl a from satellite ocean color.
Zooplankton Ecosystem Biovolume
Ratio of Small to Large Zooplankton / 1977-2007
1998 – (?)
1977-2007
1977-2007 / NEFSC Plankton Database System
(?)source data provided by Kim Hyde
NEFSC Plankton Database System
NEFSC Plankton Database System
Nekton/Benthos
Relative Abundance, Crustaceans
Relative Abundance, Elasmobranch
Relative Abundance, Ground Fish
Relative Abundance, Molluscs
Relative Abundance, Other Fish
Relative Abundance, Small Pelagics
Relative Abundance, All Species / 1965-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007 / NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
Demography/Trophic Level
Mean Trophic Level Catch
Mean Trophic Level Survey
Primary Production Required, Landings
Mean Length / 1960-2007
1963-2007
1960-2007
1963-2007 / http:\ and NAFO data base
http:\ and NAFO data base
http:\ and NEFSC Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Database System Bottom Trawl Survey Database
Community Composition
Thermal Preference
Pelagic to Demersal Ratio
Elasmobranch to Demersal Groundfish Ratio / 1963-2007
1963-2007
1963-2007 / http:\ and NEFSC Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Bottom Trawl Survey Database
NEFSC Bottom Trawl Survey Database
Impacts
Groundfish Fishery Revenue / 1965-2006 / NEFSC Commercial Fisheries Database System
UseCase- -Template 1