Publications

GIS activities undertaken at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office follow the directives outlined in the National Geospatial Data Policy (NGDP). The NGDP establishes principles, responsibilities, and requirements for collecting and managing geospatial data used by Federal environmental programs and projects within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This Policy also establishes the requirement of collecting and managing geospatial metadata describing the Agency?s geospatial assets to underscore EPA?s commitment to data sharing, promoting secondary data use, and supporting the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The work completed by the GIS Team follows the guidelines set forth by the Quality Management Plan for the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, the Chesapeake Bay Program Guidance for Data Management , the National Geospatial Data Policy , the draft National Geospatial Data Policy Implementation Guidance, and the Federal Geographic Data Committee Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. Large projects require development of a comprehensive CBP Data Center Project Plan. The Chesapeake Bay Program Geospatial Data Quality Assurance Project Plan describes the methods and standards for conducting geospatial data analysis projects.

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A Socioeconomic Atlas for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed presents information about population, economy and commerce, social and cultural characteristics, recreation and tourism, administration and government, and land use for counties within the Bay watershed. Over 30 color maps are included, along with data tables, descriptive information, and a list of data sources.

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This paper focuses on the development and application of a relative status measure in the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP): the basis of its methodology and lessons learned from its use in assessing the condition of water quality and biological parameters tracked in the CBP long term monitoring programs. This status measure has been in use and in the grey literature of the Bay Program analysts for over a decade, but has not been formally published previously.

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Since the signing of the multijurisdictional Chesapeake 2000 agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with its six watershed State partners and the District of Columbia, has developed a series of water quality criteria guidance documents in accordance with Section 117b of the Clean Water Act. Chesapeake Bay regional water quality criteria were developed and adopted into state water quality standards regulations protective of living resources and their habitats.

This document represents the fifth formal addendum to the 2003 Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria document; as such readers should regard the sections in this document as new or replacement chapters and appendices to the original published report. The criteria assessment procedures published in this addendum also replace and otherwise supersede similar criteria assessment procedures originally published in the 2003 Regional Criteria Guidance and the 2004 and 2007 addenda. Publication of future addenda by EPA on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Program watershed jurisdictional partners is likely as continued scientific research and management applications reveal new insights and knowledge that should be incorporated into revisions of state water quality standards regulations in upcoming triennial reviews.

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In 2008, the VIMS Annual Submersed Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Monitoring Program initiated a pilot project in the Bay and its tributaries to study two potential enhancements: color film and direct referencing technology. Simultaneous color and black and white imagery was captured for three regions and GPS / inertial mapping unit (IMU) direct referencing data was acquired for two of these regions. The GPS/IMU data reduced processing time with similar positional accuracy at a higher cost than VIMS' traditional methods, but there was little obvious benefit offsetting the additional cost and processing time associated with color film. We conclude that timing the imagery to minimize the effects of cloud cover, turbidity, sun glint, water depth, and waves during peak SAV abundance remains the single most important factor in accurately monitoring SAV with aerial photography in the different regions of the Bay.

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The Schoolyard Habitat Program Development Toolkit is designed to train environmental education program providers to more effectively assist teachers and schools develop sustainable, integrated schoolyard habitat projects.

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The focus of the Toolkit for Conservation Landscaping for Community Spaces is to provide a framework for designers to achieve a balance between ecologically significant landscaping and community engagement.

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Summary of the approach taken by the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program to establish measurable restoration goals and to use environmental and other outcome measures to inform the public about the state of the Bay and restoration efforts. Lessons learned from this program may be of particular interest to other natural resource agencies and to any governmental entity with interest in outcome-based management.

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This is a report on the distribution of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay in 1985

This is a report

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