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- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Supporting Wetlands Today and Throughout the Year
February 2 is World Wetlands Day, a day to celebrate and honor these invaluable ecosystems. Through a variety of projects on several contracts, our employee owners support wetlands throughout the year. Below are some examples of projects that CSS works on to support wetlands and promote the benefits they provide.
- National Wetland Condition Assessment. Our employee owners have supported research in wetland biogeochemistry and ecology for over two decades through our contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pacific Ecological Systems Division in Corvallis, Oregon. Much of this work has been associated with National Wetland Condition Assessment as part of the EPA National Aquatic Resources Surveys. CSS staff helped develop field protocols, analyze water samples, and conducted field surveys.
- Field Studies. Through our contract with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, we have supported many projects related to wetlands around the country, including monitoring and assessing wetland restoration projects, using unoccupied aircraft systems to monitor wetlands, ecological assessments, economic valuation of wetlands for shoreline protection, and many more. Our scientists work in the field along with NOAA scientists to study and collect data that will be useful to coastal communities and decision-makers.
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Our employee owners primarily serve as coastal management technical experts and liaisons between the national estuarine research reserves and NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (the agency that manages the system in partnership with state agencies, academic institutions, or non-profit organizations). The estuarine reserve system protects nearly 1.4 million acres of estuarine, wetland, riverine, forest, and open water environment.
- Data and Tools. Through the contract with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, our staff develop and manage data, tools, and training that help coastal managers understand the benefits of wetlands. These products include Land Cover Data, Sea Level Rise Viewer, Coastal County Snapshots – Wetland Benefits, and the Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper.
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Supporting the Development and Refinement of Advanced Atmospheric Sounding Products
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) provides critical information on temperature, moisture, ozone, and other variables that help forecasters and climate experts understand conditions throughout the atmosphere. CSS Employee Owners are key contributors to the team, supporting the development and refinement of advanced atmospheric sounding products. The work…
Contributing to Wind Energy Area Designations
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently announced two Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico. The WEAs are located off the coasts of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana and have the potential to power nearly three million homes. BOEM collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to identify…
New Data and Reports on the U.S. Marine Economy
Each year CSS economists on contract with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management work with other federal agencies to process the most recent economic and labor data, and extract the portions related to marine-dependent sectors.