The purpose of this spatial bibliography is to help identify scientific data and knowledge gaps,
as well as unexplored and underexplored areas, in the deep-ocean of the Alaska region. The tool is available for broader
use as a geospatially-explicit query platform for scientific publications and technical reports.
The
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (NOAA Ocean Exploration),
the only federal agency solely dedicated to exploring the deep sea (greater than 200 meters water depth),
is planning to conduct future fieldwork in the Alaska region. NOAA Ocean Exploration partnered with the
NOAA Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS),
which delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources,
to create a spatial bibliography of Alaskan deep-water studies within the U.S. exclusive economic zone
from 2000 to 2020. The associated annotated bibliography can be found
here.
Six academic disciplines are included: biology and ecology of benthic and pelagic taxa, chemistry,
physical oceanography, geology, marine cultural heritage, and management. The spatial bibliography was updated
to include four geographic regions* defined by Seascape Alaska, a regional campaign supporting the 2020
National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (NOMEC):
Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Eastern Bering Sea, and the Arctic (Chukchi and Beaufort Seas).
Other queryable features include sampling method, data collected, and location (if available).
More information is available on the NOAA Ocean Exploration project page
and NCCOS project page
and in the NOAA technical memorandum.
September 2021 update: The NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
conducted an intensive literature review
focused on the Northern Bering Sea Research Area (NBSRA) that is incorporated into this spatial bibliography.
The NBSRA is currently closed to non-pelagic bottom trawling in anticipation of ecosystem shifts in response
to climate change. The literature review is part of an effort to gather existing information on the fisheries,
climate, oceanography, and culture of the northern Bering Sea in preparation for future research projects.
This project was led by NOAA Ocean Exploration and completed through partnerships with NCCOS, the
NOAA Central Library, the
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, the
NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the
NOAA Regional Alaska Team, and the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
*The geographic regions defined here do not reflect NOAA Ocean Exploration operational areas or priorities.
The Documents tab shows the full list of publications, reports, and other documents. The front side of the document
card contains the title, abstract, and link to the document (if available). The "Region" link in the bottom right
corner will briefly highlight the regions that the document references. The "Full Information" link in the bottom
left corner shows the back side of the card, which contains the full citation, authors, locations, disciplines,
collection methods, and collected sample types. Clicking on the “Title/Abstract” in the bottom left corner link
will return the front of the card.
The Filters tab shows the various ways to filter the list in the Documents tab. When you select a feature to filter,
the filter category and Filter tab will turn red to indicate that the document list is filtered. The Region filter
will also filter the regions shown on the map. Multiple categories and filters can be used simultaneously. To clear
all filters in a table, click the three dots on the top right side of the table and click the "Clear Selection" option.
You can interactively select regions on the map using the Region selection tool
.
Open the tool and select the draw method (point, line, polygon, square, or circle) to choose the regions. When using
the line tool, double-click to end your selection. The legend can be shown by clicking on the Legend tool
.
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