Breaux Act Newsflash - LACES is developing and implementing a programmatic
coastal modeling framework
To address the need for predictive tools that support decision making,
LACES is developing and implementing a programmatic coastal modeling
framework.
Dear colleague,
The Louisiana Applied Coastal Engineering and Science (LACES) Division has
been established within the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and
Restoration (OCPR) to ensure that the best available scientific and
technical information and decision-support tools are informing the
implementation of the state's ecosystem restoration and hurricane
protection Master Plan. This task will be accomplished by coordinating
ongoing science and engineering resources, building institutional
knowledge through adaptive management, and making data and information
available to promote effective decision-making. To address the need for
predictive tools that support decision making, LACES is developing and
implementing a programmatic coastal modeling framework. The Louisiana
Applied Modeling Program (LAMP) will continue to build on previous
modeling frameworks and efforts and will engage coastal Louisiana's
technical community to assemble a coastal protection and restoration
toolbox that can be applied to the multitude of needs within the
protection and restoration management community.
To assist with both the long-term programmatic modeling framework and
near-term needs, LACES is assembling a database of technical expertise
within existing state and federal agencies, academia, and the private
sector. We have arranged the necessary disciplines into the following
communities:
* Eco-hydrology: to characterize the current status and predict future
conditions of hydrology and water quality (salinity, water depth and
movement, residence time, nutrients, etc.)
* Morphology: to characterize the current landscape and predict future
landscape changes
* Vegetation: to characterize the current status of and predict future
conditions of vegetative productivity, vegetation character, and community
changes
* Upper Trophic Levels: to characterize the current status of and predict
future conditions of faunal population dynamics and utilization of coastal
habitats
* Risk Assessment: to characterize storm surge and wave dynamics, storm
damages, and interior flooding
* Uncertainty Analysis: to characterize uncertainties related to current
knowledge, data collection protocols, modeling tools, etc.
* Data Integration: to characterize and compile data sets and spatial
frameworks needed to populate and link the aforementioned module groups;
also, creating visualizations and web applications to enhance
accessibility and use by various user groups
Please indicate via email to (LACES@LA.GOV) whether you would like to be
involved in one or more of these communities, and please indicate whether
your area of expertise falls primarily within research, data collection,
and/or modeling. In addition, please also send a short statement of
interest and CV detailing your qualifications. Lastly, please forward
this email to interested colleagues who may not have received it.
Responses will be accepted on a continual basis, but please respond as
soon as possible. This framework will be used to meet some immediate
needs, which include providing the OCPR Planning Division with robust
predictions regarding trade-offs (benefits and impacts) of protection and
restoration projects for the 2012 revision to the Master Plan.
We appreciate your valuable contributions, and we are excited to continue
working with you in our future endeavors.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me, Rick Raynie, at
225-342-9436 or at Richard.Raynie@la.gov.