NOAA illustrates coastal changes on a ‘CanVis’

Simulated visual images — also termed visualizations — can be much more effective than charts and graphs in drawing attention to the potential impacts of coastal development and policy changes. But until recently, local officials and coastal professionals were reluctant to use the visualization software on the market because of its expense and steep learning curve. 

In response to requests for easy-to-use and inexpensive visualization tools, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agroforestry Center to provide CanVis — a free software visualization tool — in a form suited to the needs of officials and managers on the coast.

CanVis, which is part of the Digital Coast suite of tools, enables users with minimal computer skills to create realistic simulations using their own photographs and a digital library that features coast-appropriate visual objects.

“The response to CanVis has been excellent,” said Hansje Gold-Krueck, a specialist with the center’s Human Dimensions program. “We’ve handled more than 350 CanVis software requests from 36 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as from Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Canada and seven European nations.”

The center has also reached out to local, state and national agencies and organizations by conducting virtual CanVis workshops via WebEx. “We really want to hear about the specific visualization needs of county officials, so that we can continue to provide useful, coast-specific objects and technical assistance,” said Lori Cary-Kothera, a physical scientist with the center.

The center’s CanVis Web site (www.csc.noaa.gov/canvis) features a library of objects specially designed to be downloaded and used for coastal applications. These include docks, region-specific houses, boats, buoys and aquatic vegetation. In addition, the CanVis’ object library continues to grow, and a number of new objects will address emerging concerns related to climate change and to the siting of alternative energy facilities.

The following elements are under development:

• Wind turbines
• Visualizations of post-storm recovery
• Mixed-use development — for instance, storefronts with apartments on the second floor
• Paved and unpaved parking lots
• Boardwalks
• Natural buffers versus artificial buffers, and
• Objects addressing water level decreases and the potential growth of invasive species.

The projects described below illustrate how coastal professionals, local officials and stakeholders can use CanVis to demonstrate the aesthetic effects of proposed changes in their communities.

Revealing the Effects of High-Rise Condominiums on Water Views         

The historic port area of Philadelphia, offers picturesque views of the Delaware River, so when a developer proposed the construction of 30- to 60-floor condominiums on the port’s finger piers, concerns were raised about the effects on scenic vistas. “We can’t sell coastal management to people who can’t see the water,” said Shamus Malone, the assistant program manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Coastal Zone Management Program.

Center staff members helped Malone and his colleagues illustrate the aesthetic impacts of the additional proposed condos. First, CanVis object files were developed from photographs of existing condos in the area. Next, these objects were added to an image of the waterfront, illustrating how prized scenic vistas would be negatively affected by additional construction.

Wind Farms and Beach Recreation

On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a questionnaire and economic model using CanVis visualizations will evaluate how the aesthetic impact of offshore wind farms would affect the willingness of respondents to spend money visiting the beach.

To isolate the visual impacts of wind turbines in decision-making, the survey includes other factors such as travel distance to the beach, gas cost and beach congestion.

“CanVis provides an excellent package for development of our visualizations,” said Tom Allen, a geography professor at East Carolina University (ECU). Allen and graduate student Laurynas Gedminas created a suite of visualizations for this survey, which was developed by ECU’s Renaissance Computing Institute and backed by faculty from several college departments.

“The software has a large object library and the flexibility to incorporate user-provided imagery and objects. We obtained field photographs and were able to embed turbine models in various configurations for our survey,” Allen added.

In addition, three-dimensional models of wind farms illustrated in Google Earth have been edited in CanVis for future survey use.

Invasive Species’ Threat to the Great Lakes

According to Roger L. Gauthier, the program director of the Great Lakes Commission, shoreline property owners and environmental advocates in the Great Lakes region share a common concern: if global warming leads to a permanent lowering of water levels in the Great Lakes, will the newly exposed bottom lands become fertile ground for invasive plants such as phragmites? 

Phragmites australis is a perennial grass, 8 to 10 feet tall, that can invade wetlands. The growth of this invasive species does not just prevent human access — it decimates the ability of amphibians, fish and other species to exist in the coastal wetlands, thereby threatening the Great Lakes’ ecosystem.

“The use of the CanVis tool across the Great Lakes could help coastal managers and stakeholders to better anticipate the ultimate consequences of two separate forces that could threaten the health and use of Great Lakes resources,” Gauthier said. Steps could then be taken to mitigate or manage the threat.

To view the CanVis workshop schedule, visit www.csc.noaa.gov/canvis/workshops.html. For additional questions about CanVis, contact Hansje.Gold-Krueck@noaa.gov.