Washington Coastal Atlas Continues Upgrade

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Published: 07 September 2012 07 September 2012

Liz O’Dea
Washington State Department of Ecology
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The Washington Coastal Atlas (https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/coastalatlas/) team has completed phase two of its three-phase redesign project.  In addition to its new look and feel, the atlas now has four use-specific tools that users can access directly from the home page.

Shoreline Photos:  The Washington Department of Ecology’s oblique photo time series of Washington’s marine and freshwater shorelines has been the most widely used component of the Coastal Atlas over the years.  The new Shoreline Photo viewer improves the ease of finding a photo for a specific area from multiple time periods.  The viewer enables users to quickly navigate through images along a shoreline and simultaneously see the location on a map.  It also provides a comparison page, where users can view the same area over time from the collection of years. Each year’s photos can be independently navigated so that the user can choose the images that allow the best shoreline comparison.

Flood Hazard Maps:  A new viewer for FEMA flood maps makes Digital Flood Insurance Rate maps downloadable directly from the Coastal Atlas, which helps inform real estate decisions and transactions.  The ability to view flood maps superimposed on aerial photography helps people better understand flood issues within the context of the landscape.

Public Beach Access:  Public access is only available on about 30% of Washington’s marine shorelines, and the public’s right to access the shoreline is one of the three pillar policies of Washington’s Shoreline Management Act.  We have made it easier for people to discover where they can access the shore.  People can find beaches by name, location, or by specific amenities or activities.  Beach information includes photos, amenities, directions, and links to tides, weather, and local information sources.

Beach Closures:  Users can also find beach closure information and monitoring results for all locations monitored by the Dept. of Ecology/Dept. of Health BEACH program.

Former Washington Coastal Atlas Manager and ICAN member Kathy Taylor has transitioned to another position in the Department of Ecology.  She was a wonderful leader who guided us through the first two redevelopment phases, and was a strong cheerleader on the value of the Washington Coastal Atlas for the people of Washington State.  Her replacement, Brian Lynn, has been involved with the Coastal Atlas for many years and leads us forward through our third phase of redevelopment: migrating the Washington Coastal Atlas Map from ArcIMS to ArcGIS Server using the JavaScript API, including a new interface design.  This is due to go live in November.