Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Evaluating Physical, Chemical, and Biological Impacts from
the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Cooperative Agreement Number W912HZ‐13‐2‐0013
Second Quarterly Report – March 31, 2014
Submitted by Thomas Jordan, Marguerite Madden, and Sergio Bernardes
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR)
Department of Geography ‐ University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602
Dear Ms McIntosh –
The following paragraphs summarize the progress on the project for the period January 1, 2014
through March 31, 2014, according to the five objectives outlined in the Statement of Work and
summarized below.
Tommy Jordan visited USACE, Savannah, on January 22, 2014 to meet with Mackie Macintosh,
Bill Bailey and Ned Durden for a discussion on the web site and other data requirements.
Progress by Objective
1. Research and develop data analysis tools and standardized maps; Analyze and
integrate multiple, complex datasets to provide detailed map
a. Bathymetric Data ‐ Ned Durden (USACE) has sent CGR the data for the most
recent bathymetric surveys of the Harbor. These have been converted to shape
files and are included in our local Geodatabase. These data are not included in
the on‐line map at this time.
b. Sturgeon Data: We have received the first batch of data for the Sturgeon
monitoring study in the Savannah River, including the receiver locations and RFID
transmitter data for the period November 21, 2013 through January 10, 2014.
We are now working on concepts for the display and analysis of these data and
will discuss the most appropriate methods for analysis and display with Bill. We
have included the receiver locations in the on‐line map.
c. Vegetation/Marsh Monitoring Data – We have incorporated the marsh
monitoring site locations, as reported in Jamie Duberstein’s documents, into the
Geodatabase and have plotted them on the on‐line map.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
2. Research, identify, and catalogue existing study documents for the major resource
areas
a. We revised the existing bibliography and included the USACE supplemental study
reports in the categorized list, as requested.
b. We created a local instance of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project site,
including associated documents, originally maintained by CH2M HILL.
3. GIS Data and Web Portal
a. Determine appropriate attributes for the GIS
i. This is an on‐going effort and depends on the data we receive from other
researchers as described above in Objective 1. All mapping coordinates
are being standardized on the Georgia State Plane Coordinate System,
East Zone, NAD83. Vertical coordinates are referenced to NAVD88,
except for raw bathymetric data, which are referenced to local MLLW.
Data sets with coordinates in other systems will be converted to State
Plane for compatibility. The original coordinates will be preserved in the
data sets as attributes. (no change from the previous reports)
b. Develop a web portal to facilitate public access to the pertinent data
i. During this quarter, CGR worked closely with our point of contact at the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Ms Margarett McIntosh) to implement,
update and customize the website that will serve as data and information
portal for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Monitoring Program.
The web portal is being hosted by CGR and during the period covered by
this report included multiple modifications, as follows:
Definition of a domain name (http://shep.uga.edu) to be used by
the website.
Interface customization to match colors and general look and feel
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ main website
(http://www.usace.army.mil/).
Implementation of a rotating slide feature on the website’s Home
Page, including five slides showing pictures and text associated
with activities developed during the monitoring program.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Multiple customizations of the Mapping page, including the
implementation of clickable water gage icons, links to USGS data
associated with each gage (water quality, dissolved oxygen and
specific conductance), as well as the redefinition of the default
zoom level. Marsh and sturgeon monitoring site locations are
included in the map but not exposed on the initial (default) view.
They may be turned on by clicking on the “View Larger Map” link
and opening the Content Tab and clicking on the ‘Monitoring
Locations” data layer.
Implementation of popup windows with details regarding
individual elements for the Monitoring Components.
Addition of multiple reports to the Reports page.
Reorganization of the Bibliography page, including the
classification of documents into multiple categories, as well as
addition of multiple documents.
Creation of a form‐based contact page where users will be able to
send emails to CGR and to the USACE.
Customization of the website to guarantee its compatibility with
Internet Explorer version 9, currently being used by the Army
Corps.
Multiple minor layout modifications, feature additions and
improvements, including a clickable area on the website banner, a
house icon on the main menu, a “Building Strong®” logo and a
redesigned footer, among others.
Website implementation and customization involved multiple
interactions with Ms. McIntosh and other USACE personnel in order to
better attend the needs of the SHEP Monitoring Program and end users.
The series of figures attached to this report show snapshots of the
Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Monitoring Program website as of
03/31/2014.
ii. CGR has received all the hardware components to be used with the data
portal in support of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Monitoring
Program. During this quarter, the server that will host the Monitoring
Program website, plus additional hardware components, were integrated
into CGR’s cyberinfrastructure. The server (SHEP server) and components
were mounted on a rack system inside CGR’s climate controlled server
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
room and the SHEP server was connected to UGA’s fast network.
Following hardware installation, software necessary to host the
Monitoring Program website and to serve geospatial data, including
Windows Server 2012 and ArcGIS server, were installed on the SHEP
server. In addition, three computer workstations were configured with
web development tools and the ArcGIS software. These workstations
were used for website development and geospatial data manipulation
and preparation.
c. Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
i. These have not been established yet – we are waiting on information
from the other researchers before we can set up the SOPs. Now that we
have begun to receive some data, we expect to be able to begin
developing SOPs for the sturgeon and bathymetric data.
4. Update and maintain the GIS
a. These efforts are on‐going. We continue to collect available GIS data for
Chatham and Effingham counties (Georgia) and Jasper County (South Carolina),
including LiDAR, base GIS data layers (roads, hydrology, boundaries, etc.), multi‐
date aerial photography and satellite images in order to build a comprehensive
geodatabase for the region. We are collecting data from the Georgia GIS Data
Clearinghouse, the USGS National Map, NOAA Coastal Services Center, and
Savannah SAGIS.
b. Additional data will be incorporated into the base GIS as they become available.
5. Prepare quarterly progress reports and annual reports
a. This document represents the Second Quarterly Report for this project.
Please feel free to contact either Marguerite Madden or Tommy Jordan if you have questions
or concerns regarding this report.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D.
Associate Director, CGR
Marguerite Madden, Ph.D.
Director, CGR
The following figures show snapshots of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Monitoring
Program website as of 03/31/2014.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 1: Home Page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 2: Mapping page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. A popup window with links
to water related variables for gage #21989784 is presented.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 3: Monitoring page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. Names of elements (in
green) are clickable links to popup windows containing descriptions of each element.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 4: Reports page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. Bullets are clickable links to
reports in PDF format.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 5: Bibliography page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. Users have access to the
listed documents by clicking on links to PDF files, which are being hosted by CGR. Links to web
resources (external links) are also provided.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 6: Links page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. Multiple external links are
provided, including links to the USACE SHEP website and others.
Center for Geospatial Research (CGR) Marguerite Madden, Ph.D., Director Thomas R. Jordan, Ph.D., Associate Director
Department of Geography Athens, Georgia 30602-2503 (706) 542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388 www.crms.uga.edu
Figure 7: Contact page of the SHEP Monitoring Program website. By using this page, users will
be able to request information about the data portal from CGR and to request information
about the SHEP Monitoring Program from the Army Corps.