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Created & maintained by Michigan Sea Grant and the MSU Institute of Water Resources
Fishing on the Great Lakes has been excellent this season and now anglers have an added tool thanks to a cooperative state and angler effort lead by Michigan Sea Grant and CoastWatch.
Sea Grant CoastWatch has expanded its on-line Surface Temperature Mapping Images" to include all Great Lakes regions including detailed surface maps for 44 ports.
"This type of imagery is only the beginning toward the technological advancements we will be able to offer in the future" , said Chuck Pistis, field agent for Michigan Sea Grant.
Pistis has been intimately involved with the sport fishing community for over twenty years. Sea Grant has been providing these maps via fax service to Michigan anglers for the past five years.
Originally the Internet maps only encompassed Lake Michigan and Huron and were averaging about 10,000 visitors a month. " This real time data can be accessible to more anglers over the Internet ,said Chuck, "it allows the angler another tool to become a smarter fisherperson". "In addition, if this mapping service is the mechanism which influences anglers to take a first step onto the Information Super Highway then it also opens them up to more information and furthers educational advancement, after all, learning is what it's all about!"
Sea Grant CoastWatch surface temperature images are the result of a partnership between State Sea Grant agencies, the Michigan State University Institute of Water Research (IWR), the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor,
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and are funded by federal dollars.
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CoastWatch - Lake Surface Temperature Reporting System[ Lake Superior] [ Lake Michigan] [Lake Huron] [ Lake Erie] [ Lake Ontario]
NOAA Polar Orbiter satellites carry Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRRs), and these provide Sea Surface Temperature (SST) imagery to GLERL, which in turn uses an electronic dissemination system to make the data available to IWR. A fully automated system is in place, so that the IWR computer can download SST images and cloud masks four times each day. The data is converted to isoline imagery and posted to the Sea Grant CoastWatch website. Surface temperature images are updated four times each day, at approximately: 7am, 1pm, 6pm , and, 11pm . To help anglers understand how to read and use the maps Coastwatch has outlined, along with FAQs, a Help page with definitions such as an isotherm; a graphic representation of temperature gradients. "Iso" (similar) "therms" (temperatures). (On the CoastWatch "port site" images, each line indicates a change in temperature of 1 degree fahrenheit.) Presently Sea Grant conducts outreach presentations at clubs and charter association meetings and has future plans to publish an educational brochure. "These maps are an invaluable service and have definitely improved my fishing", said Lake Michigan Waukegan IL angler Dean Roberts, "not having any off-shore physical structure, these images help me identify thermal structure, which is particularly useful when targeting steelhead." Links to Surface Temperature Maps are avialable by using the image map found on the top of all State pages. |
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United States Senate confirmed Jamie
Rappaport Clark as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Clark, a career civil servant, has been an employee of
the Service for the past 8 years.
"Americans are passionate about wildlife, and that passion fuels
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," Clark said. "This is an
exciting time to be at the helm of this agency. I look forward
with great enthusiasm and excitement to the challenge of leading
an agency dedicated to conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish
and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit and
enjoyment of the American people."
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt praised the Senate's
action in confirming Clark. "Jamie Clark is an experienced
career professional who has been involved on a daily basis with
many of the major wildlife issues facing the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. She knows the Service well and will bring to
the job energy, commitment, and an understanding of the Service
and its major constituents. I am very pleased that the Senate
has confirmed her as Director."
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As Director, Clark pledged to increase the Service's role in
cooperative approaches to fish and wildlife conservation.
"Throughout my Federal career, I have participated in numerous
partnership efforts and firmly believe that involving
stakeholders and other agency expertise early on reaps long-term
benefits for fish and wildlife resources and the economy. I
believe that the Service needs to continue looking for new and
innovative ways to achieve species and habitat conservation,"
Clark said. "Our state, Federal, Tribal, and private partners
have great capabilities to provide leadership and assistance in
the management and recovery of natural resources. The Service
needs to communicate the fundamental message that the fate of
wildlife and humans alike is linked to the well-being of the
environment around us."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats. The Service manages 511 national wildlife refuges covering 92 million acres as well as 65 national fish hatcheries. |
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