BBP in Brief, Issue 5, November 2005

The Bahamas Map Atlas Website: Mapping The Bahamas in Multiple Layers
Maria Villanueva and Felimon Gayanilo University of Miami – RSMAS

The BBP Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Working Group has developed a website called “The Bahamas Map Atlas,” a major source of Bahamas spatial data that has already attracted over 300 visitors since this past April. The site features Bahamas GIS layers, created and compiled from various sources of spatial data by the BBP GIS Working Group. The site is currently hosted by the National Center for Coral Reef Research (NCORE) at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM-RSMAS), http://www.ncoreMiami.org.

Multiple GIS layers are currently available:

• Entry points and arrival: including layers depicting ports, marinas, and censuses on visitors arriving in the country
  
• Dive sites and related structures: locations of dive sites, dive shops, and hotels
  
• Population census: depicts roads, major towns, and the population of each island
  
• Ports and marinas: layers that display the location of ports of entry and registered marinas
  
• Fisheries: major fishing grounds and fishing sites
  
• Storms: storm paths through The Bahamas from 1851 to 1996
  
• Bathymetry: water depths throughout the archipelago
  
• Bahamas Islands: Settlement areas in The Bahamas
  
• Remote images of the islands: a collection of remote images from throughout the country
  
• Reefs and reef status: reefs in the area and the sites where reports are available regarding coral spawning, coral diseases, and bleaching (generated from ReefBase)
• Benthic habitats: benthic habitats for Abaco, Bimini, and San Salvador islands using the classification scheme proposed by the project

When a user clicks to display a map, it will appear along with a toolbar that allows the user to navigate around the map, zoom in on areas of interest, and highlight regions to retrieve relevant data. All GIS layers from the website can also be viewed (or downloaded) with the program ESRI ArcExplorer. Some maps are not yet publicly accessible; users who want to have access to password-protected maps may contact Maria Villanueva ( ) or Felimon Gayanilo ( ). As the project progresses and other BBP working groups submit spatial data for digitalization, layers will be added and updated and new themes may be developed.