The balmoral group team proposes to conduct a series of workshops in gulf coast states to advance the use of earth observations for valuing ecosystem services and to define practical means to…

The balmoral group team proposes to conduct a series of workshops in gulf coast states to advance the use of earth observations for valuing ecosystem services and to define practical means to incorporate these values into resource planning and decision making in the coastal environment. Partners in the workshops will include public and private sector stakeholders that have the common goal of improving the resilience of coastal infrastructure and natural systems. Coastal green infrastructure (CGI) which includes (constructed) living shorelines and natural barrier islands dunes shellfish beds and coastal wetlands has been identified generally as having significant potential to improve community resilience against storms and sea level rise rebuild coastal ecosystems and increase the ecological benefits and services that contribute to coastal economies. However specific economic measures of such benefits are either lacking or are insufficiently quantified to provide practical information to decision makers particularly where such ecological services compete for weight or consideration against more broadly understood goods and services recognized by markets and the various economic measures historically used by decision makers. As a primary and practical example CGI will be explored with workshop participants to illustrate how earth observations can be used to assist with ecosystem service valuation. The workshops will be designed specifically to evaluate the following key elements of implementing ecosystems services into the resource planning processes: what data sources including earth observations are needed to improve the approaches for valuing coastal ecosystem services relating to resilience and more specifically the roles of CGI? What valuation techniques best translate quantified ecosystems services defined for the gulf coast area? To what degree do resource managers currently use the values of ecosystems services in decision making? What institutional and informational barriers exist that constrain the application of ecosystem services within decision making related to planning and management of coastal resources (including CGI)? Review case studies with participants: examples of situations where earth observations have been used successfully in coastal infrastructure management (green or grey) what steps need to be undertaken to accelerate the adoption of ecosystem valuation and elevate its impact on decision making again highlighting CGI as an example of a timely strategy that has documented success? The workshop series is intended to be an exercise in iterative learning so that each session builds on its predecessors in terms of constructing a knowledge base about the application of ecosystems valuation in theory and practice as relates to local and federal agency resource planning and coordination. The output of the series will include guidance to NASA and other federal agencies on the use of earth observations to inform ecosystems valuation within a regional resource the gulf of mexico with numerous interacting agencies federal and state.