Project Description
In Tampa Bay, an increase in seagrass areal extent has been observed since 1988, due to improvements in water quality as a result of significant reductions in nitrogen loads starting in the early 1980’s. However, recent aerial photographs and mapping conducted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District have indicated that, in some areas of the bay, seagrass recovery has not been as rapid as in others. In fact, apparent seagrass thinning and loss may be occurring since 1994 in limited areas, even though water quality and clarity appears to be adequate to support seagrass growth in these areas.
In August 2000, a Seagrass Management Symposium caused over 70 participants to gather and discuss status and trends of seagrass and water quality in Florida estuaries. During the workshop a priority issue ranking exercise revealed a top priority among these resource managers and researchers was improved access to digital data for historic and current seagrass extent and an archive for photographs and maps. Several other top priorities were dependent on this data being widely available.
To accomplish this goal, the Gulf of Mexico Program, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP), United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI) of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have teamed to produce a website that will provide access to multiple years of aerial photography for the Tampa Bay region. Aerial photography is available from 1926 through 2002. Availability of these digital files will allow researchers the opportunity for inspection of study sites, visual evaluation of benthic habitats, coastal land uses and land cover, assessment of trends in benthic habitats, and reference for coastal development through recent history.
The intent of this project is to provide resource managers, researchers, educators, and students with easy access to digital files of current and historic aerial photography of the Tampa Bay area. At this time partial coverage of the bay is available for 1926 and full coverage is available for 1947-52, 1999, and 2002.Images are available as JPG files and georectified IMG/MrSID files. Metadata files are available for each set of imagery and vector GIS files. Found under the Metadata tab on this website, these files provide specifications of the aerial photography as well as the digital files.