The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast by compiling a database of historical (1800's-1989) shoreline positions and shoreline change maps. Trends of shoreline position over long and short-term timescales provide information to landowners, managers, and potential buyers about possible future impacts to coastal resources and infrastructure. In 2001, a 1994 shoreline was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates at 40-meter intervals along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013 two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-2009 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from NOAA's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. The 2013 update also included a 2000 lidar shoreline covering most of the open-ocean coast, as well as a 2001 shoreline for the South Shore coastal region. In 2018, two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for the Massachusetts coast extracted from lidar data collected between 2010-2014 were added to the dataset. This 2021 data release contains a compilation of previously published historical shoreline positions spanning 170 years (1844 to 2014), intended to be used as an authoritative shoreline database for the state. This dataset is an update to the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Shoreline Change Project.

Seagrass beds are critical wetlands components of shallow marine ecosystems along the Massachusetts coastline. Seagrass beds provide food and cover for a great variety of commercially and recreationally important fauna and their prey. The leaf canopy of the seagrass bed calms the water, filters suspended matter and together with extensive roots and rhizomes, stabilizes sediment. Seagrasses are often referred to as "Submerged Aquatic Vegetation" or SAV. This distinguishes them from algae, which are not classified as plants by biologists (rather they are often placed in the kingdom protista), and distinguishes them from the "emergent" saltwater plants found in salt marshes.

In Massachusetts, the dominant SAV is Zostera marina or eelgrass. The other species found in the embayments of the Massachusetts coast is Ruppia maritima, commonly called “widgeon grass,” which is present in areas of less salinity along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. Widgeon grass, found in the upper reaches of embayments, has a thread-like morphology that makes it difficult to identify using remotely sensed data. It can only be identified and located by on-site survey.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) began a program to map the state's SAV resources in the early 1990s and since 1995 the MassDEP Eelgrass Mapping Project has produced multiple surveys of SAV along the Massachusetts coastline, as listed here:

PhaseProject YearsProject Area11995Entire MA Coast22001Coast-wide MA Coast except Elizabeth Islands (Gosnold) and Mount Hope Bay32006/07Selected embayments, coast-wide including Elizabeth Islands42010-20132010 - South Shore of Cape Cod: Woods Hole to Chatham, selected embayments, Pleasant Bay;2012 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Provincetown;2013 - Buzzards Bay, Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket52015-20172015 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, Nantucket;2016 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Canal;2017 - Buzzards Bay, North Shore of Cape Cod, Elizabeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard62019-20232019 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, North Shore of Nantucket2020 - Martha’s Vineyard, Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands 2021 - Cape Cod Bay (Provincetown through Duxbury) 2022 - South Shore, Boston Harbor, North Shore (Marshfield through Rockport)2023 - Cape Ann to the New Hampshire border (Essex through Newburyport)

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Seagrass beds are critical wetlands components of shallow marine ecosystems along the Massachusetts coastline. Seagrass beds provide food and cover for a great variety of commercially and recreationally important fauna and their prey. The leaf canopy of the seagrass bed calms the water, filters suspended matter and together with extensive roots and rhizomes, stabilizes sediment. Seagrasses are often referred to as "Submerged Aquatic Vegetation" or SAV. This distinguishes them from algae, which are not classified as plants by biologists (rather they are often placed in the kingdom protista), and distinguishes them from the "emergent" saltwater plants found in salt marshes.

In Massachusetts, the dominant SAV is Zostera marina or eelgrass. The other species found in the embayments of the Massachusetts coast is Ruppia maritima, commonly called “widgeon grass,” which is present in areas of less salinity along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. Widgeon grass, found in the upper reaches of embayments, has a thread-like morphology that makes it difficult to identify using remotely sensed data. It can only be identified and located by on-site survey.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) began a program to map the state's SAV resources in the early 1990s and since 1995 the MassDEP Eelgrass Mapping Project has produced multiple surveys of SAV along the Massachusetts coastline, as listed here:

PhaseProject YearsProject Area11995Entire MA Coast22001Coast-wide MA Coast except Elizabeth Islands (Gosnold) and Mount Hope Bay32006/07Selected embayments, coast-wide including Elizabeth Islands42010-20132010 - South Shore of Cape Cod: Woods Hole to Chatham, selected embayments, Pleasant Bay;2012 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Provincetown;2013 - Buzzards Bay, Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket52015-20172015 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, Nantucket;2016 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Canal;2017 - Buzzards Bay, North Shore of Cape Cod, Elizabeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard62019-20232019 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, North Shore of Nantucket2020 - Martha’s Vineyard, Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands 2021 - Cape Cod Bay (Provincetown through Duxbury) 2022 - South Shore, Boston Harbor, North Shore (Marshfield through Rockport)2023 - Cape Ann to the New Hampshire border (Essex through Newburyport)

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The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

The data on this CD consist of geographic information system (GIS) coverages and tabular data on the geology of Early Proterozoic and Archean rocks in part of the Early Proterozoic Penokean orogeny. The map emphasizes metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks that were deposited along the southern margin of the Superior craton and were later deformed during continental collision at about 1850 Ma. The area includes the famous iron ranges of the south shore region of the Lake Superior district. Base maps, both as digital raster graphics (DRG) and digital line graphs (DLG) are also provided for the convenience of users. The map has been compiled from many individual studies, mostly by USGS researchers, completed during the past 50 years, including many detailed (1:24,000 scale) geologic maps. Data was compiled at 1:100,000 scale and preserves most of the details of source materials. This product is a preliminary release of the geologic map data bases during ongoing studies of the geology and metallogeny of the Penokean continental margin. Files are provided in three formats: Federal Spatial Data Transfer format (SDTS), Arc export format (.e00) files, and Arc coverages. All files can be accessed directly from the CD-ROM using either ARC/INFO 7.1.2 or later or Arc View 3.0 or later software. ESRI's Arc Explorer, a free GIS data viewer also provides display and querying capability for these files.

description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

Seagrass beds are critical wetlands components of shallow marine ecosystems along the Massachusetts coastline. Seagrass beds provide food and cover for a great variety of commercially and recreationally important fauna and their prey. The leaf canopy of the seagrass bed calms the water, filters suspended matter and together with extensive roots and rhizomes, stabilizes sediment. Seagrasses are often referred to as "Submerged Aquatic Vegetation" or SAV. This distinguishes them from algae, which are not classified as plants by biologists (rather they are often placed in the kingdom protista), and distinguishes them from the "emergent" saltwater plants found in salt marshes.

In Massachusetts, the dominant SAV is Zostera marina or eelgrass. The other species found in the embayments of the Massachusetts coast is Ruppia maritima, commonly called “widgeon grass,” which is present in areas of less salinity along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. Widgeon grass, found in the upper reaches of embayments, has a thread-like morphology that makes it difficult to identify using remotely sensed data. It can only be identified and located by on-site survey.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) began a program to map the state's SAV resources in the early 1990s and since 1995 the MassDEP Eelgrass Mapping Project has produced multiple surveys of SAV along the Massachusetts coastline, as listed here:

PhaseProject YearsProject Area11995Entire MA Coast22001Coast-wide MA Coast except Elizabeth Islands (Gosnold) and Mount Hope Bay32006/07Selected embayments, coast-wide including Elizabeth Islands42010-20132010 - South Shore of Cape Cod: Woods Hole to Chatham, selected embayments, Pleasant Bay;2012 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Provincetown;2013 - Buzzards Bay, Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket52015-20172015 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, Nantucket;2016 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Canal;2017 - Buzzards Bay, North Shore of Cape Cod, Elizabeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard62019-20232019 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, North Shore of Nantucket2020 - Martha’s Vineyard, Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands 2021 - Cape Cod Bay (Provincetown through Duxbury) 2022 - South Shore, Boston Harbor, North Shore (Marshfield through Rockport)2023 - Cape Ann to the New Hampshire border (Essex through Newburyport)

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description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

The following dashboards provide data on contagious respiratory viruses, including acute respiratory diseases, COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Massachusetts. The data presented here can help track trends in respiratory disease and vaccination activity across Massachusetts.