SPINCAM gets to grips with SmartAtlas

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Mr. Steve Erique, who works at the Comisión Permanente del Pacifico Sur (CPPS) office in Ecuador made a one-week training visit to the Coastal and Marine Research Centre (CMRC) in Cork, Ireland in May 2014. CPPS is responsible for regional atlas developments for  the IOC-sponsored SPINCAM. Steve has already deployed SmartAtlas and is testing its potential to be the operational technology for the development of the SPINCAM regional Atlas. During his visit Steve learned more about tailoring SmartAtlas and some of the ‘tips and tricks’ to get the most out of the SmartAtlas technology. The CMRC will continue to assist SPINCAM and CPPS in training and customisation of  SmartAtlas in the coming months. 

Marine Environmental Information System for Colombia: first step toward Coastal Atlas

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Julio Bohórquez, INVEMAR, Colombia. Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.
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The Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR) is linked to Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) and has the function, among others, to develop technological tools and policy framework which serve to process, store and distribute marine and coastal information required by environmental administration. This information is produced by INVEMAR, MADS, environmental authorities, official coastal entities and marine and coastal research network partners. Since 2000, a technological project called Marine Environmental Information System (SIAM) has met the requirements of the administration and operates the system.

This System creates normative tools and administers policies for publication, dissemination, and access to environmental information. Standards are implemented for several processes: ISO19115 for metadata, and OGC standards for online geographic information exchange using services like WMS. Both standards were adopted in coordination with the responsible institute in order to consolidate national efforts aimed to build spatial data infrastructure (ICDE - www.icde.org.co ).

Main Components

The System organizes different issues relevant to marine management as follows:

1. Biodiversity data, which includes geo-referenced information from biological collections, data from coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grasses monitoring, and tracing reports of invasive species. In the latter case, users have the option of selecting a specific geographic area and receive real time data (Figure 1)
   
   
2. Laws, programs and research documentation in Integrated Coastal Zone Management, providing a tool to support decision-making in protected areas management context. INVEMAR produces the National Marine and Coastal Environmental Status Report annually, including a Marine Atlas based on indicators. For evaluation and monitoring of the marine and coastal management, the system collects data that together allows calculating environmental sustainability indicators about the state of the environment, existing pressures on resources, and the management actions undertaken by competent authorities. The Indicators meet the needs of decision-makers at national and regional level. In the regional case, for example, the system supports the integrated Coastal Zone Management through the research project "Southeast Pacific data and information network in support to integrated coastal area management" - SPINCAM funded by Flemish Government of Belgium in coordination with IOC-UNESCO, which involves the other four South American countries with coastlines on the Pacific ocean (INVEMAR, 2011) (Figure 2)
   
   
3. Data from the environmental quality monitoring of coastal waters (REDCAM) and meteorological and oceanographic data are received by telemetry and developed as a climate change adaptation measure which is part of the Integrated National Adaptation Project in a national multi-institutional effort (IDEAM et al., 2011). At present, four weather and oceanographic stations are distributed along the Colombian Caribbean Sea where 15 environmental variables are permanently registered
   
   
4. Information regarding the vulnerability assessment, mitigation and/or adaptation to natural hazards caused by global climate change and coastal erosion are visualized for information management purposes in tools like CLIMARES and COSTERO
   
   
5. Geographic information services work as tools that integrate geo-referenced data and show their spatial distribution and its changes in time. Using WMS it is possible to access detailed marine ecosystem cartography information for ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses. In addition, users can look up dynamic maps of fisheries and marine protected areas. Other tools complement SIAM services: search within INVEMAR’s specialized marine library, the metadata catalogue, and access to organized information in thematic websites (Figure 3)

SIAM components are developed in different technological degrees to offer several online services in order to: enhance services associated with the ocean observation systems and the coastal erosion system, redesign biodiversity monitoring in order to have a better selection of spatial services, and implement a geo-database that corresponds to coastal marine model. With a constantly growing database and datasheets of more than 10 years, the medium term goal is to develop web services with higher benefit, supported on data mining technology and research oriented to geoprocessing.

Several software packages support SIAM’s infrastructure. Among the most relevant are: ORACLE for database management, ESRI tools for the development and deployment of geographic information, GeoNetwork for metadata catalogue, and ALFRESCO for documents management. INVEMAR has its own system information department: the Information Systems Laboratory comprised of a group of specialized researchers trained in software development, remote sensing information analysis tools, and GIS  technologies in general.

The system serves as a technological tool to support knowledge generation activities in marine and coastal issues. Any group that requires technology for data management can use the existing infrastructure following agreement between the parties. The main users of SIAM services are researchers and students of marine sciences that look for the understanding of the dynamics of the physical, biological and social marine processes. Also, government members can benefit of the system for environmental management and decision-making.

The information contained has supported publishing the first Marine, Coastal and Continental Ecosystems Map in Colombia (IDEAM et al., 2007) at 1:500.000 scale. In addition, there are several other examples of its use: - Evaluation, implementation and control measures to ensure the sanitary quality of the tourist beaches, using REDCAM services, reports, indicators and map viewer. The main users are regional environmental authorities. - The design and management of marine protected areas (Decision support system for the Sub-system of Marine Protected Areas and Biodiversity system). The main user is Colombian’s Department of National Parks. - Activities that demand environmental licenses, permits, concessions or authorizations. The system contains the official cartography of marine and coastal ecosystems (coral reefs, sea grasses, mangrove, soft bottoms and beaches) of the country. - Evaluation of possible compensation for the execution of mineral exploration activities (map viewer of fishing grounds), the main user is the National Hydrocarbons Agency.

Bibliography

• IDEAM, IGAC, IAvH, INVEMAR, I. SINCHOi e IIAP. 2007. Ecosistemas continentales, costeros y marinos de Colombia. Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales, Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Instituto de Investigaciones Ambientales del Pacífico Jhon von Neumann, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives De Andréis e Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi. Bogotá, D. C, 276 p. + 37 hojas cartográficas. Download full document in: http://www.invemar.org.co/noticias.jsp?id=3458
  
  
• IDEAM, INVEMAR, CORALINA, INS, CI. 2011. Presentación resultados del proyecto INAP (donación TF056350). Informe Final. Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives De Andréis, Corporación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Conservación Internacional.  Bogotá, D. C, 122p http://bit.ly/1lCtwZm
  
  
• INVEMAR, 2011. Red de Información y Datos del Pacífico sudeste para el apoyo a la gestión integrada del Área Costera SPINCAM Colombia. Informe Técnico Final CPPS Fase I – Punto Focal Nacional Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, Santa Marta, Editado por: Lozano-Rivera P., Arias-Alemán, L.J y Sierra-Correa, P. 39p.+ Anexos http://bit.ly/1orc9wy
  
  

West Coast Governors Alliance launches new website

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In January, the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health in the United States launched the West Coast Ocean Data Portal to increase access and discovery of critical ocean and coastal data for the West Coast  (http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/). The site will help coastal managers, researchers, and the general public discover data relevant to West Coast ocean resource management, policy development, and planning. It builds off existing state and federal portals, including OR and WA Coastal Atlases, and curates data around important West Coast ocean health issues to help users easily find what they need. This Portal is a first step in better connecting data and people to inform issues unique to the West Coast region. This work was funded through the NOAA Regional Ocean Partnership grant opportunity which has greatly enhanced the ability of the three states, federal government, tribes, and the Ocean Observation Systems to collaborate on regional ocean health issues.

“The launch of this website is an important step forward for the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health. Having tools to access and visualize ocean and coastal data will help us address high priority regional ocean issues like marine debris, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and marine planning. It is truly a collaboration among our state, federal, tribal, and NGO partners to better share data critical to ocean health decision making,” said Gabriela Goldfarb, Natural Resources Policy Advisor in the Oregon Governor's Office.

Now for the technical stuff: The West Coast Ocean Data Portal incorporates ESRI Geoportal Server with a PostgreSQL backend, and a prototype component called Geoportal Facets Customization (GFC) (Figure 1). The GFC pulls metadata documents from the back-end Geoportal Server database and push them to SOLR, a search platform that provides fast full-text, faceted and geospatial search capabilities accessible through a robust API. The WCODP user interface uses this SOLR API to provide users with the ability to rapidly search and filter through the available datasets by keyword, category, location, or source (Figure 2).  This is the same technology used in modern e-commerce websites allowing visitors to quickly drill-down and find the product they are looking for, except instead of filtering by product price and feature, the GFC component creates search facets tuned for discovery of spatial datasets by bounding box, and service type. Then once a user finds a dataset they are interested in, they are provided with a range of additional information provided through the metadata including the title, abstract, date published, creator, publisher, contact, use constraints, and all of the available links for accessing the resource (Figure 2). This decoupled, API-driven approach allows these software components to be quickly integrated into a large organized Portal system.

The development of the Portal is guided by a broad Network of ocean data managers and users on the West Coast. This West Coast Ocean Data Network is made up of representatives from state and federal agencies, tribal governments, and NGOs and serves as a forum to connect people around data, outreach, and information technology issues (Figure 3). Participation in the Network is open to anyone with an interest in sharing ocean and coastal data, to learn more please visit http://portal.westcoastoceans.org/connect

Current work on the Portal encompasses the inclusion of federal, academic, and non-governmental data catalogs, including new partnerships with the West Coast Ocean Observing System (OOS) Regional Associations, NOAA Fisheries, and U.S Geological Survey. Our partnership with the West Coast OOS's has been strengthened by a joint Sea Grant fellowship to develop and integrate regional oceanographic products into the Portal to inform West Coast ocean issues like marine debris transport and ocean acidification.

We are excited to be developing visualization tools to better inform a regional assessment of the sources, sinks, and impacts of marine debris in the coastal environment for policy makers, beach cleanup coordinators, and state regulators. We are working with the WCGA Marine Debris Action Coordination Team to integrate their Marine Debris Database (http://debris-db.westcoastoceans.org/) with the WCODP. Part of this work has included the development of a semantic ontology to allow users to easily search, filter, and display the debris types of interest. ICAN's very own, Yassine Lassoued has been leading this work and helping to integrate it with the WCODP. The visualization tools will also be used to allow Portal visitors the ability to view and ‘mash-up’ any of the data layers that have REST or WMS associated with them.

You can visit the West Coast Ocean Data Portal at http://portal.westcoastoceans.org

If you wish to learn more or contribute your data to the Portal, please contact Todd Hallenbeck Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.  

An on-line mapping tool for marine planning in Scotland

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Martyn Cox
Marine Planning and Policy, Marine Scotland
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Introduction

My article in the September 2012 issue of the ICAN Newsletter about “Scotland’s Marine Atlas” briefly introduced our on-line GIS tool, National Marine Plan interactive (NMPi) that was under development. NMPi has now reached the stage where it is supporting our public consultation exercise for Scotland’s first national marine plan.

Background

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 empower Marine Scotland to deliver marine planning for Scotland’s seas on behalf of Scottish Ministers. This will assist in delivering the government’s vision of “clean, healthy, safe, productive, biologically diverse marine and coastal environments managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people”.

Scotland’s first national marine plan is under development: consultation started in July 2013. At the same time, consultation started on designating marine protected areas and identifying areas for marine renewable energy. Being able to map all these activities and proposals is important as we engage with stakeholders. Scotland’s Marine Atlas, published in 2011 was the “Information for the National Marine Plan”. Marine planning requires a significant and robust evidence base as many other coastal atlases have demonstrated.  NMPi is Marine Scotland’s key tool for sharing the data with stakeholders and is complemented by Marine Scotland interactive.

What is NMPi?

NMPi is an online, interactive GIS-based tool (using GeoServer and Open Layers software) allowing you to view different types of information (as map layers) at a scale of your choice. You can find it at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/seamanagement/nmpihome

On web pages associated with each layer, additional information is provided. This includes links to related parts of the Atlas, data sources, links to other sources of information and, where appropriate, downloadable spread sheets to update the Atlas graphs.

Data are presented in layers and grouped into the various aspects of the Government’s vision for the seas - clean and safe seas; healthy and biologically diverse seas; productive seas; as well as background layers on physical characteristics and administrative boundaries.

All users have access to:

• Data display - geographic information through a web-map interface, with a map canvas, a switchable list of layers, and various tools.
• Links to associated web pages with additional information.
• NMPi’s “web map services” using client software (e.g. a desktop GIS package) – a requirement of the INSPIRE directive.
• A dedicated version for browsers on mobile devices (SmartPhones and iPADs).
• Registered users (free to do so) can access additional functionality:
• Create maps for printing.
• Develop their own data layers (which can then be submitted to Marine Scotland).
• Download certain data (subject to a licence agreement).

New content is being added to NMPi on an on-going basis, while existing content is also being updated.

Collaborative working

Marine Scotland is again working closely with its Atlas partners Scottish Natural Heritage, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland in keeping data sets updated on NMPi.

Experiences to share

Marine planning requires many data sets to be effective but they are not all collected either by Marine Scotland (MS) or its’ collaborative partners. So MS spends time acquiring data from others (paying for some commercial data sets) so that data can be displayed. The attributes may also have to be limited if there is information of commercial value or a confidential nature. NMPi is designed so that spatial data can be downloaded via a click licence but given the nature and breadth of NMPi’s data, the download function is restricted to MS data with signposting to 3rd party web sites for their data.

Summary

There are currently in excess of 200 layers and this looks set to expand.  Developing a system that covers such a range of activities is both challenging and rewarding, as I am sure other ICAN members will agree. The technology we have available today is very powerful whilst at the same time we need to respect intellectual property rights and sensitivities about data, amongst others. There is a much to take into account when making information publicly available. NMPi is the next stage in Marine Scotland’s innovations. It follows the successful Atlas and the later e-publication (for iPads and Kindles etc.).

NMPi is an innovative tool to assist Marine Scotland in its delivery of marine planning. It will support policy making as use of the seas changes, whether that is for sustainable economic growth through a variety of human activities or conservation through the designation of marine protected areas.  I am sure NMPi will evolve as needs require. As a member of ICAN we look forward to sharing what we are doing and learning from others in the network.

Figure 2: Layer Control box to show the
structure based on our vision for the seas,
with the Productive Seas section enlarged

Web Services for Coastal and Marine Atlases

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Keiran Millard
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HydroView Now is a range of free to use web mapping services developed by SeaZone.  They have been developed for users building  and delivering coastal and marine atlases.  HydroView Now provides all the key base-mapping and reference features generally needed in developing marine and coastal atlases, allowing users to focus on their content and analysis.

Fully standards-based, the services work in web mapping applications as well as desktop clients such as ArcGIS and QGIS.  They comprise two services:  HydroView Now: Basemap and HydroView Now: Features.

HydroView Now : Basemap

A WMTS for global bathymetry.  This a cartographic product showing hill-shaded bathymetry alongside depth soundings derived from nautical charts.  It contains a transparent land-mask meaning it can be used alongside your choice of land mapping, e.g. OpenStreetMap or BingMaps

HydroView Now : Features

A WFS for global marine feature types.  This provides a definitive worldwide marine reference feature types derived from national hydrographic and other authoritative sources.  The content is processed to form a continuous vector layer dataset aligned to the draft IHO S-100 GML profile.

Both services are delivered through an authenticated web service interface, allowing users to consume the service via an application programming interface.  They are both deployed in the cloud delivering the performance and reliability that users are accustomed to with modern web mapping. 

View HydroViewNow at
http://seazone.viaeuropa.uk.com/viaeuropa/apps/szdemo/