Marine component of the Unique System of Environmental Information (SUIA) - Ecuador

Ecuador is the first country in the world to recognize the rights of nature and implement Good Living (Buen Vivir – in Spanish) as an alternative to the traditional concept of development, - the search for a new balance between the human being, society and nature; a model where the best strategy to eradicate poverty is through the elimination of social, economic, environmental and cultural asymmetries, objectives clearly reflected in our National Plan of Development "Whole Life" that observes the Sustainable Development Goals as a set of minimum that our collective action must order.

The efficient management of data has allowed the Ministry of the Environment (MAE - by its initials in Spanish), to provide reliable and timely environmental information to the user of any field or sector attending to any type of requirement, allowing to adopt and apply timely measures in decision-making.

In this institutional framework, the Ministry of the Environment, the governing entity, coordinator and regulator of Environmental Management in Ecuador, has been working since 2010 on the project "Unique System of Environmental Information (SUIA - by its initials in Spanish)", as a management and dissemination tool of environmental information, which has allowed the country to know the state and the changes suffered by natural resources and the environment in general; covering different areas, ranging from research, education, statistics, consolidation, validation of geographic data, to the systematization of the institutional processes of the MAE.

It should be noted that based on the available environmental information, within the statistical and geospatial scope, the MAE has built an updated information base, in which the statistics, environmental indicators, layers and maps of the strategic resources are displayed, which serve as tool for the evaluation and validation of the progress of the goals outlined in the environmental field and the relationships between it.

Highlight that these processes of environmental information production, allow visualizing the contribution of the Ministry of the Environment to the fulfillment of the goals of the National Development Plan, the National Environmental Policy, Institutional Management and International Multilateral Agreements, contributing to global sustainable development.

The country being an active member of the Project "Information and Data Network of the South Pacific for the Support of the Integrated Management of the Coastal Area - SPINCAM", through this State Portfolio, fulfills the commitment to visualize the information generated at the country level in the International Atlas of Marine Networks - ICAN, and under the premise of integrating environmental information in the SUIA platform, provides statistical and spatial information in the National System of Environmental and Sustainability Indicators - SINIAS, and Interactive Map Environmental.

On the latter, it is a Geovisor through which users can access, view and, depending on the level of sensitivity of it, download information regarding the national environmental theme, which includes the coastal marine around the project.

Finally, highlight that Ecuador through its environmental information processes seeks to strengthen the management it provides, promoting the cross-cutting use of the products and services generated through the generation of environmental and geographic data, guaranteeing the availability and integrity of it, through the implementation of new technologies; with the purpose of having statistical products that allow to measure the contribution not only of this state portfolio, but also of the Entities competent in the monitoring and conservation of the natural heritage, especially in the coastal zones, allowing the decision making towards compliance with the objectives that society wants to achieve, in search of sustainable development, good living and the rights of nature as established in our Constitution.

HELCOM map and data service updated – enhanced system for making available assessment data products and underlying data

Joni Kaitaranta and Andžej Miloš, HELCOM Secretariat

Introduction

HELCOM (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - Helsinki Commission) is the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, known as the Helsinki Convention. The Contracting Parties are Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. HELCOM works to protect the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollutions through intergovernmental cooperation. HELCOM is a regional sea convention (RSC) for the Baltic Sea and policy maker for the Baltic Sea area by developing common environmental objectives and actions. One of HELCOM’s task is to act as an environmental focal point providing information which requires GIS web mapping tool for providing information and data used in assessment carried out by HELCOM.

HELCOM Map and Data service (HELCOM MADS) was designed to fulfill that requirement and first version was developed in 2010. During 2016 a project was launched where resources were made available to completely renew and update the tool that was reaching the end of its life-span. 

Requirements and use cases

Fundamental requirement for tools used in making available data stems from HELCOM Monitoring and Assessment Strategy, which contains attachment of Data and Information Strategy. The strategy sets out following guiding principle: The HELCOM data and information activities should facilitate access of the general public to environmental information. This includes requirements for various thematic datasets ranging from in-situ monitoring of eutrophication, biodiversity and hazardous substances related data to more aggregated data products on status of marine environment, nutrient loading and trends and overview of maritime traffic related activities.

HELCOM Contracting Parties that are also EU Member State have obligation stemming from Marine Strategy Frame Work Directive (MSFD). The Directive requires coherence and coordination within regions and makes possible reference to assessments/data that is done by Regional Sea Conventions. This sets requirements in relation to data products being made available on regional level and according to INSPIRE Directive.

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) requires also regional coordination and coherence of plans across the region and between neighboring countries. According to the MSP Directive, plans should be harmonized across the region and this requires regional level work and agreement on data harmonization. Spatial data should be also spatially very accurate and up-to-date to be useful in the planning process.

According to HELCOM data and information strategy, the target group for information and data products should be also general public / decision makers. This sets a requirement on complexity of information and terms used for displaying results. This purpose sets a requirement to be able to pinpoint to a specific aggregated and simplified map product in the service.

Technical solutions

HELCOM MADS is based on two user interfaces, which are seamlessly interlinked:

• Map and Data service map viewer part (ESRI ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS API for Javascript) http://maps.helcom.fi/website/mapservice/index.html
  • Viewing a dataset and feaure attributes on map viewer;
  • Searching dataset in table of contents;
  • Viewing external datasets (WMS);
  • Data service addresses (ArcGIS Rest / OGC WMS);
  • Accessing datasets and features by URL parameters
    
    
    
• Metadata catalogue part (Geonetwork) http://metadata.helcom.fi/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/home
  • Viewing, downloading and searching metadata records (INSPIRE compliant).

Each dataset has a unique ID, which is used to link a record in the metadata catalogue with a dataset in the map viewer. Linkage is done by including ID in the map viewer and metadata catalogue URL. At anytime user can switch between two systems: to view dataset in the map viewer or read metadata and download dataset in the metadata catalogue (Fig. 1).

Map and Data service viewer is based on datasets stored in file Geodatabases and published in ArcGIS Server (10.6.1). The Map viewer user interface is developed by HELCOM Secretariat using ArcGIS API for Javascript. The source code for the map viewer part can be found at GitHub under GNU General Public License v3.0: https://github.com/helcomsecretariat/MADS. 

The main features of map viewer (Figure 2) are:

• Searchable table of contents
• Linkage between to metadata catalogue, accessing datasets and features via URL
• feature identification
• Attribute table widget
• Widget to add WMS services (from predefined list and custom)
• Ability to query features with URL parameters

HELCOM Metadata catalogue is an application of Geonetwork and utilizing INSPIRE compatible metadata template with GEMET thesauri. The metadata catalogue contains following features:

• Search feature for metadata records titles and content
• Downloadable content of each metadata record

 

ICAN supports ACMA migration to GeoNode

The African Coastal and Marine Atlas (ACMA) editorial team supported by Greg Reed from IODE, Tanya Haddad, ICAN Technical team, and Carlos Oliveros from the Caribbean Marine Atlas, held a meeting in November 2017 to discuss the migration of ACMA to a new content management system using the open source software GeoNode. As this new system would be more functional and sustainable for marine spatial planning than the existing ACMA, the Marine Spatial Management and Governance Project (MARISMA) supported the development of GeoNode for the Benguela Current Convention and its member states (Angola, Namibia and South Africa), using the data layers from ACMA as baseline and additional relevant national/regional spatial data.

From 12 to 16 March 2018 MARISMA together with IOC/Africa hosted a GeoNode workshop in Swakopmund, Namibia. The objective of the workshop was to start with the migration of the African Coastal and Marine Atlas to the new GeoNode platform. Greg Reed and Tanya Haddad joined participants from Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria and Tunisia to provide training and advice. After installing GeoNode on all laptops, the first two days were spent on training and customizing the look and feel of GeoNode. During the remaining three days participants uploaded and standardized their country and region layers.

The Ecosystem Advisory Committee of the Benguela Current Convention (BCC) has approved the request to host GeoNode by the BCC Secretariat for the member states. In 2019 the data and information of the Current Status Report, compiled by the Namibian MSP National Working Group and MARISMA as well as relevant data and information compiled by the Angolan MSP Working Group will be uploaded and made available online.

United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

What is the UN Decade of Ocean Science?

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) is an initiative launched by the UN in December 2017. It seeks to drawn attention to the importance of ocean science data and information in the management decisions that will help the world make progress to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 14 – the ocean sustainability goal. The Decade will start in 2021, and planning for the decade will occur in the 2018-2020 time period. The IOC has been tasked by the UN General Assembly to work with all interested stakeholders to design a “Decade of Ocean Science” that will help us to deliver the ocean we need for the future we want.

What is the aim of the Decade of Ocean Science?

The objective of the Decade is to strengthen the international cooperation needed to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies that can connect ocean science with the needs of society, and to support countries in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Decade will require the engagement of many different stakeholders to create new ideas, solutions, partnerships and applications, these include: scientists, governments, academics, policy makers, business, industry and civil society.

What will the Ocean Decade focus on as Research & Development Priority Areas?

The Decade will provide a framework for achieving a number of high level outcomes, clustered around:

• a comprehensive digital atlas of the world
• a comprehensive ocean observing system for all major basins
• a quantitative understanding of ocean ecosystems and their functioning as the basis for their management and adaptation
• a data and information portal supporting the decade outcomes
• an integrated multi-hazard warning system
• an ocean in earth-system observation, research and prediction, supported by social and human sciences and economic valuation
• capacity building and accelerated technology transfer, training and education, and ocean literacy

How will the Decade of Ocean Science achieve its goals?

The Decade is embracing a participative process so that scientists, policy makers, managers, and service users can work together to ensure that ocean science delivers greater benefits for both the ocean ecosystem and for society. A two way process is envisioned (top down and bottom-up): the objectives and outcomes will be agreed globally and every group and region of the world will support them. The bottom-up process will be established so as to allow for the regional or even local definition of these outcomes and objectives, with the formulation of scientific products, activities and partnerships that could be proposed in the context of the Decade.

Overall the Decade will mobilize resources towards:

• TRANSFORMING - knowledge systems to support sustainable development
• BOLSTERING - ocean observing and data systems
• MEASURING - cumulative impacts for effective solutions
• DELIVERING - best available knowledge to decision-makers
• REDUCING - vulnerability to ocean and coastal hazards
• ACCELERATING - transfer of marine technology, training and education

What Does the Ocean Decade Mean For You?

The success of the Decade will rely on the contributions of many different stakeholders including scientists, policy-makers, civil society, funders and the private sector. It will support a new cooperative framework to ensure that global ocean science provides greater benefits for ocean ecosystems and wider society. One hoped for outcome will be improvements in alignment between investments and high impact ocean science connections to management. Another is that the Decade will open up access to tools, information and investment needed to create solutions for ocean sustainability.

How can you help?

During the planning phase (right now!) of the Decade a call for inputs and contributions towards the planning phase of the Decade will be launched including opportunities to:

• Contribute to the Planning Process by submitting ideas or participate in Decade dedicated workshops and / or host and organize events.
• Consult stakeholders, communicate about the Decade and identify opportunities for investment and resource mobilization.
• Provide staff and/or financial support.
• Help the IOC and its preparatory activities.
• Communicate about the Decade by sharing the purpose and expected results of the Decade, its planning phase and preparatory activities.

Progress of Sustainable Development Goal 14 in 2018

Advancing the sustainable use and conservation of the oceans continues to require effective strategies and management to combat the adverse effects of overfishing, growing ocean acidification and worsening coastal eutrophication. The expansion of protected areas for marine biodiversity, intensification of research capacity and increases in ocean science funding remain critically important to preserve marine resources.

The global share of marine fish stocks that are within biologically sustainable levels declined from 90 per cent in 1974 to 69 per cent in 2013.

Studies at open ocean and coastal sites around the world show that current levels of marine acidity have increased by about 26 per cent on average since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, marine life is being exposed to conditions outside previously experienced natural variability.

Global trends point to continued deterioration of coastal waters due to pollution and eutrophication. Without concerted efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20 per cent of large marine ecosystems by 2050.

As of January 2018, 16 per cent (or over 22 million square kilometres) of marine waters under national jurisdiction—that is, 0 to 200 nautical miles from shore—were covered by protected areas. This is more than double the 2010 coverage level. The mean coverage of marine key biodiversity areas (KBAs) that are protected has also increased—from 30 per cent in 2000 to 44 per cent in 2018.

Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Under Water

	Targets		Indicators
14.1	By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution	14.1.1	Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density
14.2	By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans	14.2.1	Proportion of national exclusive economic zones managed using ecosystem-based approaches
14.3	Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels	14.3.1	Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations
14.4	By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics	14.4.1	Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels
14.5	By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information	14.5.1	Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas
14.6	By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation	14.6.1	Progress by countries in the degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
14.7	By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism	14.7.1	Sustainable fisheries as a percentage of GDP in small island developing States, least developed countries and all countries
14.A	Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries	14.A.1	Proportion of total research budget allocated to research in the field of marine technology
14.B	Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets	14.B.1	Progress by countries in the degree of application of a legal/regulatory/policy/institutional framework which recognizes and protects access rights for small-scale fisheries
14.C	Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in UNCLOS, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources, as recalled in paragraph 158 of The Future We Want	14.C.1	Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

Sustainable Development Goal 14

Sustainable Development Goal 14 pertains to conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. Read more about the status and progress of Goal 14 in 2018 in this article

ICAN at CoastGIS 2018

International Coastal Atlas Network affiliates had a high profile at CoastGIS 2018 in Ísafjördur, Iceland from 27-29 September 2018.

Two affiliates were addressed plenary sessions. David Green, University of Aberdeen is the ICAN contact person for the Living North Sea website. His invited lecture featured low-coast monitoring, mapping and modelling of the coast using UAVs with a focus on the potential of small low-cost, off the shelf platforms and sensors with illustrations. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Louis Celliers, formerly with the CSIR in South Africa, hosted ICAN 7 in Cape Town. He is now with the Climate Service Centre in Germany. His lecture focused on systems thinking and its relationship to geomatics. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Five other affiliates gave presentations in the parallel sessions.

• Tanya Haddad, ICAN Steering Group Co-chair with the Oregon Coastal Management Program presented Advancing Oregon Estuarine Habitat Mapping with the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard. Oregon is remapping its estuary habitats with modern data and GIS tools and broadening its data integration efforts to include multiple new data types, remote sensing products and high resolution bathymetry. Their aim is to build a living habitat map product directly usable for local planning processes and a database product for conservation planners and scientists. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  
  
• Andrus Meiner an ICAN Steering Group member with the EU Environment Agency presented Copernicus land monitoring service for coastal zones. The preparation for production of very high resolution land cover and land use datesets for coastal zones has been initiated with first results expected in 2020. The map product will cover a 10 km wide land area adjacent to the sea coastline for 39 countries with tailored coastal zone land cover and land use mapping nomenclature. The new product will build on existing Copernicus products such as the Urban Atlas for coastal cities, Riparian zones and the Natura 2000 areas. The initiative will cooperate with the Copernicus marine environment monitoring service that is underdevelopment. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  
  
• David Hart an ICAN Steering Group member with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute presented Geospatial Technologies to Understand and Communicate Coastal Hazards. Since 2015 a team has been exploring the impact of changing water levels in Lake Michigan on coastal bluffs in eight communities north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over 60 possible options were developed to help local official and property owners adapt to a changing coast. One of the three themes of options included mapping tools to promote outreach and education about coastal processes. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  
  
• Andrew Sherin an ICAN Steering Group member with COINAtlantic and your newsletter`s editor made two presentations. The first was on automated processes used by COINAtlantic to maintain the currency and display reliability of the web mapping services accessed by its Search Utility on-line mapping tool. The second presentation was a reprise of the COINAtlantic Data Accessibility Self-Assessment Tool presented at ICAN 7 in Cape Town with modifications that make it compatible with the FAIR principles. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  
  
• Will McClintock, University of California at Santa Barbara and ICAN contact for SeaSketch co-presented with Charla Burnett SeaSketch`s Ideal Process Planning Model: Ensuring Equitable Decision-making in Marine Spatial Planning.  The presentation highlights essential elements of the ideal planning process that is to be used alongside Sea-Sketch for the development of a successful plan. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  

The presentation contributions to CoastGIS 2018 from ICAN affiliates was strengthened by the participation of other ICANers as delegates including Kathrin Kopke, ICAN Steering Group co-chair, Anja Kreiner, ICAN Steering Group member, Francisco Arias, INVEMAR, Columbia and host for ICAN 8 and Kathy Belpaeme, Provincie West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Overall ICAN made a very significant contribution to CoastGIS 2018. ICAN is grateful to the CoastGIS organizers for including an ICAN workshop to initiate the development of a new ICAN work plan focussed on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the upcoming Decade for Ocean Science.

Introducing New Members of the ICAN Steering Group

There have been several changes in the ICAN Steering Group following ICAN 8. Marcia Berman, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences has resigned as co-chair but will remain on the Steering Group. Tanya Haddad, Oregon Coastal Management Program has taken on the responsibilities of co-chair with Kathrin Kopke. New members of the Steering Group are Carolina Garcia Valencia of INVEMAR from Colombia, David Hart, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant and Adam Bode, NOAA both from the USA, and Carlos Torres Navarrete, Universidad Autónama de Baja California, Mexico. Alejandro Iglesias-Campos, IOC; Fernando Félix, Ecuador; Peter Pissierssens, IODE; Anja Kreiner, Namibia; Ned Dwyer, Portugal; Adam Leadbetter, Ireland; Andrus Meiner, European Environment Agency; Lucy Scott; South Africa and Andrew Sherin, Canada remain on the Steering Group.

The Evolution of the Strait of Georgia Data Centre

Terry Curran, P.Eng.

Introduction

In 2012, Dr. Isobel Pearsall convinced the non-profit Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) management that the organization needed a one-stop location of marine information for the Strait of Georgia, on Canada’s west coast.  This was needed to support policy and decision making by PSF and others.  Furthermore, many researchers were retiring, and there were lots of data in reports that did not have previous wide circulation, and were in danger of being lost.  To that end, a Strait of Georgia Data Centre website was created (http://sogDataCentre.ca ), albeit without data.

Isobel knew I was retiring from the federal Fisheries and Oceans in early 2013, and that I had experience in documenting datasets.  So, the data portion of the Strait of Georgia Data Centre was begun.

Starting to document metadata

We first did a user survey.  Two important results were obtained.  The first was the need for such a repository (Figure 1), and the second was the type of content desired (Figure 2).  In terms of the desired data portal, a significant number of users wanted the larger Salish Sea, which is a cross-border interconnected waterway of the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound.

We discovered that users wanted access to the large federal scientific datasets, initially for physical parameters (water properties and bathymetry) but also the fishery catch information.  We also discovered there were two clusters of users – those that wanted the data (“modellers”) and those that wanted data layers (“mappers”).  Coincidentally at this time, Canada was joining other major nations to sign onto the Open Data policy.  Prior to that signing, with a few exceptions Canada did not have a culture of automatically releasing data, and data was often either unavailable, or available for a price.  The Open Data Policy in 2013 began to make public service data more available, and that trend continues to this day.

It was known that a collaborative project titled the British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis Project (BCMCA) had occurred from 2007 to 2012.  It had pulled together data from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, the Province of BC, and many other sources to document many of the marine resources for BC.  The process included extensive peer-reviewed datasets organized as data layers, and thus the result was highly regarded.  The project was no longer funded, and some of these layers were publicly available.  We started with that as a basis, and updated the metadata to the ISO-19115 standard.

Summer of 2013

In the summer of 2013, two important events occurred.  The first was becoming aware of ICAN 6, which just happened to be occurring at the local university.  Not entirely certain that I should be attending, I did.  It was a revelation!  I discovered that what the PSF were really doing was building a coastal atlas.  I discovered that groups around the world had done similar things and were significantly further along the learning curve than us.  I discovered it was important to design data systems so that sharing was integral.  And most importantly, I was made welcome by the international attendees.

The second important event in the summer of 2013 occurred when I said “okay – I have successfully converted the BCMCA metadata records to the ISO format, now where do I put them?”  “Over to you” I was told.  Gulp!  After a bit, a virtual server at the University of British Columbia was made available.  Then it was explained that it was in CentOS Linux, which meant it had no graphical user interface.  At this point, I had no knowledge of Linux.  Furthermore, we were told that one accessed the computer remotely using SSH, of which I had no knowledge.  A pretty steep learning curve followed!  Needless to say, the problems were eventually successfully resolved.

Resulting System Design

We were faced with the choice between commercial or Open Source hosting solutions.  At the time we concluded that Open Source was the best approach.  After four years, I think it probably was the best choice for our situation because of implementation flexibility, but now I also believe it is a matter of choice and not of cost.  For many situations, especially when technical support is limited, a full-service commercial solution may be the best choice.

Our data system currently uses GeoNetwork as the main hub for metadata, data and documents, and links to GeoServer.  We use Jetty, because a brief test indicated it was slightly faster than Tomcat.  We install the data applications independently.  Both applications use PostgreSQL with the PostGIS spatial extension.  We tried and have used the SOLR search engine, but we do not use it routinely.

The metadata

As mentioned, the metadata is exclusively ISO-19115/19139 compliant.  Although other standards can be supported in GeoNetwork, we have restricted the choice.  We always include a representative thumbnail image. 

Our first choice is to link the metadata to a site with the data if available.  Because we are trying to simultaneously satisfy the modellers and mappers, often we need to have a local copy.  Another reason to link to other websites is to give credit to the original data providers.

We normally use three official thesauri for metadata keywords.  One thesaurus is the DFO place names for Canada.  The other two thesauri are for theme keywords: the Global Change Master Directory, and the Government of Canada.  GeoNetwork searches search to whole metadata record, so we don’t believe these keywords add much, but we do it anyway.

To create the initial draft of the metadata, we use a free application called jNAP (it has some other names as well).  It makes metadata creation very easy, and numerous summer students have quickly learned to use the application. The “j” implies it is written in Java, and the “NAP” means it implements the North American Profile.  The NAP closely follows the ISO standard, with only a few restrictions.  It can accommodate other international thesauri and other profiles.
To validate the metadata before uploading, we use Kernow / Saxon.  jNAP also can validate the records.

Finally, we upload the metadata record with accompanying files to GeoNetwork (http://soggy.zoology.ubc.ca:8080/geonetwork ).  We use the GeoNetwork editor to perform a final validation, and to add the links to external websites, local data, GeoServer links, and the thumbnails.

We currently have about 500 layers, but we do not consider this a useful indicator.  We have chosen to have larger chunks of data, whereas we easily could have made many more records that describe smaller datasets.

Dealing with the PostgreSQL database

We use the PostgreSQL database cluster for metadata and databases.  The virtual machine at the University of BC is in a very secure environment.  One consequence is that the normal graphical user interface used to interface to PostgreSQL (pgAdmin3) cannot be used, and everything is by command line instructions.
We normally receive data as shapefiles or as comma-separated value data.  The shapefiles are fairly easy to handle.  To create database tables for the CSV data, we use a spreadsheet application like Excel to create the column headings and expected format.  We than load the data, and then add indices for speed.
We use several databases for the various sources of data, simply for easy administration.

Our experience with PostgreSQL has been excellent.  We have never had a problem.

GeoServer for data layers

Creating the data layers in GeoServer (http://soggy.zoology.ubc.ca:8080/geoserver ) has been equally straightforward.  On input, it has excellent flexibility in accepting raster and vector data.  On output it handles the re-projection and re-formatting.
We make the layers available as WMS (data images; http://soggy.zoology.ubc.ca:8080/geoserver/wms ), as well as WFS (actual data; http://soggy.zoology.ubc.ca:8080/geoserver/wfs ) if the layer is so suited.

Data sharing

The system has the capability to host both metadata and data layers, but can restrict access to specific users.  This need could arise if there is a paper in progress, or some permissions have not been completely resolved but we do not want the data to be lost.  We do not normally use this feature – our metadata and data is almost always open and downloadable by default.  The metadata data can be easily harvested by other organizations.

Documenting the processes

There are many steps in the creation of a website, and too many to remember exactly.  As a consequence, about twenty processes documenting the steps have been created, following the ISO-9000 format.  A very good analogy is as recipes.  For instance, sometimes there is more than one approach to a process that could be valid.  In fact the ICAN Cookbooks were the initial motivation.  It has been found that processes evolve over time, and it is easy to revise or even discard obsolete processes.  The technical committee has placed a version of these on GitHub for download, but truthfully they are in need of a revision.

Ongoing efforts

A continuing issue in the marine environment is trying to understand how a 3D environment evolves over time.  The PSF is working with the organization Long Live The Kings (LLTK, Seattle, WA) to understand the factors that have resulted in a dramatic decline in salmon survival since the early 1990s.  To this end, ten citizen science groups each gather water column samples at ten locations throughout the Strait of Georgia twenty times a year from March to October.  The resulting data is placed in the sogDataCentre.  We are attempting to visualize this information through animation.  It is a work in progress.

Another ongoing effort is data subsetting.  Some of our datasets are extremely large (28 million records), and to satisfy the data users (the “modellers”), we have written an application to filter (subset) the data for a reasonable download package.  This filtering normally includes latitude-longitude and date range, but datasets can be cumulatively filtered on any number of the variables.  This is enabled on the website, but the initial load currently takes about twenty seconds.

A third effort is to formally join the ICAN network.  This could be quite useful to our region, because many datasets were arbitrarily are the Canada-USA border, and the natural processes continue across borders.  Not having complete knowledge of the Canada-USA coupled waterbodies inhibits understanding and policy making.

Summary

Serendipitously, the Pacific Salmon Foundation has created a coastal marine atlas of historical data for British Columbia.  It is based upon Open Source applications, and both metadata and data is freely downloadable. 

Acknowledgements

I am extremely thankful for the assistance of ICAN Technical Committee for guidance, and for the technical opportunity presented by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.  Isobel Pearsall continues to guide the team.  Nick Murray crated the main portion of the website.  Richard Sullivan at UBC provided Linux guidance.  Benjamin Skinner is responsible for the data subsetting and animation efforts.  Many students have contributed to the project.  Performing data discovery and rescue were Sarah Fraser, Jamie Hargreaves, Ianna Folks, Heather Wathen, and Charles-David Clayton.  Tanya Haddad and the rest of the ICAN Technical Team encouraged and assisted in the development of the ICAN process documentation.

The United Nations forms a Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information

The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) have formed a new Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information at its 7th Session held in New York 31 July to 4 August 2017.

The formation of the Working Group follows on submission of a report to the UN-GGIM from the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) that concluded “the establishment of a specific body that will enable the high level of global guidance and coordination that the GGIM currently provides in the land geospatial information domain to be extended and harmonized with the maritime and water domain is a logical development.”

 

The report on this topic from the UN-GGIM sessions states “The availability and accessibility of high-quality, timely and reliable geospatial information is vital in order to make informed decisions and to ensure accountability for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Follow-up and review of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires the collection, analysis and dissemination of an unprecedented amount of data and statistics including that for inland water bodies and waterways and coastal zones, seas and oceans. The availability of marine geospatial data, particularly bathymetry, of our seas and oceans is currently less than optimal.”

The Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information aims to provide a forum for dialogue and coordination between Member States, the United Nations system, the International Hydrographic Organization, and other international organisations and experts with a view to encourage enhanced global cooperation to substantively address issues related to the availability and application of marine geospatial information. Its objectives include:

• Raising political awareness and highlighting the importance of marine geospatial information to support the administration, management and governance of the marine environment;
  
  
• Encouraging the use of internationally agreed-upon geospatial information frameworks, schemas, systems and established standards; and
  
  
• Supporting UN-GGIM in the development of norms, principles, guides and standards to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable geospatial information including any regional capacity development initiatives.

Full reports on the 7th Session of the UN-GGIM are available at:
http://ggim.un.org/meetings/GGIM-committee/7th-Session/documents/