Indigeo: An SDI dedicated to scientific research and observation of the coastal environment

Rouan Mathias, Gourmelon Françoise
CNRS UMR LETG, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, rue Dumont d’Urville, 29280 Plouzané cedex, France
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Origin and context

The LETG (http://letg.cnrs.fr) research lab holds a unique position in the scientific landscape of Western France. Not only is it involved in three Earth Science and Astronomy Observatories (in Brest (http://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr/observatoire), Rennes (https://osur.univ-rennes1.fr/) and Nantes (http://www.osuna.univ-nantes.fr/), but also in several national systems for observing the environment (the Zones Ateliers network coordinated by the CNRS; (http://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr/zabri/fr) and Dynalit (http://www.dynalit.fr/fr), the national coastline dynamics observation system). LETG is an environmental geography laboratory that has been developing geomatics expertise for several years now. Right from the early 2000s, it promoted a knowledge engineering approach resulting in the creation of several data catalogues dedicated to the coastal environment. Drawing on this experience, in 2011, the lab designed a joint SDI with the observatories falling within the scope of the project. The aim was to meet the needs of both the laboratory and the Earth Science and Astronomy Observatories in terms of storage, documentation and readily-available data, (primarily geographic and time series) from coastal environment observation.

Services and Technologies

A website (http://indigeo.fr) provides users with a single point of access to Indigeo and the different services offered (metadata catalogue, viewer and OGC web services, Open Geospatial Consortium: http://www.opengeospatial.org/) along with a data entry and publishing guide. The software solution used is geOrchestra (http://www.georchestra.org/). This is an open, interoperable and modular software suite created in 2009 in response to the INSPIRE directive. The success of this solution can be measured by its use. Around twenty different general SDIs use it on a varying scale ranging from national (http://geo.gob.bo/) to local (http://www.data.rennes-metropole.fr/les-donnees/catalogue/). This software suite consists of independent and interoperable modules used to build a customised infrastructure. Three geOrchestra 14.01 modules were installed for Indigeo: a metadata catalogue (geoNetwork), a geo-referenced data server (geoServer) and an advanced map viewer (mapfishapp). Several additional services and tools were developed to meet the needs expressed by scientists. These concern centralised authentication (geoAuth), the generation of dynamic graphics and an intuitive and scalable viewer (geoCMS) enabling, among other aspects, the temporal dimension of certain data to be taken into account. CMS or Content Management System is a term generally used to describe systems used to update websites dynamically.

The metadata catalogue (geoNetwork). Metadata is managed using geoNetwork, a web application developed and updated by an active community which ensures the metadata is made available in standardised and interoperable format. A training session on producing metadata involving fifteen or so geographers and using a test version of Indigeo revealed the complexity of the standard. This led to the creation of simplified metadata models adapted to the main types of geographic information and a data entry guide.

The geo-referenced data server (geoServer). The managed data consists mainly of layers of geographical information in vector format and remote sensing images. The geoServer application enables this data to be stored and shared across data warehouses. Users access data via standardised and interoperable web services that enable available information to be displayed and/or downloaded directly via Indigeo and/or a GIS client (QGIS, ArcGIS®ESRI). geoServer can not only be used to manage access rights to each data warehouse to respect the private or public nature of data, but also to integrate spatial reference databases such as PostGIS, which is highly useful for providing dynamic access to spatio-temporal datasets.

The advanced map viewer (Mapfishapp), supplied with the geOrchestra suite, is similar to a GIS-type application accessed via a web browser. In terms of user-friendliness, it is suited to expert users and offers functions such as the ability to view information layers (OGC flow or files), modify the symbology, submit attribute or spatial queries, export results, edit data and analyse it by incorporating additional modules, and also create maps.

The ‘discover and use’ viewer (geoCMS). This viewer is based on relatively recent technologies (Ruby on Rails, AngularJS and the Leaflet.js library) which improve user-friendliness and offer the possibility of finding and using spatial data (spatio-temporal browsing, graphics viewing and a project approach). On the one hand, this viewer enables information layers to be organised into a catalogue that is managed via an interface reserved for portal administrators (the back end) and, on the other hand, it also allows the content of the data (attribute table or value) to be presented in a customised tooltip displayed when a layer is queried. This customisation is managed using a WYSIWYG editor in the management interface. It enables information to be made accessible to all by adding formatted texts, images, documents or web applications (e.g. dynamic graphics, Fig. 1). geoCMS also automatically identifies spatio-temporal datasets and enables users to browse through this type of dataset by generating a cursor adapted to the time frame (Fig. 2). Lastly, geoCMS has a function enabling users to save maps in folders and organise information layers into coherent groups according to different criteria (e.g. by scientific project or plan) (Fig. 3). Users can easily add these maps into web pages (websites, online articles, blogs, etc.).

Standards

Indigeo adheres to several standards:

• For describing and searching for metadata (INSPIRE Discovery Services), the international ISO 19115 standard on defining metadata for geographic information as well as the ISO 19110 standard on feature cataloguing (attribute tables) and the ISO 19139 standard on describing XML implementation schemas.
  
  
• For querying and harvesting metadata, the Catalogue Service for the Web (CSW) standard.
  
  
• For viewing data (INSPIRE View Service), the OGC standard, but also, and above all, the Web Map Service (WMS) standard.
  
  
• For downloading data (INSPIRE Download Service), the OGC Web Feature Service (WFS) standard for vector data and the Web Coverage Service (WCS) standard for raster data.
  
  

 

Human resources and communities

In terms of human resources, Indigeo is currently supported by a local technical team (five cartographers, three data administrators, two system administrators and the service provider) which is in contact with other technical teams involved in setting up scientific SDIs in Western France. Indigeo users include producers of spatial information (42 producers from 13 environmental science laboratories), and other users who, in some cases, may also be producers. A total of 5,500 visits to the http://indigeo.fr website was recorded between June 2013 and 6 April 2016. This website provides users with a single point of access to the SDI’s tools, viewers, catalogue and web services.

Spatial information

Indigeo currently provides access to 534 metadata files, 551 information layers (vector and raster) and seven time series sourced from databases (Table 1). All catalogued data is open access and 83% of the information content comes from one laboratory (LETG). The rest is produced by other laboratories related to different observatories.

In addition to the data stored in it, Indigeo provides viewing access to more than 6,500 information layers thanks to the harvesting of fifteen or so French thematic or general SDIs.

Table 1. Types, formats and quantity of data units made available
Vector	Raster	Database
Shape: 289	ImageMosaic: 140	PostgreSQL: 6
PostGIS: 15	Geotiff: 93	MySQL: 1
	Arcgrid: 67
	ECW: 1

 

Development perspectives

In terms of development, several projects are currently underway including the desire to further improve interoperability with the OGC standardisation of time series and sensor data (Sensor Observation Service) as well as online data processing (Web Processing Service).

Additionally, to make accessing the different services offered by the SDI easier, authentication via the RENATER education-research identity federation is about to go into service. Lastly, the option of adding trackers to collect statistics about visits to the website is currently under consideration.

Conclusion

Indigeo has been up and running since 2013. The first version benefited from the geOrchestra software suite and geoCMS’s advanced functions. The iterative approach taken led to a platform that offered a broad range of services, but was not necessarily very user friendly (in terms of viewing or entering data into the catalogue). For example, thematic portals generated by geoCMS made both browsing through and managing data more complicated. This function was subsequently removed in the second version of Indigeo which put an emphasis on simplicity and took a user-centric approach to browsing. The aim was to encourage consumers of spatial information to move towards becoming ‘producers’ (Budhathoki et al 2008). However, the profile of Indigeo contributors has been relatively consistent since the beginning. Users adding to the catalogue have mainly consisted of a small group of geographers with knowledge in the field of GIS. Nevertheless, generating standardised metadata is still regarded as too complex, even for this well-informed public. This largely explains why there is such a low number of producers from other disciplines who are unfamiliar with the field. This small number is also probably due to the tool’s ‘laboratory’ origins. For reasons linked to presenting and exploiting data, it seems logical that developing interoperable SDIs at different academic levels would be the right solution. It would encourage the public concerned to appropriate SDIs and break down some of the power-based barriers within the scientific realm.

References

• Budhathoki N., Bruce B., Nedovic-Budic Z., 2008. Reconceptualizing the role of the user of spatial data infrastucture. GeoJournal, 72(3), p. 149-160
   

The Marine Analyst - An aid to the monitoring and management of marine areas, including marine protected areas

Nicolas Hoepffner¹, Pascal Derycke¹, Laurent Dubroca²
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1- European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Sustainable Resources,
D.2 Water and Marine Resources Unit, via Fermi 2479, I-21027 Ispra (Va), Italy
2- Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques, Ifremer, Avenue du general de Gaulle, BP 32, 14520 Port-en-Bessin, France

Through the analysis of satellite data and modeling outputs, the Environmental Marine Information System (EMIS) of the European Commission – Joint Research Centre aims at an effective and long-lasting marine and coastal stewardship by providing scientific and technical value-added products to assist in monitoring and assessing water quality, biodiversity, ecosystem health status in Europe and globally. The EMIS spatial data infrastructure and web-GIS viewer (http://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/emis/) allows discovery, navigation and browsing through the data in different ways, according to spatial resolution, the variable to be analysed, and the time period. Another set of applications has been developed to query the data and perform statistical analysis on the region of interest. Additional functions enable the users to download datasets in different formats (netCDF, GeoTIFF), to print maps and to download results directly on ready-to-use PDF files.

EMIS offers web services as Web Map Service (WMS) and time Web Coverage Service (WCS-t) in accordance with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specifications and EU INSPIRE standards to ensure full interoperability. The EMIS web services are associated to R-written functions allowing the online processing of the data, their analysis and reporting.

Recently launched, the EMIS Marine Analyst provides simple methods to explore any pre-defined areas of the European seas and global ocean and assess the pressures to which they are exposed. For example, it assists in the management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and is conceived as a tool to support the implementation of environmental directives, e.g. the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), through communicating environmental information/indicators of relevance to various policy descriptors. Following the user's election of e.g. a given MPA (MPA list as derived from the UNEP-WCMC World Database on protected areas), the Marine Analyst is evaluating in real time the environmental status of the MPA taking into consideration the EMIS database. The final outcome is given in a format of a report including geographical and bathymetry mapping of the MPA, a range of statistical analysis and time-series plots of the different variables, and the full series of monthly satellite views of each of the variables.

Applying the Marine Analyst around the Balearic Las Salinas Marine Park (all figures are extracted from the marine analyst report):

The marine park of Las Salinas in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea is a protected area located between southeast Ibiza island and the northern tip of Formentera Island. It covers a marine area of ca. 14,000 ha classified in the Natura 2000 Network, as well as being a site of Community Interest and an Area of Special Protection for Birds since 2006.

The marine Analyst report includes 2-D (not shown) and 3-D bathymetry maps of the area, created from the last release (2016) of EMODnet DTM product (http://www.emodnet-hydrography.eu) covering European seas at ca. 230 m grid resolution. The 3-D maps are given in 4 different perspectives, enabling a better vision of the topography on either side of the MPA.

The report also provides EUNIS-compliant information on seabed habitats complemented with geospatial information from the UNEP’s Global Seafloor Geomorphic Features Map (GSGFM), following a methodology described in Tempera (2015). The marine Park and surrounding waters are characterized a large variety of seabed structures profitable to different ecosystems. Posidonia beds extend in shallow waters along the strait between both islands, lying on fine sand. On either side of the strait, the ecosystem progressively shifts from coastal to shelf-edge detritic bottoms.

Together with such structural aspects of the area, the marine analyst reports on a series of environmental variables, with associated maps and statistics, that are relevant to monitor potential changes in the state of the ecosystems, biodiversity and water quality. The variables are either satellite-derived (e.g. sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration) or model-derived (e.g. mixed layer depth, bottom temperature and salinity). For example, maps of monthly SST from the satellite-based MODIS-Terra radiometer show the variability of sea surface temperature over a decade within the MPA and surrounding waters.

The associated anomaly maps, calculated from the difference between monthly observation and 10-year monthly climatology, permit the identification of substantial deviations of the environment around the MPA from natural variability. For example, a significant negative anomaly in SST can be observed in May-June 2013 concurring with the local weather forecast that had identified the largest number of cooler days during that period.

Similar maps are provided for time-series of phytoplankton biomass (i.e. chlorophyll concentration) and water transparency (diffuse attenuation coefficient) using data from the MODIS-Aqua sensor. All statistics associated to these variables are provided for the MPA area with the possibility to download the data for further analysis.

In addition to the mean values and standard deviations, trends for each variable are calculated over the time series according to Vantrepotte and Mélin (2009) where the time-series of the variable is decomposed into a seasonal signal, a trend, and a residual component.

Figure 5: Monthly maps of sea surface temperature anomalies

The analysis of the surface variables observed from satellite are complemented with outcomes of 3D hydrodynamic model describing the water column and bottom physics. For example, climatological values (monthly) of the bottom salinity are estimated over a decade period using the freely available General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM; http://www.getm.eu). The variability of these physical parameters are important to evaluate the status of benthic ecosystems within the protected area. 

Lastly, the EMIS marine analyst is reporting on habitats of important commercial fishes and occurrence of alien species. Bluefin tuna feeding and spawning habitats (not shown here) are implemented in the system according to Druon et al. (2016) at spatial and temporal resolution suitable for dynamic management of fisheries. Furthermore, alien species occurring in the area are extracted from the European Alien Species Information network (EASIN; http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu) which maintain an inventory of all known alien and cryptogenic species in Europe as required by the Convention on Biological Diversity and EU Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. A range number of alien species is given on a 10x10 km grid, with the species names possibly occurring in the studied area (Asterionellopsis glacialis, Atherina boyeri, Calyptraea chinensis, Colpomenia sinuosa, Fusinus rostratus, Gibbula adansonii, G. albida, Haliotis tuberculata, Hexaplex trunculus, Paracaprella pusilla, Percnon gibbesi, Sabella spallanzanii).

As shown (partially) in this example of a local analysis, the Marine Analyst tool of the Environmental Marine Information System (EMIS) has features and components that are specifically dedicated to assisting in the management of marine and coastal waters in Europe and globally. The tool is derived from an EMIS-R package and implemented at the core of the EMIS server.  It provides an interoperable spatial data infrastructure platform enable to integrate and communicate different spatial and referenced datasets and services in a standardized way.

The marine Analyst has been integrated into the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Competence Centre (MCC; http://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu) established by the Joint Research Centre to share marine policy information, and provide up-to-date scientific knowledge related to MSFD.

References

• Druon JN., Fromentin JM, Hanke A, Arrizabalaga H, Damalas D, et al. 2016. Habitat suitability of the Atlantic Bluefin tuna by size class: an ecological niche approach. Progress in Oceanography, 130: 188-204.
  
  
• Tempera F, 2015. Bringing together harmonized EUNIS seabed habitat geospatial information for the European seas. EUR – Scientific and Technical Research Reports, Publication Office of the European Union, EUR 27237.
  
  
• Vantrepotte V, Mélin F, 2009. Temporal variability of 10-year global SeaWiFS time series of phytoplankton chlorophyll a concentration. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1547-1556.
  
  

Marine Scotland Information

Drew Milne
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Marine Scotland has recently launched a new website called Marine Scotland Information (http://data.marine.gov.scot). This is designed to act as a central information portal, providing context and connections for the data and resources that Marine Scotland publishes online. It forms part of the Marine Scotland Open Data Network acting as the link between our geospatial platform National Marine Plan interactive (http://maps.marine.gov.scot) (NMPi) and the Data Publication Portal (http://data.marine.gov.scot) to give an integrated suite of services for end users.

Marine Scotland Information automatically collates resources from the other two portals and combines these in information pages where they can be put into context and related to other maps or data downloads.

Whilst both NMPi and the Data Publication Portal provide specialised functionality, Marine Scotland Information is designed to be approachable by all. Content on Marine Scotland Information is presented through the use of information themes and specific data and map categories. Users are able to search across the wide range of topics or delve directly to the subject or data type they require. Specific map layer and data resource information is automatically kept up to date and users are able to access various levels of detail as required.

All map layers on NMPi now have an associated information page on Marine Scotland Information and the new site also manages the resources previously held on the Marine Scotland interactive website.

Marine Scotland Information was built internally using Drupal, an open source Content Management System, which allowed for a flexible development process and access to a wide range of resources available in the open source community. Taxonomies have been used throughout the portal allowing relationships to be built and presented to users providing a more detailed understanding of the information and data available. It also allows users to access the information through a variety of routes. Additionally, the content of MSI will also be available through machine readable services allowing other systems to harvest our information automatically.

Content on Marine Scotland Information is grouped into three types:

• Information: Text and background, organised into themes that are aligned with the Scottish Government vision for managing Scotland's Seas.
  
  
• Maps: Spatial data presented as interactive or downloadable map sources.
  
  
• Data: Datasets, statistics, downloadable documents, and links to other websites.
  
  

The site is available for all marine stakeholders and demonstrates Marine Scotland’s commitment to openness and transparency in its data for the management of Scotland’s seas.

Ohio Coastal Atlas enters Third Edition

Brian D. George
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Office of Coastal Management
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The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management coastal.ohiodnr.gov is currently developing a Third Edition of its Ohio Coastal Atlas. The new Coastal Atlas publication is expected to be completed in late 2017. It will be a 10-year update and will correspond with the Ohio Coastal Management Program’s 20th anniversary.

The widely-successful, 240-page Second Edition (2007) featured 13 chapters and highlighted content that focused on the cultural, ecological, physical and natural resources in Ohio’s Lake Erie basin. It was distributed primarily to coastal decision-makers, local officials, land use planners, coastal engineers, environmental groups, educators and other special interest groups. The forthcoming Third Edition will incorporate updated and newly-acquired GIS datasets, feature new topics of interest, and include all new maps using enhanced cartographic techniques.

The Ohio Coastal Atlas aims to spatially represent big-picture information and topics about Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie and its watershed. Development of the Atlas is a collaborative effort involving many federal, state and local partners.

The interactive map viewer for the Ohio Coastal Atlas can be found at: https://gis.ohiodnr.gov/MapViewer/?config=interactiveatlas

Caribbean Marine Atlas enters Phase 2

Leonardo Arias, Carolina García-Valencia,
Paula Cristina Sierra-Correa, and
Francisco Arias
Marine and Coastal Research Institute INVEMAR. Colombia

Critical ecosystem goods and services provided by the marine environment in the Caribbean are at risk from threats including weak governance, mismanagement, climate change and the inadequate availability and incorporation of data and information in decision-making. The Caribbean Marine Atlas Phase 2 – CMA2 is working on spatial-based technological solutions in support of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project (CLME) and related decision-making, monitoring & evaluation processes for the Region.

The general objective of CMA2 is sustainable operationalization of an online digital “Caribbean Marine Atlas” technology platform in support of ICZM (with special attention to: coastal hazards, climate change, biodiversity & habitats, fisheries, and land-based sources of pollution) and ecosystem-based management for CLME.

 

This objective will be achieved by:

• Providing and operating an information discovery, Decision-Support (DS)/Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) mechanism for improved Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), in at least 7 pilot countries, based on state-of-the-art technology for the online publication, management and exchange of spatial data/information layers and ICZM best practices/tools.
  
  
• Contributing with the DS/M&E mechanisms at Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem level through join efforts with CLME.
  
  
• Enhancing awareness, capacity and participation of key regional and national level stakeholders (both data users and data providers) in the development and use of the information discovery, DS and M&E mechanisms (with special attention to long-term sustainability, and further up-scaling of CMA2 Project results).
  
  
• Providing mechanisms for seeking and acting on feedback to encourage both partners and stakeholders involvement with project milestone events, activities and results, based on the communication plan.

The CMA2 platform will contribute to better governance by the reduction of the vulnerability of coastal socio-ecological systems in Caribbean States, allowing  decision makers faster access to timely data, geospatial services and applications; using processes and shared infrastructure leading to optimization of the information exchange between participants, permitting reuse as well as the adaptation of geospatial resources for the consolidation of a permanent query tool.

BACKGROUND

First Phase (2007-2013)

The Phase 1 of CMA is a joint project of Caribbean countries Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, aimed at providing high quality geospatial data and information related to the marine and coastal zones of the states. The purpose of the CMA1 was to identify, collect and organize available geo-spatial datasets into an atlas of environmental themes for the Caribbean region as a support service to the sustainable development and integrated management of marine and coastal areas of the region. The CMA1 was inspired by the African Marine Atlas project http://www.africanmarineatlas.org

Second Phase (2013-2017)

The CMA2 project, in contrast to CMA1, involved a much large group was invited for the project resulting in 12 participants. They included the national partners Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Dominica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos and Venezuela (Figure 1).

The proposed project will identify the specific, policy-relevant coastal / marine data and information outputs needed across the Region, and develop tools and applications to manage, analyses, produce and publish these outputs. The CMA2 project builds upon the experience and lessons learned in the CMA1, Ocean Data and Information Network the Caribbean and South America (ODINCARSA) and Southeast Pacific Data and Information Network in support of Integrated Coastal Area Management (SPINCAM I & II). CMA2 will form an alliance with SPINCAM for indicators, carry out “twining activities”, as well as use a handbook for measuring the progress and outcomes of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management written by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

The project is implemented through the IODE/IOC/UNESCO with the financial support of the Government of Flanders and the regional coordination by the Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR).

ADVANCES

The development of CMA2 started with a detailed work plan definition, followed by a work team consolidation and the identification of stakeholders in the Caribbean region. A review of the state of art of the Coastal Marine Atlas was made. The information was organized to take inventory of spatial information and technology platforms available to Global, Regional and Local (National) levels (Figure 2). 

Geonode v4 and its technology was selected to meet the characteristics and technical specifications required for this project. The CMA2 team is working on a prototype of the Caribbean Marine Atlas with GIS and Geoviewer tools (Figure 3) available at www.caribbeanmarineatlas.net

Within the framework of CMA2, fulfilling its objective of contributing to a better integrated management of coastal zones, the implementation of indicators are proposed that help decision making. The Caribbean Region, despite great diversity amongst the countries that comprise it, have problems and issues that are common. This makes necessary the careful design of a range of indicators which are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and measurable over time; to assist decision-making and management of coastal areas, not only doing it efficiently, but also sustainably and sensitively to the needs of the coastal population. At this stage, the project has proposed an initial battery of 10 indicators, the ultimate goal of these indicators is to generate information that will allow the comparison of the state of different situations common to the countries of the Caribbean, to contribute to the work in the countries of the Caribbean team and provide solutions to problems that exist in the region. The CMA2 team is working on methodologies and search and selection of data sources in each country.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• The project has an operational technological platform active on GeoNode with 178 layers, 7 maps, 35 users, 10 documents, calendar and news.
  Eleven country partners (9 officially committed)
  
  
• Ten indicators developing (each country leads one indicator) (sea level change, coral health, protected coastal and marine area, fisheries total catch by country, frequency, magnitude and assessment of impact of natural disasters, occurrence of anomalies on sea surface temperature, invasive species and threatened species, coastal economic activities, coastal population density)
  
  
• Two training courses with 40 participants from 9 different Caribbean countries (ICZM and Marine GIS) for capacity building
  
  
• A communication plan developed and running: teleconferences, meetings and two national technical visits to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to support national processes).
  
  
• Presentation at congresses (Gestão Integrada de Áreas Litorais (GIAL) 2016 and IAMSLIC 2016)

Join us http://www.caribbeanmarineatlas.net or more information on CMA2, contact to Paula Sierra-Correa This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Carolina García-Valencia This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

COINAtlantic visualizes the OBIS Canada Integrated Publication Tool entries

COINAtlantic has partnered with four organizations in Atlantic Canada to improve the accessibility of marine biological data. The data from these organizations is being prepared for harvesting by the Ocean Biogeographic Information System, a sister project to ICAN in the IODE program. The vehicle for making the data available to OBIS is the OBIS Canada  Integrated Publishing Tool (IPT).

COINAtlantic has developed a tool that inspects the public entries in the IPT and generates an OGC compatible web mapping service, a layer for each data set, and a KML entry for the COINAtlantic GeoContent Generator (coinatlantic.tools/cgg).

Scotland’s National Marine Plan interactive (NMPi) portal continues to grow and evolve

NMPi is Marine Scotland’s on-line mapping portal to make spatial data and information available to all as our new marine planning responsibilities are implemented.

Recently the latest phase in NMPi’s functionality development has been deployed. New layers are continually becoming available. But it is not all about increasing the layer count, that isn’t necessarily easy for the end user. Our latest functionality includes ‘time aware’ layers being added. This allows users to see a time series of data in one layer (rather than multiple layers) and animate the movement from one period to another (usually yearly). Layer names will include such terms as ‘since’ or ‘2013-2014’ in their title to indicate the function. Users can access it by ‘right clicking’ on the layer name in the Layer Control Box.  The layers including time aware data will increase over time but so far include:

• Maritime casualties since 2005
  
  
• Marine strandings data 2013-2014 (cetaceans, seals, sharks, turtles)
  
  
• Keep Scotland Beautiful - Blue Flag and Seaside Awards since 2012

Users have asked if the various screen control boxes can be hidden to facilitate cleaner screen shots.  There are now minimising buttons for all control boxes and the ability to hide the main tool bar (by clicking on the far right icon on it).

The main tool bar now also includes:

• Spatial query function that allows the user to draw a polygon of interest and identify the layers available for it. These can then be added to your layer control.
  
  
• Draw circle based on a user input radius.
  
  
• Zoom in and out.
  
  
• Print map option. External WMS feeds can also now be printed but only at A4 size and the printed map legend now appears on a separate page.
  
  
• Submit Fault Report / Comment button

The data input tool bar (registered users only) now has the ability to add points by a latitude / longitude (three format) input.

We are also working with others to improve data flow to NMPi. Scottish Natural Heritage, one of NMPi’s partners, has developed a web map service (WMS) that is allowing us to replace the Priority Marine Feature layers in the Healthy and Biologically Diverse Seas section to a direct feed from SNH and with new symbols, as well as add some new layers on basking shark, minke whale and Risso’s dolphin for example.

Marine Scotland welcomes feedback on NMPi at any time. Please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NMPi partners: Marine Scotland; Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA); Scottish National Heritage (SNH); Joint Nature Conservation Committee; Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS).

GSDI Association Marine SDI Best Practice Project Update

Roger Longhorn,
Secretary-General of the GSDI Association and member of the ICAN Steering Group
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The GSDI Association has part-funded a two-year research project focusing on identification of developments in Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures around the globe. The project began in November 2015 and extends into 2017. The project proposal and work plan grew out of research carried out by Dr Jade Georis-Creuseveau of LETG-Brest Geomer (UMR 6554 CNRS), UBO, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzané, France, as part of her PhD research programme in 2014 and 2015. The project co-leaders are Dr Joep Crompvoets of KU Leuven and Secretary-General of Euro SDR and Roger Longhorn, Secretary-General of the GSDI Association and member of the ICAN Steering Group. The research so far has conducted a survey of national coastal and marine geoportals mainly in Europe. KU Leuven and LETG-Brest are both GSDI Association members.

 

Table 1. Geoportal Characteristics

URL of the Web site of the geoportal

Year of first implementation

Geographical distribution

Language(s) used

Number of web references measured with the ‘LinkPopularity.com

Number of data suppliers

Monthly number of visitors?

User feedback mechanisms

User technical assistance mechanisms

Data themes

Number of datasets

Level of openness for data access

Licensing

Standard metadata

Data searching mechanisms

Data access services

Functionalities supporting MSP/ICZM process and decision making (e.g. indicator computation, barometer, report tool, scenario development …)

Interactive functionalities enabling a high level of interaction among coastal/marine users (e.g.  participation, wikis, e-forum, virtual workshop)

Data and metadata submission functionalities

 

The research conducted so far includes a Web survey to assess the developments of existing national marine and coastal geoportals for SDIs or similar Web services. The initial Web survey led to an inventory of 35 national operational geoportals. For each geoportal, 12 characteristics were identified (see Table 1 below) and measured in November 2014, March 2015, and November 2015 in order to monitor current developments. Based on the preliminary survey results, four types of geoportals were distinguished: Atlas-like, Hydrographic Office, Oceanographic/Marine Data Centre, and Hybrid geoportals.

The Survey

The survey focuses on geoportals implemented by national public bodies in Europe enabling access and use of geographic data related to marine and/or coastal zones. The term “data” encompasses a broad range of items such as real-time observations, time series data, GIS data layers, digital maps, etc.

In November 2014, 121 geoportals were assessed from 72 coastal countries (48 % of the total number of coastal countries). Of these, 24 geoportals were not operational at that time (20%), 7 failed to work during the period of the survey (6%), 39 were considered to be out of the scope of the survey (32%), and 51 were implemented by national public organizations providing access to coastal and/or marine spatial data (42%)

These geoportals are implemented by 27 countries. With the exception of major maritime countries (USA, France, Australia, Canada) that manage several geoportals (from 4 to 5), the large majority of the countries have only one or two geoportals.

Typology

The first step of the survey was to establish a typology to guide the ongoing analysis of the different characteristics of the geoportals. The comparison of characteristics 4, 6, 8 and 9 (Table 1) suggests a typology for the following four types of geoportal: Atlas-like, Hydrographic Office, Oceanographic/Marine Data Centre, and Hybrid geoportals.

Atlas-like geoportals

Within the framework of the IOC IODE International Coastal Atlas Network (ICAN) Project, a coastal web atlas (CWA) is defined as “a collection of digital maps and datasets with supplementary tables, illustrations and information that systematically illustrate the coast, often with cartographic and decision support tools, all of which are accessible via the Internet” (O'Dea et al., 2007). This type gathers the 7 geoportals of national atlases of the ICAN network together with 8 other Atlas-like geoportals (29% of the total number of surveyed geoportals). From these 15 geoportals, 7 managers responded to the survey.

Hydrographic Office Geoportals

The second type includes 10 geoportals (20% of the total number of surveyed geoportals) that are mainly implemented by national Hydrographic Offices, organizations which are historically devoted to surveying and charting seas, oceans and navigable waters for purposes of maintaining safety of life at sea. From these 10 geoportals, 4 managers responded to the survey.

Oceanographic/Marine Data Centre Geoportals

In the third category, 18 geoportals were identified (35% of the total number of surveyed geoportals). They correspond mainly to National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODC) and other Marine Data Centres. The NODCs have been progressively implemented by the IOC’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) since the 1960’s. At the European level, the NODC and other Marine Data Centres have been gathered in the SeaDataNet network, a Pan-European network providing on-line integrated databases since the end of the 2000’s. From these 18 geoportals, 4 managers responded to the survey.

Hybrid Geoportals

In addition to the geoportals classified into the first three types, 8 geoportals (16% of the total number of surveyed geoportals) were identified as Hybrid geoportals sharing the characteristics of the types above. From these 8 geoportals, 2 managers responded to the survey.

Data Characteristics

The analysed geoportals provide various digital data within diverse domains including administration (69%), physical (82%), biological (71%) and human (45%) aspects. They combine reference data as well as business data.

Atlas-like geoportals provide a large diversity of data themes describing administrative (100%), physical (93%) and biological (87%) aspects (e.g. marine biology, biodiversity, etc.) of the coastal and marine zones along with human uses (100%) (e.g. pollution related topics, tourism, etc.).

Data Policy

Regarding data policy, 71% of the analysed geoportals provide free access for anyone. The remaining geoportals provide free access only for registered users or by using request forms (59%), or provide access subject to fees (27%). “Free access” is associated with the fact that the data are covered by intellectual property rights and that the commercial use of the data is mostly not allowed without prior explicit agreement with the geoportal manager. Registration allows user access to additional functionalities, such as online map saving and saving search requests. User registration is also required to ensure that users agree with the Geoportal Data Policy and gives geoportal managers insights in the users and their data requirements.

Although personal registration may be required for the portal (27%), access to the data of the Atlas-like geoportals is mostly free for all (100%). Access to the products of the Hydrographic Office geoportals is fee-paying (100%) and 60% of these geoportals offer also free data. For the Oceanographic/Marine Data Centre geoportals, the data are accessible through a request form or for registered users (89%) and free for all (44%). For the Hybrid geoportals, the data are mainly freely accessible for all (88%) or through a request form (88%).

Technology

The technology component is defined by mechanisms for searching and accessing, functionalities supporting MSP/ICZM process and decision making, interactive functionalities enabling a high level of interaction among coastal/marine users and the data and metadata submission functionalities.

Searching for spatial data on a geoportal can be done through different mechanisms: catalog interfaces (75%) allow searching by means of keywords, production time, data theme, providers, etc.; map interfaces (90%) for locating an area of interest or by clicking on an area with predefined boundaries and a list of products in hypertext (53%). Data access from the geoportals is provided in different ways, including downloading services (69%), OGC web services (29%), data transmission via e-mail or FTP (29 %) or data purchase from certified distribution agents (24%).

To consult the data, the user of the Atlas-like geoportals has mainly access to map search mechanisms (100%) and catalogue interfaces (73%). Data access services are mainly based on downloading (87%) and OGC services (53%).

People

This component is characterized by the number of data suppliers, the monthly number of visitors, the number of unique visitors per month, the number of web references on Google, the language(s) used, the user feedback mechanisms, the user technical assistance mechanisms, the main geoportal's target, the main current users, the current satisfaction level of the users, the mechanisms to assess the users’ satisfaction and the mechanisms to involve users.
On the suppliers’ side, the number of data suppliers is not available for 61% of the geoportals investigated. Based on available information, 35% of the surveyed geoportals have less than 50 data suppliers, regardless of the types of geoportal.

Preliminary Conclusions

Preliminary results suggest that European developments are still underway for geoportals enabling users to access various types of data concerning coastal and marine zones. These types of data and mechanisms were stable between November 2014, March 2015 and November 2015, or slightly increasing.

Despite the integrated approach promoted by ICZM and MSP concepts and related regulations, the results indicate that platforms allowing access to a wide range of data related to marine, coastal and land territories are not commonly found. True data harmonisation and services interoperability, which are the underpinning principles for SDIs, need to be improved.

The main limitation of the survey concerns the fact that some information needed for assessment is not available online. The research continues with a further questionnaire being sent to the geoportal coordinators in order to assess real usage of the geoportals.

The proposed geoportals coordinators’ survey can be extended to geoportal users in order to analyze what they do with the data in their day-to-day responsibilities and what are their needs. The combination of these approaches (geoportals, coordinators’ and users’ survey) should contribute to a Multi-View Framework in order to assess SDIs and their ability to match the sustainable approach to the management of the coastal zones, oceans and seas.

SPINCAM Week in Flanders

Jointly organised by IOC-UNESCO, the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific, the Government of Flanders and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in the cities of Ostend and Brussels (Belgium), the SPINCAM week in Flanders included three key events of which two were hosted by the IODE Project Office in Oostende: Ostend, 16-17 February 2016: SPINCAM and OceanTeacher workshop on ocean governance and sustainable ocean based economy; Ostend, 18 February 2016: Interaction between SPINCAM and the Flemish research community.

Funded by the Government of Flanders, the SPINCAM project was first approved in 2008 and is currently concluding its second phase. It has been developed since 2009 under the coordination of IOC-UNESCO, through its Marine Policy and Regional Coordination Section with valuable contributions on data and information from the IOC Project Office IODE, and at regional level by the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific.

Resources

Visit the SPINCAM web site http://www.spincamnet.net

Documents from the SPINCAM Week in Flanders can be found at http://ioc-unesco.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewEventDocs&eventID=1770

SPINCAM is a member of the International Coastal Atlas Network.

Marine Atlas supports Belgium's Marine Spatial Plan

Serge Scory, Mia Devolder, Nabil Youdjou & Laurence Vigin
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Data and Information Centre
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Introduction

The Belgian part of the North Sea is one of the most intensively used sea area in the world. Shipping, tourism, fisheries, sand exploitation, windmills…, all these activities make use of what the sea has to offer. However, this busyness causes high pressure. Several activities may be in each other’s hair and may also have an impact on the environment. In order to make this all balance, the Belgian Minister for the North Sea took the initiative to define a marine spatial plan. After months of intensive preparatory work, expert consultation and stakeholder participation, a Royal Decree “establishing the spatial use of the Belgian part of the North Sea” for the period 2014-2020, was published in March 2014.

The implementation of this plan is the mission of the federal ministry of the environment, in charge of the North Sea policy (Marine Environment service of the FPS “Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment”). The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), a federal scientific institution, provides scientific and technical support to the Marine Environment service. It is in this context that RBINS experts in geographical science and information technology offered to create a dedicated web portal for the Belgian marine geo–referenced information.

Objectives and specifications

 

The portal aims at:

• becoming a single stop shop for Belgian marine geo–referenced data,
• ensuring compliancy with applicable EU directives (e.g. the “INSPIRE” directive, the directive “establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning”),
• acting as online reference resource, both for national and international needs,
• addressing the needs of as many categories of users as possible.

The portal was built with the following specifications in mind:

• a clear and re–usable data processing workflow had to be established,
• a versatile IT architecture should be built,
• the portal should allow submission and/or publication of data and metadata by other administrations.

Implementation

These requirements were met by using the following, well–established, open–source software (Figure 2):

• PostgreSQL,
• PostGIS,
• Geoserver, and
• Geonetwork.

Thanks to the use of standard formats and specifications, the data providers do not need to modify their own workflow for producing the layers. In our own workflow, for example, both QGIS and ArcGIS are used.

Downstream, the geographical information is provided in several formats via several interfaces:

• Ready–to-use maps (e.g. png images),
• Embedded viewer,
• Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files,
• Shapefiles,
• WMF, WMS, …

The human user is able to easily browse the available datasets, (pre-)view them and download the selected information. Corresponding functions, offered as "web-services" allow incorporating the available information into complex and distributed applications.

Content

Currently, only the zones were general or specific regulatory regimes apply, as defined in the marine spatial plan, are published. The following topics (mainly related to human activities) are covered:

• Nature conservation,
• Fisheries,
• Aquaculture,
• Shipping and dredging,
• Coastal protection,
• Sand and gravel extraction,
• Energy production areas, cables and pipelines,
• Military use,
• Scientific research, poles, radars, …

This geographical information forms the legal background of all human activities in the Belgian part of the North Sea (see Figure 1 on page 1). In other words, it doesn’t provide information on where such activities actually take place, nor their intensity or other characteristics.

Quality control issues

The importance of having a good work flow appeared clearly during the preparatory phase, especially the steps dealing with the quality control of the data. Although the geographical information published in the Belgian Official Gazette were deemed satisfactory by the authors of the plan, the digitization of the corresponding geographical features revealed several flaws that had to be corrected. For instance, for the definition of zones adjacent to the coastline they assumed an implicit closure of their polygon (in fact their polyline) by the coastline. Topological rigour is of course incompatible with implicit assumptions. Our corrections sometimes resulted in modifications of the decree in order to be legally, topologically and geographically consistent.

One of the biggest difficulties to solve when writing these corrigenda was to take into account that our reference coastline is “moving”. Indeed the Belgian coast is sandy and exposed to strong tidal currents (up to 1.5 m/s), what makes its morphology rapidly evolve at some places. Consequently the nautical charts are updated every 18 months.  But the legal definition of the Belgian territorial waters (and, hence, of the full Belgian maritime domain) explicitly refers to the coastline “as depicted on large scale nautical charts”. Therefore, a rather complex (at least as seen by lawyers) topological formulation had to be found for defining locations “on” the coastline, in order to avoid publishing a new decree every one and a half years.

Compliancy with the INSPIRE directive

MarineAtlas.be aims at becoming the marine node of the federal geo-platform being implemented by the Belgian National Geographical Institute. Once this node and the infrastructure will be available, it will be much easier for the Belgian federal administrations to comply with the implementation of the INSPIRE directive and the international obligations that already require INSPIRE-compliancy, e.g. Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Spatial Planning directive, EIOnet reporting... Our main tool for being compliant is the Geonetwork server. The metadata corresponding to the various published layers are progressively made available in conformity with the metadata ISO 19115 standard.

Languages

The web interface and the metadata are available in three languages: Dutch, French and English. However, the content that has a legal scope is given in English for informative purpose only, the official reference being the information provided in the Belgian official languages, Dutch and French (no official version in German being available for the moment). 

Next steps

Content–wise, we intend to populate the web portal along four axes:

“Document what exists”: as aforesaid, the marine spatial plan defines zones where human activities are allowed, most of the time under specific conditions. Such activities (except for aquaculture) already take place. Concessions have been granted for wind farms and 182 windmills are already operational. The location and characteristics of these industrial facilities (according to the INSPIRE classification) will be published soon. Likewise, cables and pipelines were already laid down in the reserved corridors and we will also publish their coordinates “as laid”.

“Quantify what happens”: gravel is being extracted in the authorized sectors, sand and mud is extracted in the harbour channels and dumped in the designated areas, energy is being produced… All this results in quantities and statistics that will be turned into layers, thanks  to the help of the other competent federal administrations (Economy, Mobility, …).

“Inform on the environmental status”: bound, like any EU Member State, by the “Marine Strategy Framework Directive”, Belgium has defined indicators of the environmental status of its maritime domain and is developing a programme of measures for achieving a “Good Environmental Status” by 2020. A monitoring programme is now in place, under the responsibility of RBINS. The scientific results of this monitoring programme and the evolution of the indicators they support will be published on the portal.

“Publish scientific knowledge”: RBINS has a long oceanographic tradition. Its researchers are active in physical and chemical oceanography. They perform intensive studies on the biodiversity of the North Sea, with a multi–disciplinary (aka “ecosystem”) approach. The accumulated knowledge will be translated into synthetic layers e.g.: TS-climatologies, tidal currents patterns, swell energy, sediment dynamics, habitat mapping, contaminants distribution …

Regarding the features of the portal, we will mainly focus on the improvement of our embedded browser, which at the early stage of development.

Conclusion

The publication of the official Belgian marine spatial plan, well in advance of the obligations set by the EU Directive on Marine spatial planning and together with the mandatory implementation of the INSPIRE directive, offered not–to–miss leverage to initiate a marine geographical information portal at the Belgian federal level. Although means were limited the legal background information is now available in various formats and through various protocols. The development team has set plans for upcoming improvements but will happily appreciate any feedback from users and experts to steer their efforts.

Acknowledgements

The Geocell team of RBINS wants to thank Fabrice Ovidio and Samuli Kauranne (SWAP, Scientific Web sites and Applications, RBINS) for publishing the web portal, Marc Roche and Koen Degrendele (FPS Economy) for their challenging use of our data in their Google Earth application and the Marine Environment service of the FPS “Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment” for their financial support and their understanding when we asked them to change the legal texts.