Project record of The UK Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas

Information

Type

Project

Name

The UK Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas

Description @en

Atlas Purpose

• Provide a flexible resource for national oil spill planning, facilitating
  • Seamless multi agency, operational response;
  • Audit and contingency planning, consistent with the UK National Contingency Plan (NCP);
  • Clean-up management;
  • Damage assessment, compensation, responsibilities;
• Provide information on sensitive resources of the UK coastline and its seas to all stakeholders.
• Assist in identification of protection and clean-up priorities.

Distinguishing Features

• A coastal and marine extension of the MAGIC (Multi Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside) website.
• Focussed on oil spill planning.

Target Audience

• Government/Public Bodies;
• Commercial/Industry;
• Consultancies;
• Coastal/Environmental Managers;
• Decision Makers;

Atlas Design and Usability

• Focus:
  • Map content;
• Design:
  • Clear navigation and instruction;
  • Single point(s) of access to map/data;
  • Guided navigation
• Map Page:
  • View limited layers
  • View data independently/by theme;.
  • Separate legend & layer lists
  • Links to external pages
• Documentation:
  • Thematic text;
  • Metadata:
    • Database
    • Single format(s);
  • Help page(s);
  • Tutorial;
• Standards:
  • Metadata standards: ISO 19xxx;

Technology Used

• Mapping Software:
  • Proprietary: ESRI ArcIMS;
• Data Storage:
  • Locally: SQL Server with ArcSDE;
  • Distributed Network: SPIRE database (early 2007);
• Database Management System:
  • Yes

Functionality/Tools Available

• Level:
  • Advanced
• Search Capability:
  • Search for data
  • Search for attributes;
• Other:
  • Marine data viewable in ED50 Mercator and GB National Grid.
• Mapping Tools:
  • Zoom, recentre and full extent;
  • Identify features;
  • Layer list control;
  • Print/Export maps;
  • Query attributes;
  • Measure line and areas;
  • Download geospatial data.

Data/Cartographic Information Included

• Geographic Area: England, Scotland and Wales;
• Number of Datasets: >100;
• Topics:
  • Physical Environment;
  • Coastal Habitats;
  • Biology;
  • Management;
  • Conservation;
  • Environmental Monitoring;
  • Infrastructure;Industry;
  • Natural Resources;
  • Fisheries, Aquaculture & Agriculture;
  • Other: Sensitivity.

Data Issues

• IPR/Cost:
  • Cost-prohibitive data (base/other);
  • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR);
  • Data use restrictions;
• Accessibility:
  • Data sourcing and acquisition;
  • Poorly managed, inaccessible data;
  • Data duplication
• Quality:
  • Variable/inconsistent data quality;
  • Inappropriate data scales;
  • Incomparable regional datasets;
  • Poor/non-existent metadata;
• Management:
  • Data management plan development;
  • Balance of development and update
• Other:
  • Over-reliance on personal knowledge for data information.

Other Challenges

• Funding for site maintenance;
• Designing simple, intuitive and informative web interface;
• Content balance of science and information;
• Design of efficient DBMS for content management;
• Other:
  • Marine topic new to countryside atlas MAGIC;
  • Aligning to MAGIC procedures