Publication Abstract

Enhancing the data management and presentation capabilities of GIS in the service of a major marine infrastructure project

Berrit Bredemeier and David J Morris

A majority of large environmental projects that use GIS have been land based, often because of the ready availability of digital maps. In the marine environment the core maps have been in the form of navigational charts that are specifically designed to convey location and hazards in a clear and simple and analogue format. This leads to problems when converting from analogue to digital formats. In the UK, these issues are being addressed by the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) through SeaZone Solutions.

BEEMS (British EDF Estuarine and Marine Studies) is a major marine environmental project that is providing a scientific input into the effects of two New Nuclear Build (NNB) projects in the UK on the marine environment and the effects of the marine environment on NNB, combining a wide range of survey data from subtidal and intertidal biota, impingement and entrainment, coastal and climate changes, multibeam bathymetry, oceanographic dynamics and water quality to numeric modeling of plumes. At the heart of this project is a Data Centre that was commissioned from the beginning. This Data Centre harnesses the data management and presentation capabilities of GIS with the digital marine capabilities of the Hydrospatial product from SeaZone (who are formal Partners in BEEMS) with specific extensions to meet the requirements of the project.

There are a number of features of the BEEMS Data Centre that differentiate it and enhance its capabilities and value to the marine scientists, environmental regulators and engineers involved. These are:

• BEEMS is using the most up to date and comprehensive truly digital marine data available for its baseline marine and coastal maps.
• BEEMS is developing, with SeaZone, land-sea integration of UKHO charts and digital data and Ordnance Survey land maps so that both the vertical reference frames and feature representations are fit for purpose.
• These maps are provided to users with associated layers in the approved format of (analogue) navigational charts as a familiar aid to interpretation and understanding
• BEEMS has extended the data management facilities built into commercial GIS packages because there is a requirement to manage the data for the lifetime of the power plant, in this case a minimum of 60+ years from exploration through construction and operations to decommissioning.
• The extensions include the adoption of international standards for metadata and enhanced metadata management and search facilities. This has been developed in conjunction with SeaZone who, along with Cefas and other UK marine institutions, are implementing standards and protocols for marine data management and GIS for the UK Government and marine community.
• The BEEMS Data Centre adopted Cadcorp as its GIS of choice for a number of reasons, one of which was the ability to readily produce layered pdf’s which were seen as an effective and familiar means of communicating maps whilst retaining the flexibility of a users ability to focus on relevant details (layers). These files are readily transmitted electronically, readable by all using free software and retain links from the visual to the underlying data.
• Feedback from the Client is that the ready and wide availability and the flexible nature of the outputs (the layered pdf’s) have made their decision-making processes easier than previous experience with printed maps.

The mark of success for the BEEMS Data Centre is that it has become a much used service within the project and the first port of call for any display of data. To date we have produced 250 layered pdf’s in 18 months of operation (this is getting close to 1 a working day and demand exceeds supply to the point we have recruited additional staff).