The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Patsy Falconer Marine ALSF

Programme ManagerCefas

Marine ALSF Data&

MEDIN

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

•Depositor of data to MEDIN – “real case study”

•Background to Marine ALSF

•Marine ALSF Projects & Outputs

•Marine ALSF Data Legacy - Context & Archive

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Background to the Marine ALSF

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

• UK Govt. Levy on aggregate extraction• % of levy used for research into impacts of extraction

•Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund

• Research Fund 2002-2011 £25m pa

• Research fund owned by Defra, delivered by

Delivery Partners• Terrestrial & Marine components

• Marine ALSF worth £25m in total (Cefas & English Heritage)

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Administration – CEFAS

Governance:

• Cross-sector Steering Group

• Multi-disciplinary

• Consensual

• Active project management

• Independent Science advisor

Marine Management Organisation

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF main objective:“minimising the impact of marine

aggregate extraction”

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF Projects & Outputs

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF driven by 5 strategic themes:

• Seabed Mapping (e.g. characterisation including marine archaeology)

• Effects & Significance (e.g. noise)

• Management & Mitigation (e.g. Benthic Guidelines 1st & 2nd editions)

• Socio-Economics (e.g. ecosystem goods and services approach)

• Dissemination / Outreach (co-ordinated & overarching)

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF

2008 -11 Programme

Budget

£13.5m

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF Programme Outputs:• 70+ projects commissioned by Cefas & English

Heritage covering the strategic themes• Final Reports• Survey Data• Project Data• Project Tools (E.g. Navigator, Genus Traits Handbook & e-

version, Benthic Guidelines)

• Websites and secure data store

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF Seabed Mapping Projects:

Regional Environmental Characterisation (RECs)

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

REC Areas & Statistics: • Research Value: £7m

• 5 REC projects & 1

synthesis project**:

East Coast, Eastern English Channel, Outer Humber, Outer Thames, South Coast

• Survey Data coverage 31,560 km2 (75 x Isle of Wight)

• No regional mapping since 1980s

• RECs aligned with extraction licences

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

REC AIMS:1. To develop and use seabed mapping techniques to improve the evidence base.

2. To acquire data, of the highest quality possible; to enable broad-scale characterisation of the seabed habitats.

3. To provide science-based regional interpretation to that would be complimentary to the industry-led assessments.

4. To produce a series of complimentary deliverables and archives for a wide range of stakeholders.

REC AIMS:1. To develop and use seabed mapping techniques to improve the evidence base.

2. To acquire data, of the highest quality possible; to enable broad-scale characterisation of the seabed habitats.

3. To provide science-based regional interpretation to that would be complimentary to the industry-led assessments.

4. To produce a series of complimentary deliverables and archives for a wide range of stakeholders.

Outputs

Marine Spatial Planning

Survey Data

Final reports

Data Archive

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

REC AIMS:

2. To acquire data, of the highest quality possible; to enable broad-scale characterisation of the seabed habitats.

REC AIMS:

2. To acquire data, of the highest quality possible; to enable broad-scale characterisation of the seabed habitats.

Outputs

Survey Data

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

Geophysical & HeritageSub-bottom ProfilerSide Scan SonarBathymetryMagnetometerVibrocores Environmental

ImagesParticle Size Analysis (PSA)

Habitats & Species Lists

Geophysical & HeritageSub-bottom ProfilerSide Scan SonarBathymetryMagnetometerVibrocores Environmental

ImagesParticle Size Analysis (PSA)

Habitats & Species Lists

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF Data Legacy

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Context for legacy: • Investment to date, specifically RECs• Publically-funded research• Data Quality (world-class research) • Data freely available for use by third parties - Crown• “Collect once use many times” principle• Contribution of Marine ALSF data to decision-making

and policy (MCZs & MPA)• End of ALSF March 2011

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF legacy benchmarked with:DESIRE FOR LONG-TERM DATA ARCHIVE SOLUTION

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Putting legacy into practice:

• Commence pro-active Data Management (2006):

• Data Policy, Metadata, Standards, QA

• Planning with contractors: contracts, formats, data

deliverables & submissions

• Parallel discussions with MEDIN until DACs ready • Marine ALSF secure data storage & metadata via a

web-based GIS launched 2007

www.marinealsf.org.uk

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF Long-Term Data Legacy

• Marine ALSF secure data store interim• Intention to deposit data in MEDIN• Worked closely with MEDIN throughout Marine ALSF Round 3 Programme

• MEDIN Compliance (E.g. Standards, Metadata)

• Planned for smooth integration • Ensuring long-term data archive & access

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDINwww.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

Marine ALSF GIS MEDIN“Shop window” for Marine ALSF Recognised archive for UK marine

data

Datasets stored by project Datasets by topic stored by individual DACs

All Marine ALSF project outputs Marine ALSF RECs data only

Guaranteed immediate access and availability until March 2016

Long-term commitment & archive

Primary use in marine aggregates regulation and management

Wider use by other marine sectors and facilitates international data exchange

Compliant with UK Govt. data plans and in accordance with EU legislation

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Marine ALSF REC Data deposited in MEDIN DACs

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

Data Type Data DAC Date Available

Geophysical •Sub-bottom Profiler•Side Scan Sonar•Bathymetry•Magnetometer

BGS

BGSUKHOUKHO

Sep 2011

Sep 2011June 2011June 2011

Environmental •Images•PSA•Species Lists

DASSHDASSHDASSH

June 2011June 2011June 2011

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Experience of working with MEDIN• Well-managed & co-ordinated process• Data Experts• Understood Marine ALSF Steering group needs

• Provides long-term data archive to maintain Marine ALSF legacy

• Realising opportunity for added-value to other marine datasets

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

Conclusions:

• Marine ALSF contribution should not be

underestimated

• Date archive needs to be planned and managed

• Consider the short and the long-term

• Look for sharing knowledge and added-value in a

pressurised environment

• Definitive for success is DATA ACCESS not just data!

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

The Outer Thames EstuaryRegional Environmental CharacterisationMEPF Ref No: MEPF 08/P21

Marine ALSF Data & MEDIN

For more info on Marine ALSF www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf

Thank You

Questions?

About usAvailable dataContactLinksPublicationsTerms of Use

What Data is availableThe following provides an overview of the information available from the Marine GIS database.Marine ALSF research projects•Final reportsMarine ALSF Regional Environmental Characterisation Surveys (RECs)NB The REC data was collected in widely accessible industry standard formats with the intention that it should be available and appropriate for a broad spectrum of applications. However, inevitably not all processed data products will be suitable for every application. The raw data are available and where possible should be used so that they can be processed for the individual users requirements.•Survey Data acquired during REC Surveys (and accompanying guidance / data appendices (e.g. README notes))

• GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS

• Sub-bottom Profiler (boomer) - generally supplied in 2 formats

• raw digital data, essentially unprocessed with navigation attached; as cod or sgy files to be viewed in CODA or similar

• paper rolls (East Coast, Humber, South Coast & Thames - available from the MEPF at Cefas Lowestoft)

• Side-Scan Sonar - generally supplied in 3 formats

• raw digital data, essentially unprocessed with navigation attached; as cod or xtf files to be viewed in CODA or similar

• sonar seafloor mosaic (geotiffs/gsf) - data processed to agreed resolution

NB Mosaics are for illustrative purposes only.  For specific end user requirements, please refer to the original survey data.

Please note that for the South Coast REC region geotiffs are not available for the whole survey area due to poor weather experienced during the acquisition phase.

End users please note difference in East Coast REC mosaic which was produced with constant gain settings for the entire mosaic and without selective layering of survey lines. In addition, local mosaics were produced for archaeology and geology study areas. These local mosaics are not considered part of final delivery nor have they gone through MEPF internal QA process, but they are available to 3rd party users on request.

• paper rolls (East Coast, Humber, South Coast & Thames - available from the MEPF at Cefas Lowestoft)

• Magnetometer (x,y,z)

• Bathymetry (provided in ASCII x,y,z)

• Gridded bathymetric datasets (processed swathe bathymetry)

• ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS

• Imagery

• Videos

• Stills

• Species lists (primer data in xls format)

• PSA (this depends on the particular REC; for some RECs this data may not be supplied until interpretation stage)

• Vibrocores (logs and images) (Humber & East Coast RECs only - Humber available from BGS; East Coast available from Wessex)

•Reports

• Survey Operational Reports (these should be downloaded in conjunction with any of the REC datasets noted above to provide further background / context to the user)

• Final REC reports (project conclusions, seabed characterisation - geology, biology, archaeology) and interpreted data (shape files / layers, associated data appendices)

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf