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Register now for the next MEDIN workshop
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Registration is open for the next Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) workshop titled "Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset" which will be jointly delivered in partnership with OceanWise.
Taking place 4-8th September 2023, the course will comprise live lessons in the morning and independent learning in the afternoon. The workshop can be taken as a whole, or attendees can select modules according to two streams: Marine Data Governance or Practical MEDIN.
The Marine Data Governance stream consists of some elements of general data management best practice, suitable for anyone wishing to improve their data management skills; as well as some higher-level elements suitable for those wishing to enact wider improvements to data management practice across a team or organisation.
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The practical MEDIN stream also contains elements of general data management with a focus on tools that MEDIN use to facilitate good data management and governance. The practical side to this stream aims to familiarise attendees with creating MEDIN compliant data and metadata.
The workshop will take place online using OceanTeacher Global Academy. Register here using enrolment key Medin943. |
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Enhancing the framework for sharing UK marine data
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The MEDIN Open Meeting this year was entitled “Enhancing the national framework for sharing UK marine data”. The aims of the meeting were to share marine data management successes and discuss priorities for enhancing the national framework for UK marine data.
Throughout the day there were marine data focussed presentations from MEDIN Sponsors and Partners. A Data Archive Centre (DAC) hybrid poster session took place in the afternoon and there were plenty of networking opportunities. Posters and presentations from the day can be found here.
The discussion topics of the afternoon showed us that the UK marine community need greater signposting of existing resources by MEDIN, along with jargon busting tools to continue to make it easier to access UK marine data. There are clear requirements for more automation of data transfer abilities, visualising data and increasing capability for storage of large volumes of data. MEDIN users praised the MEDIN discovery metadata standard, guidelines and the MEDIN portal which they use to find and create metadata.
The results of these discussions have been recorded and will feed into the next MEDIN Business Plan.
Find out more about the MEDIN Open Meeting here.
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MEDIN welcomes new Partner, Black Bawks Data Science
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MEDIN are excited to announce that Black Bawks Data Science have become a MEDIN partner. A MEDIN partner is an organisation that demonstrates commitment to best practice marine data management, as described in our partnership agreement.
It's free to become a MEDIN partner!
For more information on joining the network as a Sponsor and Partner see our website or email enquiries@medin.org.uk |
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Triage of multidiscplinary data
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The MEDIN Data Archive Centres (DACs) hold data from different thematic disciplines including oceanography, meteorology, bathymetry, geology and geophysics, historic environment, fisheries, flora, fauna, and habitat data. In some cases, a data provider may wish to archive a dataset which spans more than one discipline. To determine which DACs will collaborate to archive the data, a triage process is required.
The MEDIN Metadata Helpdesk ( MEDIN.Metadata@mba.ac.uk) is the initial point of contact for providers of multidisciplinary data sets. DASSH, The UK Archive for Marine Species and Habitats data, manages this helpdesk and documents the triage process. Upon receipt of a multidisciplinary data submission enquiry, DASSH requests information from the data provider about the types of data to be archived, whether they wish to publish all data types within the dataset, and any access and reuse conditions.
This information allows us to determine which DACs are applicable for each data type in the dataset submitted. DASSH will then liaise with the relevant DACs to establish metadata information that will eventually link the data held by each of the data archive centres together. The completed MEDIN discovery metadata records are then published on the MEDIN Portal. |
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The process of triaging and archiving a multidisciplinary dataset is formalised in documentation that specifies the name of the applicable DACs, the dataset name, the discovery metadata file identifier from each DAC, the series metadata file identifier, and any DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) associated with each component part of the dataset. The overall process carried out by DASSH is summarised in the flow diagram above.
Find out more about each DAC here.
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Showcasing UK seabed mapping to British maritime community
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The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and fellow members of the UK Centre of Seabed Mapping (UK CSM), joined hosts the UK Hydrographic Office and Maritime and Coastguard Agency at the International Maritime Organization Headquarters (IMO) in March for the UK CSM Showcase event.
Friends and colleagues across the maritime community were invited to discover more about the UK CSM’s role and purpose and had the chance to hear from some of its experts throughout the evening.
The UK CSM was launched in 2022 to enable UK public sector organisations involved in seabed mapping to build a community where members coordinate efforts to collect and share data. This information is crucial to maritime trade, informing sustainable environmental and resource management and supporting national security and infrastructure.
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UK CSM Members
Each member organisation brings its own world-beating expertise to the table, as all parties work together to solve the challenges of data collection standards and accessibility. Through a more collaborative, harmonious approach to data collection standards, data accessibility and data collection between members, the UK CSM will enable all types of marine users, such as Armed Forces, scientists, and industry partners to utilise the ocean environment in a safe and secure way.
Attendees heard from keynote speakers on the importance of the UK CSM in gathering and sharing critical data more effectively. John Dillon-Leetch, Port Hydrographer at the Port of London Authority (PLA), explained why the PLA invests so much in seabed mapping and what the return on that investment looks like.
John was followed by Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ocean, and Chair of the All-Party Group for Coastal Communities. Sally-Ann outlined the critical relationship between our oceans and climate, explaining why understanding and managing climate change is critical to our future prosperity, and how protecting and preserving our oceans helps support a thriving nation.
“Whatever we do to help protect and preserve our climate, our oceans and our coastal communities, it is clear that seabed mapping is a critical part of the infrastructure we need,” Hart said. “To that end, the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping is an exciting step forward to better harness and coordinate the rich expertise within our nation.”
Find out more about the UK CSM by watching the new video.
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Towards an operational North Sea glider service
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In 2021, funding to the Met Office was agreed for a next-generation supercomputing service. The funding also provides for a portfolio of observations projects to deliver additional data to support the supercomputing investment. One of these being to provide enhanced ocean observations to improve North Sea modelling and resolve regional climate biases.
Since June 2022 the Met Office has run a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model for weather prediction, and the high resolution UK model takes time-varying sea surface temperature fields from the 1.5 km Atlantic Margin Model (AMM15) that assimilates temperature and salinity profiles, so improved AMM15 performance should benefit weather forecasts.
The Met Office Gliders (MOGli) project builds on the Met Office’s long-standing relationship with the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and provides a proof of concept of the potential operational use of gliders in our shelf seas. The gliders are deployed and operated by NOC, who deliver the data to the Met Office as a service. The gliders are targeted in an area near the JONSIS line where the waters of the Atlantic mix with the waters of the North Sea.
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Above: Bathymetry of the AMM15 domain with main currents and JONSIS line (red) overlaid. North Atlantic Current (NAC), Norwegian Trench Inflow (NTI), Norwegian Coastal Current (NCC), Fair Isle Current (FIC), East Shetland Atlantic Inflow (ESAI), English Channel Inflow (ECI).
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The available funding allowed two gliders to be deployed in the spring and autumn and one during winter and summer. The gliders are set up to deliver data 4 times a day, with an additional transmission shortly before midnight just before the close of the AMM15 data processing window. Typically, each glider is in the water for ~3 months and can cover over 2,000 kilometers delivering over 600 profiles of temperature and salinity.
The first two gliders were launched in September 2022 and replaced by a single glider in December. This glider was swapped out with an extended battery bay glider in March. Another glider was deployed in May, but had a leak so was recovered and replaced in June. The two gliders presently operating should stay on station until August when a replacement is expected to be deployed.
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Above: Location of gliders between 01/09/2022 and 25/01/2023.
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The impact of the glider data was evaluated by running two AMM15 suites in parallel from 1st Sept 2022 to 25th January 2023 - one assimilating the North Sea glider data, the other without it. All other data were assimilated into both suites, so differences in the results were due to the North Sea glider data. Preliminary results show the largest impacts in the region of the gliders but with time extending over a wider area, but not into the southern part of the North Sea. Although the Met Office have assimilated glider data for many years, this was the first time an impact assessment has been made.
During the project, the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) completed work to make the Autonomous Platform Data System more robust and extensible, and resolved issues regarding stalling and allowing for the consistent delivery of data to the Met Office within the AMM15 data processing window. The success of the project is largely down to the excellent and responsive partnership and service provided by NOC.
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The Marine Data Exchange celebrates it's 10 year anniversary
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The Marine Data Exchange (MDE) is The Crown Estate's (TCE) offshore marine industry data platform. Originally developed in 2013, the MDE is a world-leading resource of marine industry survey data, research and evidence. From bathymetry to bird data and geophysical to metocean, there is a huge variety of data rich survey content, free and accessible at the click of a button.
To celebrate the MDE's 10th birthday, TCE are revisiting surveys and reports that have been delivered to the MDE over the last decade : The Marine Data Exchange: 10 Year Anniversary | Marine Data Exchange
Industry Data Project: The Industry Data Discoverability & Accessibility Pilot Study
The Crown Estate are very proud of the MDE and its evolution over the last decade. However, there is always more work to be done. Aiming to enable customers, stakeholders and colleagues to gain maximum value from the offshore industry data available on the MDE, TCE are conducting a study to seek to understand how those within government bodies, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), industry specialists etc. search for natural capital data, how quickly and effectively they can find what they are looking for and how the MDE could be improved to increase industry data accessibility and discoverability.
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THE MDE NEEDS YOU!
A range of stakeholders are required to take part in workshops and user research.
The Crown Estate are currently proposing 3 user research groups (research does not have to be conducted by those who already use the MDE, but by those that are regularly searching for natural capital data/marine data & evidence). These groups include:
• Those engaging in Marine Natural Capital Assessment projects – for example, those within the Marine Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme at Defra.
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)/Habitat Regulation Assessments (HRA) user research (interviews with individuals involved in analysis and data collection to support EIAs and HRAs).
• Nature Recovery/Habitat Creation user research (interviews with those involved in projects aimed at increasing biodiversity, achieving Good Environmental Status in marine ecosystems and restoring marine habitats etc.).
Join the MDE Discoverability & Accessibility Pilot Study:
If you are currently involved in any of the above scopes of work, would benefit from improved access to marine data and would like to take part in MDE user research, please contact: Harriet.baldwin@thecrownestate.co.uk or MDE@thecrownestate.co.uk
To stay tuned to the latest MDE news, sign-up to the MDE Newsletter: Marine Newsletter (powerappsportals.com)
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Fifty years of investigating and protecting shipwrecks
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July 2023 will mark 50 years since the passing of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. Shipwrecks can be designated under Section 1 of the Act on account of their historical, archaeological or artistic importance. There are currently 57 shipwreck sites in English waters designated under the Act, ranging from cargo scatters dating to the Bronze Age, to submarines of the First World War.
Shipwrecks are naturally difficult to access, being located underwater or in the intertidal zone, often in challenging locations. Historic England provides support for the dedicated teams of professional and avocational archaeological divers who undertake projects to monitor, survey and investigate England’s Protected Wrecks, and commissions projects that improves the future management and preservation of these nationally important archaeological sites.
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Access to shipwrecks designated under the Act is by a licence, which is administered by Historic England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The role of the Licensee has played a vital part in the ongoing management of sites designated under the Act, with Licensees operating as the custodians for these nationally important archaeological sites. In recent years there have been over 200 Licensees and team members active on England’s Protected Wreck sites.
Archives relating to investigation of several protected wreck sites are available from the Archaeology Data Service, featuring reports, photographs, video footage and project data. Projects include:
- The assessment by the Maritime Archaeology Trust of the archive relating to 30 years of research on the Stirling Castle, a 70-gun Third Rate Ship of the Line lost on the Goodwin Sands during the Great Storm of 1703.
- The results of investigations by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS) of the wreck of HMS Colossus, lost on the Isles of Scilly in 1799. The team surveyed a large area of the seabed around the stern in order to better understand the events leading to the present disposition of wreck material on the seabed.
- Condition survey and diver assessment undertaken by Wessex Archaeology of the wreck of HMS/m A1, the first British designed and built submarine used by the Royal Navy.
Historic England publishes details of all sites designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 together with other heritage designations under an Open Government License (OGL) on the National Heritage List for England. In addition spatial data can be downloaded, and an Application Programming Interface (API) is available, from the Historic England Open Data Hub. |
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Connecting land and sea for global awarenesss
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A summary of Phase 4 of the Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure Pilot
The Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (FMSDI) Pilot is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Innovation Programme initiative that aims to enhance the understanding and uptake of MSDI and demonstrate the power of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data in the context of the marine environment. These aims parallel the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network's (MEDIN) aims, with a focus on marine geospatial data standards and technologies.
The latest phase of the pilot (Phase 4) entitled ‘Connecting Land and Sea for Global Awareness’ is being sponsored by the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and involves participants including MEDIN and OceanWise Ltd.
Phase 4 aims to build on the success of the first three phases – an initial MSDI Concept Development Study, the individually themed Maritime Limits and Boundaries (MLB) Pilot, and the development of a more generic Arctic Spatial Data Pilot– and comprises three areas of interest (selected by the sponsors) with common threads (image below).
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Above: Technical Architecture of the FMSDI Pilot
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As with similar OGC initiatives, the pilot aims to establish interoperability through the application of state-of-the-art concepts and technologies in the form of an engineering report and several scenario-based demonstrators (and use cases) from global community experts showcasing how using OGC, International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), and other open standards can enable the marine and maritime communities to find, obtain, use, share, interoperate, and re-use data.
One such technology is the OceanWise’s Marine Themes dataset which utilises source data from responsible authorities and unencrypted navigational data from hydrographic offices. Marine Themes, already available and used widely across the regulatory and energy sectors in the UK, North West Europe, and the Middle East (image below), will be created for selected Caribbean Islands, thus testing the accessibility and efficacy of the required data inputs for use in various scenarios and the ease by which Marine Themes can be mapped onto IHO S-100 based specifications, such as the MLB specification (S-121). Demonstrators will be prepared and hopefully made available publicly, each one focused on a particular scenario, such as renewable energy development, human health, and emergency planning and response.
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Above: Examples screenshot of OceanWises’ Marine Themes
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The various data inputs – and therefore Marine Themes – will be tested for land-sea interoperability and the sources assessed against the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework Marine Maturity Index (IGIF-M) and Operational Framework (IGIF-H) recently published by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geographic Information Management (UN-GGIM). It is hoped the pilot will lever the IGIF and promote the benefits of FAIR principles, with the aim of improving how datasets are managed and shared by data holders. Outputs from the pilot will include lessons learned and identified gaps to inform the development of relevant OGC and IHO standards.
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24.9% of the seafloor now mapped
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In May 2023 a new global bathymetric grid, GEBCO_2023, was released by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). This is the fifth GEBCO grid developed through the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. This is a collaborative project between the Nippon Foundation of Japan and GEBCO. The aim of the project is to map the global sea floor by 2030.
Compared with the 2022 release of the data set, an additional 5.4 million square kilometres of new data - equating to an area twice the size of Argentina - has been added to the grid, with 24.9 per cent of the seabed now mapped.
The GEBCO_2023 Grid can be downloaded as a global file in netCDF format or for user-defined areas, through GEBCO’s download app, in netCDF, data GeoTiff and ESRI ASCII raster formats.
The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) acts as the Global Center for the Seabed 2030 project and is responsible for maintaining and delivering GEBCO’s global grid on behalf of the project.
Details on how to contribute data sets to help update the GEBCO grid can be found on GEBCO’s web site.
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