INTER-AGENCY COMMITTEE ON MARINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (IACMST) |
National Marine Environmental Data (MED) Co-ordinator |
ANNUAL REPORT 2002 - SUMMARY |
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Introduction |
This summary of the Annual Report covers the sixth year of activities of the National Marine Environmental Data (MED) Co-ordinator and associated Action Group. The MED co-ordination activity is a partnership between Government departments and agencies with an interest in marine environmental data. It is currently co-funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Fisheries Research Services/Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (FRS/ SEERAD), the Environment Agency (EA), the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), the Met Office and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). The project operates in the form of a distributed network between the marine environmental data managers in the various agencies and user groups. The focus is provided by the MED Co-ordinator assisted by a second full-time post. In addition, from November a Coastal Coordinator has been appointed, based at the CEFAS Burnham Laboratory. Progress against the 2002 Action List items is summarised below (the Work Plan and Milestones are in the main report). |
Coastal data activities |
In view of the increasing national and international interest in the coastal zone and the vast number of data sets available, a coastal specialist has been appointed. DEFRA have provided initial funding for this Coastal Coordinator. This post will establish strong links with a similar activity carried out at the Environment Agency and will collaborate closely with the MED Coordinator. These three will work together to provide a seamless service, and the OceanNET web-site will ensure that users have a single interface to data and information about all marine environmental data whether coastal or offshore. This increase in resources will provide a much needed enhancement to the coastal data and information activities and is in-line with ‘Safeguarding our Seas’ marine stewardship report and will address issues raised by the DEFRA sponsored ‘Delivering Integrated Marine Mapping for the UK’ workshop held in September 2002. Two Invest-to-Save projects, Integrated Coastal Zone Mapping (ICZMap) and Integrated Coastal Hydrography, utilise the MED Action Group as an intelligent customer. In addition, the MED Action Group Chairman is the Project Board and Steering Group chair respectively for these two projects. |
Moored current meter data product |
Approximately 3000 moored current meter data records, collected by 75 organisations, are held by BODC in the area 48°N to 62°N, 20°W to 10°E. During 2002, effort has been put into quality controlling those moored current meter data held but which had not passed through the BODC screening and banking procedures. Over 700 individual series received from 13 organisations have passed through these procedures during the year. A CD-ROM product will be released during 2003 containing these data, together with software for selecting and displaying the data and associated documentation. A demonstration version of the product was made available for review at the November MED Action Group meeting. |
Raising the visibility of MED activities |
In order to further promote the UK Marine Environmental Data Network, the OceanNET web-site (www.oceannet.org) was set up to act as a portal to marine data and information. During the year a new brochure was published describing the MED Network and the products available on OceanNET. MED posters were produced for the IACMST stand at Oceanology International 2002 and the joint MED-BODC stand at UK Marine Science 2002. A consultant has been employed during the year to assist with publicity. Activities so far have included providing articles and news items to a wide variety of newsletters, attending appropriate meetings and working with MED funders to raise the profile of the MED Network within their organisations (including encouraging reciprocal links between OceanNET and MED partner web-sites). |
Developing and maintaining data inventories |
One of the key requirements for providing an overview of marine environmental data is the production of data catalogues. During the year an Adobe Acrobat version of the UK Directory of Marine Environmental Data has been completed and made available on the OceanNET web-site. A major update to the UK Cruise Inventory has been the addition of information relating to data collected by DARD (NI) during the 1990s. In addition, information is now being received by the MED Coordinator from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office relating to cruises to be undertaken in waters by non-UK research vessels. This is being made available via the OceanNET web-site. A searchable inventory of tide gauge (sea level) data collected by POL and BODC has been added to the web-site. Information is being requested from the UK Hydrographic Office and the Environment Agency to include in this inventory. The MED Team based at BODC have designed and implemented a database for the EU-funded European Directory of the Initial Ocean-observing System (EDIOS) and are now starting to receive entries from the project partners. An updated and extended version of the UK Inventory of Marine Monitoring Measurements, maintained by the MED Network, forms the UK contribution to EDIOS. |
Guidelines for Data Management |
The MED Action Group was kept informed of the development of an IOC Data Exchange Policy through the IACMST Secretary. A final report for adoption of the policy will be submitted to the IOC Assembly in 2003. The MED Coordinator attended the first meeting of the ICES-IOC Study Group on the Development of Marine Data Exchange Systems using XML. Recognising the potential importance of XML, two presentations were given on this topic to the MED Action Group meeting in November, and further presentations are planned for the next Action Group meeting. |
Mechanisms to facilitate data exchange |
During the year, the MED Network Team have responded to about 90 requests for marine data and information from a variety of sources including universities, government departments and agencies, and the commercial sector. Further progress has been made over the year in quality controlling and forwarding approximately 8000 temperature and salinity profiles from 30 cruises to the World Data Center (Silver Spring). Data from 130 cruises have been supplied to ICES. The annual supply of temperature and salinity data from FRS and CEFAS cruises to BODC continues. |
A proposed Work Plan and Milestone List for 2003 is included in the main report. |
An assessment has been made of the achievements of the MED coordination activity over the last three years and activities for the future considered. The document (included as an annex to the main report) has been produced to distribute to both current and potential funding agencies to continue the MED work into the future. The MED coordination activity is now entering a new phase with the funding of coastal data coordination. Additional coastal data coordination meetings will be held to oversee this. Attendees would be those most concerned with the coastal coordination work – and should include some industry representation in recognition of their importance in this area. The work plan for 2003 shows that the outer core activities of updating and maintaining catalogues and directories of data and contributing UK data to Global Data Sets will continue. Raising the visibility of the MED Network will also be a priority. In addition, a CD-ROM of moored current meter data will be produced. Work on a web-based time series atlas, held over from 2002, will continue with the development of a GIS-based interface. Collaboration with the GOOS Action Group will continue, with the MED Team producing a web-site for the GOOS Action Group and updating the ‘Climate of UK Waters’ report. |
Lesley J. Rickards |