Identification

Title

Approaches to the Firth of Forth and Wee Bankie to Gourdon Areas rule based top down benthic habitat map 2013

Abstract

The objective of this project was to generate seabed habitat maps for locations with full coverage acoustic datasets to as detailed a hierarchical level as possible within the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland (version 04.05), also known as MNCR classification, (Connor et al. 2004). The acoustic data were at various stages of processing and interpretation, therefore the mapping of habitats and biotopes in some areas have required a greater amount of work to reach the same level compared to other areas. The constituent polygons within the habitat/biotope maps are labelled to an appropriate level of the Habitat Classification and translated to the corresponding EUNIS code. In order to generate seabed habitat maps for the areas the data associated with each area were required to undergo some preliminary preparation and processing in order to ensure suitability and compatibly with the mapping methodologies employed. The data were then processed using several techniques: a top-down approach was adopted based on the methods developed by MESH and UKSeaMap and used by EUSeaMap, which utilised the updated seabed substrate information provided by BGS. In addition a bottom up approach was taken to utilise the recently acquired point sample data and bathymetry and backscatter data sets, and this process took an object based approach supplemented by supervised classification and categorisation. Three maps for each MPA proposal have been produced (the level of habitat detail which could be mapped was restricted to level 3 or 4 of the EUNIS classification and level 2 or 3 of the MNCR classification) with associated metadata and peripheral supplementary data to aid in future analysis and interpretation. A confidence assessment using the MESH confidence assessment method has been undertaken for each habitat map produced and certainty of classification maps accompany each habitat map also. Additional information source: Sotheran, I. & Crawford-Avis, O., (2014), Mapping habitats and biotopes from acoustic datasets to strengthen the information base of Marine Protected Areas in Scottish waters, JNCC Report 503, ISSN 0963 8901

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://data.jncc.gov.uk/data/38280614-e425-457a-b275-4cf0334c2ce3-GB001245.zip

name: GB001245.zip

Unique resource identifier

code

38280614-e425-457a-b275-4cf0334c2ce3

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Additional information source

Sotheran, I. & Crawford-Avis, O., (2014), Mapping habitats and biotopes from acoustic datasets to strengthen the information base of Marine Protected Areas in Scottish waters, JNCC Report 503, ISSN 0963 8901

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

biota

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Marine

Seabed Habitats and Geology

GB001245

Corpulent

EUNIS

Nature Conservation

Grabs

Multibeam echo sounder

still and video imagery

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-2.610399

East bounding longitude

-0.827905

North bounding latitude

56.838048

South bounding latitude

56.161633

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2013-02-27

End position

2013-08-01

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2013-08-01

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Created using "EUSeaMap-style" rule-based mapping: using a series of input datasets which are reclassified using a system of rules or defined parameters to identify areas which have specific physical parameters associated with habitat classes.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

Geospatial (vector polygon)

version of format

Unknown

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Released under the Open Government Licence v2.0. Attribution statement: "Contains public sector data from © JNCC 2016. Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0, from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency."

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

Digital and Data Solutions, JNCC

email address

data@jncc.gov.uk

responsible party role

custodian

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Digital and Data Solutions, JNCC

email address

data@jncc.gov.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2018-08-31

Metadata language

eng