The Caribbean Marine Atlas (CMA) Project

Ramon Roach

Water Quality Analyst

Marine Research Department

OutlineCaribbean Marine Atlas

BackgroundComponentsAMA example

CMA DevelopmentStakeholder meetingRequirements

CMA National Coordination

Establishment of groupIdentification of training needs

CMA BackgroundCMA Project part of a global network of initiatives

IOC Established in 1960Address scientific uncertainties for environmental managementImproving operational capability for management and sustainable developmentBuilding capacity in marine science

IODEEstablished in 1961Enhance marine researchFacilitate exchange of data and informationProvide access to data and data productsNODCs and marine libraries

ODINCARSAEstablished in 2000Facilitate capacity building, equipment and operational support at the regional levelProducts and services

CMA ComponentsData and Information Distribution System

Interactive, online mapping tool Collection of GIS data layers (vector and raster)User defined data frame within AOIGeographic features (scales, grids, coordinates)

Advanced data controlLayer list (one layer, multiple)Feature selectionResults tablesMetadata viewingLinks to websites, documents, auxiliary data

Data downloadShapefilesAttached metadataDocuments, images

CMA Components Cont’dThematic Data Structure

Geosphere Natural hazardsSoil typesLand use

HydrosphereBathymetryPhysical oceanographyChemical oceanography

BiosphereHabitatsMarine flora and faunaProtected areas

AtmosphereClimateWeather

Human EnvironmentSettlementsInfrastructureTourism

African Marine Atlas Example

African Marine Atlas

AMA ProjectODINAFRICA Initiative

1 Year startupHosted by IODE

Click to go to website and then click ‘Go to Atlas’ on the left hand menu

Importance of CMALocal and Regional Data Management for Policy Making

Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) Data required for planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluationRegional scale information availabilityCommunication with policy makers

Inter and intradepartmental data sharingLocal CMA equivalentProvide easy access to restricted dataData quality and metadata standardsImproved data sharingData and information warehousing

Communication with publicCMA and local equivalentCentral access point for marine dataEnhance data and data product deliveryReduce product delivery overhead

Role of IODE Facilitation and Institutional Strengthening

Capacity building for ocean/coastal data managementTraining WorkshopsOnline training servicesLinks to resources (software tools, data sources)

Standards development for data descriptions and data quality control

Training workshopsMetadata standards informationMetadata creation tools

National data infrastructure developmentDistributed database technology trainingNODC establishmentEquipment funding

Products/services development Marine atlasesStandard DatabasesOnline data retrieval services

CMA Project Development1st Stakeholder Meeting for the Development of the CMA Project (October 8-10, 2007)

Regional information gathering workshop Participants from 9 Caribbean countriesCore initiative with scope for expansion

Workshop GoalsTo inform the participating countries of the potential benefits of a Caribbean Marine AtlasTo identify current national coastal zone management arrangementsTo identify national and regional coastal and marine issues that could be the focus of the Caribbean Marine AtlasTo identify the national resource requirements of the participating countries to enable full participation in a Caribbean Marine Atlas Pilot ProjectTo prepare a draft work plan of a Caribbean Marine Atlas Pilot Project, for submission to, and approval by the respective national governments

Stakeholder MeetingRegional Stakeholder Exercises

Priority Issues Primary environmental concernsIdentification of indicatorsIdentification of responsible agenciesData accessibility

Countries Priority concerns Specific issues

Barb

ados

Cuba

Gre

nada

Jam

aica

St. L

ucia

Trin

idad

&T

obag

o

Turk

s &

Caico

s

weig

ht

Coral reefs R R N N N R R 21 Mangroves R N N N N N N 16 Seagrass 1N 2N 1L 1N 1N 1L 3L 18 Beaches 1R 1R 1N 1N 1N 2N 2R 19

Habitat degradation/loss

Forests 2N 2L 1N 1N 2N 2N 2R 16

Overfishing 1R 2N 1N 1N 1N,R 1R 1R 20 Unsustainable exploitation of natural resources Sandmining 2N 1N 2N 1N 2L 2N 14 Destructive fishing 2N,L 2L 1N 7

Sediments (turbidity)

1R 3L 1L 1N 1N 2L 2N 17

Sewage pollution (coliform)

1R 3L 1L 1N 1N 1N 1R 19

Agrochemicals 1R 3L 2N 1N 1N 3L 2R 15 Oil 2N 3L 3L 2N 3R 2L 2N 11 Heavy metals 2L 3L 3L 3L 3R 2N 2R 10 Nitrates/nitrites 1R 2L 1L 1N 1N 1L 2N 19 Solid waste 1R 3L 2L 1N 1N 1N 1R 18 BOD/COD 1L 3L 1L 1N 1N 2N 2R 17 Runoff (storm, grey water)

1N 1N 1N 1N 2N 14

Pollution

Hurricanes 1R 1R 1R 1R 1N 2R 1R 20 Tsunamis 2R 3N 1R 1R 3R 3R 1R 14 Sea level rise 1R 1L 1R 1R 1N 2R 1R 20

Natural hazards

Volcano 1R 3 Flooding 2N 1N 1L 1L 2L 2N 15 Earthquakes 1L 3N 5

High Priority

Medium Priority

Low Priority

Regional Priority IssuesCoral Reefs, Seagrass, MangrovesOverexploitationNatural HazardsBeachesLBS Pollution

Regional Data Access IssuesMost or all essential indicator data collected (Barbados and Cuba leading)Data access from data holders tends to be problematic

Workshop Conclusions

Regional Data Management IssuesLittle or no data quality control (geographic, range analysis)No established metadata schemesLack of institutional resources

Personnel and trainingEquipment

For the AtlasIdentify geographic Area of Interest (AOI) for the Atlas Agree the topic outlineGather available data according to the scope of topics, geographic limits and temporal considerations Describe metadata and source location URLs Review gridded datasets for data value rangesConvert all data to appropriate GIS formatsShapefiles for vector data ASCII ArcGrids for gridded data and satellite imagery Geo-referenced images to accompany most arrays Clip all GIS files to the AOI Convert data to required products (e.g. seasonal climatological grids/contours) Convert these products to the correct GIS formats Create a browser interface to the GIS files, with links to the metadata files and source location URLs Publish the atlas on the Internet with a interface using static HTML pages Publish the atlas as an interactive Map Service Publish the browser-based atlas on DVD for dissemination Produce a hardcopy publication

CMA Requirements

For the National Atlas Coordinating GroupIdentify national teamleaderIdentify required training to participate in Atlas project Detail equipment requirements (and send to IODE secretariat)Identify if data are available in electronic or paper form Identify restrictions on use of data Locate all historical records available nationally Perform data quality control on data Conversion of data sets into shapefiles Import layers into national mapserver system*

CMA Requirements

CMA Training CoursesBasic Courses

DM 101 Introduction to Ocean DataOceanographic measurements (parameters, units, conventions); programmatic and technical aspects of data collection; data formats used for ocean data and their special characteristics

DM 102 Ocean Data CollectionDevelopment Building a national ocean data collection from the World Ocean Database 2005 and other local and published data sources; basic data analysis with popular software programs

DM 103 Ocean Data Products & SynthesisDeveloping a suite of standard and specialized ocean data analysis products from the national data collection, and the synthesis of these products with other available analyses in Geographic Information SystemsAdvanced Data Management

DM 203P Geographic Information Systems for Coast & Ocean Management

An intensive, hands-on tutorial in the use of proprietary (ESRI) Geographic Information System software to assemble and analyse coastal and marine data for environmental management purposes

CMA Training CoursesAdvanced Data Management Cont’d

DM 203N Geographic Information Systems for Coast & Ocean Management

This course is the equivalent of DM 203P, with the major difference that the software used throughout is in the public domain

Marine Atlas Courses DM 207 MapServer Application for a Marine Atlas

This course introduces the Data Manager to an open source software application to build spatially-enabled internet applications to publish maps and to build an interactive map application demonstrator for a marine atlas. The African Marine Atlas is used here as the training model

DM 210 Marine & Coastal AtlasesPractical workshop intended to address the creation of a Marine & Coastal Atlas for a specific geographic area, including the construction of the static HTML interface to the GIS data products. The workshop builds upon the theoretical concepts presented in prior courses, but it includes the real-world considerations of exactly where the Atlas will cover, what themes will be included, and the construction of the actual products for this area

Thank You