Offshore Seabed Survey

 

The Data and Interpretation Group are responsible for sourcing and providing data to support the offshore Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) site selection process. This may be through commissioning new survey, developing collaborative opportunities with other organisations/agencies as well as undertaking 'data mining' within Areas of Search for offshore SACs. In the longer term, the Data and Interpretation Group will contribute to the flow of data and information supporting the identification of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) and Scottish Marine Protected Areas.

 

Since 2002, JNCC has been refining information on Annex I habitat distribution in UK offshore waters. The map is an updated version of that presented in JNCC's Offshore Natura 2000 report (published in 2002), and shows those areas where, to the best of our knowledge, Annex I habitat might be present. The map is also updated to reflect the findings from recent offshore survey and data contracts. The Data and Interpretation Group use the location of potential and known Annex I habitats to create Areas of Search for offshore SACs.

 

Once an Area of Search (AoS) has been delineated, data-mining may be required to collate all existing information for that area. This may originate from previous research or survey work. Literature searches can also bring previous work to light and provide information on the site in question. For some AoS, the data mining phase may highlight sufficient data to assess the AoS against published SAC selection criteria. If insufficient data is available, then collaborative or commissioned survey is considered.

 

A variety of data types are usually acquired during survey operations including both geomorphological and biological. Acoustic techniques such as multibeam and sidescan that 'image' the seabed provide information on seabed morphology and seabed type. Often termed 'remote sensing', these techniques allow us to survey broad swathes of the seabed relatively quickly. This 'remote sensing' data, can then be groundtruthed using underwater video and stills cameras and other types of sampling such as grabs.

All data collected on the survey is then analysed and interpreted. In particular, the presence or absence of Annex I habitat is ascertained, as well as the biological communities living on the seabed. Data is archived according to MEDIN recommendations and a report from the survey is published within the JNCC Report Series.

 

New survey data compliments data already gathered through the data mining phase, and is used to assess the AoS against the SAC selection criteria.

 

Please contact us if you have further questions on the offshore survey programme or if you would like information on the potential Annex I habitat shapefiles. These shapefiles are subject to licencing agreements and therefore to obtain them you will need to purchase licences for British Geological Survey UK Seabed Sediments (DIG SBS 250K) and SeaZone Bathymetry data either in the form of a SeaZone Hydrospaital or SeaZone Bathymetry Topic layer.