Report on Coastal Mapping and Informatics Trans-Atlantic Workshop 1: Potentials and Limitations of Coastal Web Atlases

Abstract

Executive Summary \nTHE IMPORTANCE OF COASTAL WEB MAPPING \nGovernments, industry sectors, academic institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations \n(NGOs) have a tremendous stake in the development and management of geospatial data \nresources. Coastal mapping plays an important role in informing decision makers on issues \nsuch as national sovereignty, resource management, maritime safety and hazard assessment. \nEfforts to improve data accessibility are driven by legislation on topics such as \nEnvironmental management, open access of public sector information and data standards \nand harmonisation. The development of Geographic Information System (GIS) based web \nmapping products has improved the usability of GISs by non-specialists. This, combined \nwith community needs, has resulted in the growth of a niche group of interactive coastal \nweb atlases (CWAs) around the world, developed to address the needs of the coastal and \nmarine community. The 2006 Green Paper on Future Maritime Policy in the European \nUnion stated: “a veritable Atlas of EU coastal waters… could serve as an instrument for \nspatial planning” (European Commission 2006, p. 35), illustrating the increasing recognition \nof the potential of CWAs, even at an international level. \nTRANS-ATLANTIC WORKSHOPS ON COASTAL MAPPING AND INFORMATICS \nFunding was obtained through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Marine \nRTDI programme in Ireland to organize two trans-Atlantic workshops on coastal mapping \nand informatics. The first workshop, entitled “Potentials and Limitations of Coastal Web \nAtlases,” was hosted by the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) at University \nCollege Cork in Ireland in July 2006. This workshop brought together key experts from \nEurope and North America to examine state-of-the-art CWA developments, share lessons \nlearned, determine future needs in mapping and informatics for the coastal practitioner \ncommunity and identify potential opportunities for collaboration. \n \nCOASTAL WEB ATLAS FEATURES \nA coastal web atlas is a collection of digital maps and datasets with supplementary tables, \nillustrations and information that systematically illustrate the coast, oftentimes with \ncartographic and decision-support tools, and all of which are accessible via the Internet. \nAccess to the various components can be provided in different ways. The typical CWA \ncontains a number of general features, including: geospatial data and metadata; a map area \nfor data display; a legend and/or layer list; tools to interact with the map and data; data \nattribute tables; topical information; powerful server and software technologies; and a wellrounded \natlas design to meet atlas and user needs. \nCOASTAL WEB ATLAS CASE STUDIES \nAs part of the workshop, a number of representative coastal web atlas case studies from \nboth sides of the Atlantic were presented by developers. This report provides an overview \nof the case studies, which highlight key aspects of CWA development and operations such \nas atlas purpose, institutional support, technology and functionality. Those included as case \nstudies are: The UK Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas; De Kustatlas Online, Belgium; The \nMarine Irish Digital Atlas; The Oregon Coastal Atlas; North Coast Explorer, Oregon; and \nMapping Tools for Coastal Management, Virginia. \n \nSTRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS ANALYSIS \nDuring the workshop, four working groups were established to identify issues related to \natlas design, data, technology and institutional capacity. Each working group focussed its \ndiscussion by carrying out a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) \nAnalysis. \n \nCONSIDERATIONS FOR ATLAS DEVELOPMENT \nThe design and usability of an atlas are keys to its success. An atlas should clearly \ncommunicate its purpose, be visually appealing, be kept as simple as possible, use efficient \ntechnology and management systems and have a flexible design to enable growth and \nchange over time. Ultimately its success relies on the atlas users, so efforts should be made \nregularly to ensure that it meets the needs of those users. An output of the workshop was a \nlist of considerations for atlas design and implementation on topics such as data content \nand display, metadata, atlas interface, atlas tools, technology, user feedback and support for \nmaintenance and future developments.

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