Seabed mapping data now returning value-added projects to the State

& Gery Flynn

Opening the 2011 annual INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource) conference, Michael Manley, assistant secretary DCENR and chair of INFOMAR’s Board reminded delegates that its predecessor programme, INSS (to 2005), had delivered a “national asset” that provided Ireland with a data set to underpin economic, environmental, infrastructural, social and policy issues.

“There remains now a crucially important body of work to follow, to map commercially valuable inshore and other waters outside the scope of that achieved by the INSS,” Manley said.

 

Wide-ranging application
INFOMAR concentrates on creating a range of integrated mapping products of the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed in the near-shore area.

 “Such a data delivery strategy is intended to promote value-added products. It’s very important that the output from INFOMAR maximises its contribution to the national development effort, and to our future socio-economic prosperity. These are big ambitions. INFOMAR won’t solve them all but can make a big contribution,” he declared.
Manley also revealed that for him personally – with a background in finance – working with INFOMAR was “a real privilege”.

The project, “is very different from my usual work in the Department, and the past year has been a learning curve. INFOMAR is very educative, but most of all it’s about getting people to realise the value of our oceans.”

Public participation
He added that publication of the ‘Real Map of Ireland [125,000 km2 marine resource] was already achieving “a far-reaching and positive impact with the public whose imagination it has somehow managed to catch. 

“It’s probably because, for the first time, this map actually positions the island of Ireland in a much bigger context. We don’t often get flattering correspondence to the Department, but the Real Map of Ireland has been very well received by the public. It has succeeded in getting people to focus on a wider definition of Ireland’s potential, rather than seeing it simply as a landmass on an island, off an island, off the west coast of Europe.”

EU awareness
Also addressing the conference Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute highlighted the “very positive impact” INFOMAR was having in other EU Member States. “That is something which should not be underestimated,” he said.

He revealed that during a joint visit to the Marine Institute in September by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (Research, Innovation and Science) and Commissioner Maria Damanaki (Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) the INFOMAR project had figured high in discussions:  

“As a direct result of what she saw and the companies she met here, Commissioner Damanaki has instructed her senior officials that mapping underwater territories “is on the agenda”. Now that doesn’t happen every day,” he declared.

Overview of INFOMAR activities
Koen Verbruggen, GSI

Significantly, while charged with acquisition primarily of bathymetric and geological data offshore, INFOMAR runs two further programmes: Data Exchange and Integration as well as Value-Added Exploitation. During 2011, while continuing acquisition in priority bays and areas increased emphasis was placed on collaborative work with strategic partners.

Under the Data Acquisition programme, mapping during 2011 was carried out by the RV Celtic Voyager in the Shannon Estuary and in the Irish Sea. The Shannon Estuary approaches and navigable channel exceeding 15m depth is now fully mapped, and a detailed investigation of the SS Premier wreck was undertaken, previously noted as a potential navigational hazard.

Arklow Bank data
The Irish Sea work has now extended mapping from near shore Dundalk to offshore Arklow, including extensive mapping inside the Arklow Bank. The surveys encountered challenging weather but managed to complete the coverage and to map four shipwrecks, two of which were previously uncharted.

RV Keary worked in parallel with RV Geo to carry out shallow inshore mapping in Priority Bays – initially in Waterford and was completed ahead of the Tall Ships event. During the event, RV Keary was open to the public and proved to be highly popular and successful in terms of outreach. Subsequently the vessels surveyed in Rosslare Harbour and Kilmore Quay.

Stakeholder projects
The majority of the remaining 2011 mapping was undertaken in conjunction with stakeholders in support of specific sectors. RV Celtic Explorer undertook extensive mapping and sampling on the Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS) off Belmullet in conjunction with the SEAI

Also in conjunction with SEAI, RV Keary carried out mapping off Clare, and with  RV Geo mapped off Achill. This work was specifically in support of the ESBI WestWave project which is looking to develop Ireland’s first full-scale wave energy device.

In conjunction with the Underwater Archaeology Unit, part of the Department of Arts, Heritage & Gaeltacht, INFOMAR provided RV Keary as a dive platform for a wreck investigation off Burtonport, Donegal.

Simultaneously, RV Geo carried out very shallow water mapping to support further investigation of the area where two wrecks to date have been discovered.

This project represents a welcome escalation of the ongoing cooperation with the UAU who have been working closely with INSS and INFOMAR teams on upgrading wreck databases, verification of wreck locations, providing information for divers and producing ship wreck leaflets and publications.

The work, which attracted significant publicity, also represented a good practical example of inter-departmental collaboration.

EU-funded projects
INFOMAR also carried out significant mapping in support of two EU-funded projects. The RV Celtic Voyager undertook a multidisciplinary survey in Kenmare River, merging newly acquired data with existing offshore data from the R.V. Celtic Explorer to complete the SW Priority Area.

In addition to multibeam mapping, the survey involved extensive sampling and video ground truthing to support environmental/habitat mapping. The project, which includes partners from Spain, Portugal, France and UK, is funded under the InterReg IVB Programme.

Towards the end of the INFOMAR field season, mapping was carried out as part of the INIS HYDRO project off Dundalk, funded under the InterReg IVA programme, and involving partners from Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK. This work involved the RVs Celtic Voyager, Keary and Geo and importantly will deliver not just mapping but new standards and protocols that can be rolled out across the programme and partner organisations.

Finally in addition to these EC funded mapping activities, the INFOMAR Programme also engaged with added-value activities under two further EC funded programmes:

• EMODNET (funded by the EC Marine Directorate is producing newly compiled large-scale mapping layers for high level decision making, and GSI are partners in relation to both geology and hydrography.
• GEOSEAS: (funded under FP7is linking 26 marine geology data centres across Europe to the SeaDataNet network, including Irish centres at GSI and UCC.

 

Importantly, these EC and InterReg-funded programmes are providing employment for six new staff between GSI and MI, who in addition to fulfilling the requirements of the specific projects, strongly augment the team delivering INFOMAR, and increase Irish marine technical capacity.

Research & opportunities
Tommy Furey, MI

The INFOMAR Programme’s marine mapping effort will focus on 26 priority bays and 3 priority coastal marine areas during its current phase (2006 – 2015), before extending operations to other unmapped regions of our coastal waters during the following phase to 2025.

Three core programme areas run in parallel:

• data acquisition, management and interpretation
• data exchange and integration
• value-added exploitation

Through the integrated and multidisciplinary approach encouraged by the INFOMAR programme, there is an expanding diversification of user groups, identifying innovative ways to leverage business opportunities and international research funding from the data and programme resources.

Research Call
On October 19, INFOMAR Programme management issued a call for research proposals across a broad range of areas, identifying programme related products and services that have potential commercial value if harnessed and developed through a collaborative integrated approach.

Areas targeted included:

• data integration
• analysis and visualisation
• use of satellite data and aerial photography for coastal mapping, and
• product development in support of offshore aquaculture and ocean energy.

The technology opportunities promoted included development of biodiversity mapping techniques; integrated seabed lander platforms and ICT data interfaces in support of marine leisure, tourism fisheries and education.

Opportunities
INFOMAR provides a marine foundation upon which future marine infrastructure, services and technology development can sustainably grow. To facilitate such growth and leverage, the value from available data resources and knowledge, marine resource management and decision tools need to be developed and implemented.

INFOMAR is supporting applied research in this space, and strongly encouraging research and industry collaboration to ensure relevance, and optimise outputs and benefits of funded projects.

The INFOMAR Research Call recently published closed on November 9 and 32 research proposals were received.
Proposals included 14 collaborative submissions, from a collection of 15 different industry partners; 15 different research organisations from Ireland and abroad, and 12 different public bodies. 11 of the proposals had a core focus on technology development.

What Next
To secure future support for the research call as part of the application process, INFOMAR will capture details on publications, and funding and contracts that were previously leveraged by applicants from involvement with the INSS and/or INFOMAR. This will be incorporated into a programme ‘cost benefit analysis’ to be undertaken next year, and is critical to demonstrate the spin off potential of the largest marine mapping programme worldwide.

Proposals will be evaluated on specific criteria by personnel external to the mapping programme, and project awards will be made later this month.

Each successful project will be assigned a project mentor with the relevant expertise from the INFOMAR and/or extended Marine Institute and Geological Survey of Ireland teams.

A workshop will be held in February 2012 to review project plans and to fully assess any logistical and/or technical support required for the successful delivery of the proposals. Any further opportunities for collaboration, or industry partnership or guidance, will be investigated.

Dave Parker
UKHO
The CHP is the UK’s continuous and ongoing effort to systematically survey the waters around the UK to ensure safety of navigation.  Under the programme, commercial contracts are let regularly by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to ensure accurate hydrographic information is gathered for updating nautical charts and publications at the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO).

The three primary developments are:

• testing and subsequent adoption of multibeam echosounder (MBES) water column data (WCD) during wreck investigations

• ongoing testing and planned adoption of Statistical Bathymetric Surfaces as the primary bathymetry deliverable

• exclusive use of post processed GNSS height data and the UKHO’s Vertical Offshore Reference Frame (VORF) model to reduce all bathymetric data to the required vertical datum.

Connie Kelleher
 DAHG

Discovery by local divers of a probable late 16th-century wreck in Rutland Harbour, Donegal, was the impetus for the UAU to carry out a detailed survey and excavation of the wreck site since 2009. The 2011 season was a close collaborative effort involving the DAHG and the GSI Ireland/INFOMAR, with the National Museum of Ireland also on board regarding conservation of all artefacts found.

Results so far, while inconclusive as to actual identity, show the wreck to have been an armed merchant, pirate or war vessel, possibly associated with the local Gaelic lordships, or could be the remains of a Spanish Armada ship of 1588.

Artefactual material is pointing to an Iberian origin. Discovery of a new Armada wreck would link the history and archaeology of the Burtonport area to the events of that ill-fated maritime campaign, with a number of the ships of the Armada recorded as being lost in the general area.

The co-operation this year between DAHG and GSI proved extremely effective – indeed indispensable – regarding the efficient operation and mapping of the wreck site itself.

Availability of RV Keary as a highly suitable dive platform was central to these positive results. Assistance of RV Geo to undertake detailed mapping of the wreck and seabed around the site, and also providing essential transport facilities, added integral information to our knowledge of the wreck site as it emerged from the seabed after some 420 years.

Involvement of GSI crew as part of the dive team, adding to overall positive also made the project all the more enjoyable.

Janine Guinan
GSI
Integrated and sustainable management of our seas as a global system requires a multidisciplinary approach to understanding patterns and behaviour in the geological, geophysical, biological, oceanographic, and chemical realms.

Only by assessing and integrating data at a European level can we effectively manage and monitor European seas. In practice, marine data is acquired for single and operational purposes, as part of a regulatory requirement, or to advance scientific understanding.

The challenge is to improve marine data infrastructure by collating fragmented data to facilitate coherent, inter-operable data sets that will inform ocean management, monitoring and conservation.

INFOMAR data is contributing significantly to two EU projects through a number of work package deliverables.  EMODnet-Geology involves the collation and harmonisation of INFOMAR data across several themes e.g. seabed sediment; sea floor geology; aggregates and hydrocarbon resources; geological events and probabilities for delivery to the OneGeologyEurope data portal.
INFOMAR data developed through Geo-Seas data products and services will be available to government agencies; environmental research and monitoring; academic researchers; offshore engineering (pipelines, platforms); sustainable energy; dredging and conservation management.
INFOMAR datasets are now available to access across Europe via online portals and web map services developed as part of the EMODnet and Geo-Seas projects.