Marine GIS Applications:

Background

Marine GIS can cover a wide range of applications and can be categorised as coastal, oceanographic or fisheries GIS. An oceanographic GIS describes methods for the mapping and measurement of major ocean processes that greatly affect the state of marine environment while a fisheries GIS provides a framework for the facilitation of the complex fisheries management process.

However, there is a good deal of overlap among these three kinds of marine GIS. For example, a coastal fisheries GIS may require data on oceanographic processes. such as upwelling, to describe how fish populations and production are affected. The development of marine GIS is a multidisciplinary process and requires participation from many scientific disciplines.

The following examples provide an overview of the many types of marine GIS applications.

Fisheries Management and Planning

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Technical Manual ^[1] provides a short introduction to GIS software and its applications in fishery science. The overall objective of the manual is to encourage fishery managers to use GIS tools to foster the sustainable use of natural resources. The manual is aimed at fisheries biologists, aquatic resource managers and decision makers in developing countries who have no knowledge about GIS. The manual was written for use with ESRI's ArcView 3.x and Spatial Analyst software.

• There are five main sections in the manual:
  • GIS concepts and functions and key tools provided by ArcView 3.x,
  • Geographic coordinate system and map projections,
  • Raster data and analysis,
  • Regression analysis, and
  • Application case studies.
  • All sections are accompanied by exercises that have been designed to illustrate key applications of GIS in inland and marine fisheries management.

Coastal Atlas

• The Belgian Coastal Atlas ^[2] is an initiative by the Co-ordination Centre for Integrated Coastal Zone Management, is an online atlas providing information on a number of themes and activities along the coast of Belgium:
  • Spatial setting
  • Physical environment
  • Spatial structure
  • Use of the sea
  • Environment and nature
  • Tourism and recreation
  • Industry and business
  • Fisheries and agriculture
  • Culture and heritage
  • Living near the sea
  • Coastal defence
  • Coastal management
• The site provides flexibility and interactivity access to:
  • Interactive maps
  • Downloadable maps, figures and diagrams in PDF
  • Downloadable maps and data in GIS format
  • Diagrams and charts

Oil Spill Response

• Oil and chemical spills in the marine environment can have widespread impacts and long-term consequences on wildlife, fisheries, coastal and marine habitats and human health. A GIS can assist oil and chemical pollution response in the marine environment.
• The Australian Oil Response Atlas ^[3] is a GIS that provides an integrated and uniform spill response atlas for Australia that can be quickly accessed and operated by spill response organisations, planning and cleanup teams, environmental and wildlife agencies, and other emergency organisations.

• Some of the national datasets included in the GIS are:
  • Biological, environmental, wildlife and man-made resources,
  • Geomorphological mapping and shoreline sensitivity to oil spills,
  • Human-use resource considerations,
  • Logistical and infrastructure information to support a spill response.