Supporting a Successful Atlas

The content and technical features of coastal web atlases (CWA) were presented in the introductory chapters of the book and the previous two chapters visited user-oriented issues involved in creating and improving a usable atlas, including user requirements, audience definition, learning from use of the atlas, etc. However, in the absence of confirmed long-term resources or a guaranteed income stream to fund the on-going development and maintenance of an atlas, how do you secure the long-term viability and success of a CWA where the intention is that the atlas is not just a one-off “display,” but can develop organically? Several issues arise, including governance, institutional support, partnerships, funding and continued promotion. Ideally, these issues should be resolved prior to the web atlas being created, especially funding and institutional support (human and technical resources), if the atlas is to be successful in the long run, and not just another short-term ‘project’ that disappears from view when support dwindles. Also, over time, as atlas projects mature into on-going, demand-driven, sustainable information services, institutional and funding arrangements evolve as well. This chapter looks at some of the issues involved in attaining and maintaining long-term support for a successful online atlas.

Wisconsin, USA

Simply stated, a coastal web atlas (CWA) is a means of organizing, presenting, and sharing spatial data for the coast. Once in place, a CWA can function as a coastal spatial data infrastructure and a platform for developing coastal management decision support tools. While Wisconsin has been actively applying geospatial technologies to coastal issues since 1994, development of a CWA is in its infancy. Wisconsin Sea Grant has learned much about key components of a CWA during the past decade through its role leading four coastal spatial data integration projects. Several technical and institutional issues surfaced as the projects moved from discovery, acquisition, and integration of spatial data from multiple sources to analyze regional coastal issues to the development of interoperable web mapping services and spatial data catalogs. These issues are associated with the following research topics: web portal design and evaluation, choosing appropriate web mapping technologies, GIS cartography, domain spatial data infrastructures, geospatial data archives, and spatial ontologies. Building the Wisconsin Coastal Atlas will provide insight on these important research topics.

Coastal Atlases in the Context of Spatial Data Infrastructures

This chapter summarizes key projects and initiatives that are being implemented on very large scales (national/international) by national governments and commissions to build coastal spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). These include SDI efforts in the US and Europe that are closely related to ICAN, and as such are of great value to its mission of developing interoperable atlases, providing along the way solutions for the integration of not only technologies, but people, institutions, and institutional objectives.

Caribbean

The marine environment of the Caribbean Region currently faces several threats to its stability and sustainability. Mitigation of these threats requires an integrated management approach at a regional level using the best available data and information. Unfortunately, there are several shortcomings in the collection and management of marine data throughout the region. One solution is in the use and application of web atlases. In this light, the online Caribbean Marine Atlas (CMA) allows users to identify, locate, create and disseminate necessary marine and coastal information. As part of the International Coastal Atlas Network (ICAN), the CMA also promotes interoperability among atlases through practice and adherence to standards in web mapping, data and metadata generation and maintenance. This chapter deals with several of the steps in developing the CMA, as well as the challenges met and overcome throughout its growth and evolution.

United Kingdom

This chapter briefly examines the origins and evolution of electronic coastal and marine atlases, and online mapping and GIS in the United Kingdom (UK). Beginning with some early examples, such as the UK Digital Marine Atlas (UKDMAP), initially distributed on floppy disk (MS-DOS) and later CD (MS-Windows), consideration is then given to some of the first online Internet-based information systems e.g., The UK Coastal Map Creator, some of the current systems now available e.g., MAGIC, MESH, and UKSeaMap, and finally the potential of Google Earth (GE) and Google Ocean (GO) to provide a framework for the development of simple local scale coastal and marine atlases. In each case, attention is paid to the origins of the atlas, its development, the user-interface, functionality, data and information content, and the target audience. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of electronic atlases are also discussed, together with some of the problems, and possible solutions.

Africa

The African Marine Atlas, launched in 2007, is an online resource that provides maps, images, data and information that can be used by scientists, students, coastal resource managers, planners and decision makers from institutions and specialized agencies across Africa. The ODINAFRICA Project, funded by the Flanders Government and the IOC/UNESCO, initiated and supported the African Marine Atlas Project from the IOC Project Office for IODE in Oostende, Belgium. Regional partners were the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Program (ACEP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). A team of 16 marine scientists and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists from National Oceanographic Data Centers (NODCs) in Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania participated in the design and development of the atlas. The African Marine Atlas, which is now a member of the International Coastal Atlas Network (ICAN), may be found online at http://www.africanmarineatlas.net.

Oregon, USA

This coastal web atlas case study for Oregon, USA, featuring the Oregon Coastal Atlas (OCA), describes a web site where people interested in coastal and marine information for the Oregon coast can find, learn about, and utilize data about the various resources and management issues in the Oregon coastal zone. The OCA currently hosts an archive of over 3,700 individual coastal data layers (including orthophotographs) and serves a variety of static and dynamic map products as well as informational tools focused on coastal places and topics.

Coastal Atlas Interoperability

This chapter defines the coastal web atlases interoperability problem, introduces interoperability standards, and describes the development of a semantic mediator prototype to provide a common access point to coastal data, maps and information from distributed coastal web atlases. The prototype showcases how ontologies and ontology mappings can be used to integrate different heterogeneous and autonomous atlases (or information systems), using international standards such as ISO-19139 for metadata encoding and the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Catalogue Service for the Web specification. Lessons learned from this prototype will help build regional atlases and improve decision support systems as part of a new International Coastal Atlas Network (ICAN).

Coastal Web Atlas Implementation

Coastal Web Atlas (CWA) design may be based around interactive maps that provide users with access to rich information about the geography of the coastal zone. There are few firm rules about what elements should make up a CWA, or how those elements should be developed. Developers seeking to build a successful product for their audience should begin with knowledge of the needs and capabilities of their users, and design the elements of their CWA accordingly. In general, principles of good web design and usability should be adhered to at all times.

Ireland

The Marine Irish Digital Atlas (MIDA) is an Internet resource built in a web GIS environment, where people interested in coastal and marine information for Ireland can visualize and identify pertinent geospatial datasets and determine where to acquire them. The atlas, which is being constantly maintained, currently displays more than 140 data layers from over 35 coastal and marine organizations both within Ireland and abroad. It also features an “InfoPort” which is a repository of text, imagery, links to spatial data sources and additional reference material for a wide range of coastal and marine topics. The MIDA team has been active in the creation of the International Coastal Atlas Network and the Atlas was chosen as one of the nodes for the Semantic Interoperability Demonstrator.