Pål Buhl-MortensenInstitute of Marine

Research

Atlantic Seabed Mapping – Status & Direction

Towards a CAN-EU-US Atlantic strategic seabed mapping pilot initiative:highlighting current drivers, approaches, activities, and priorities, and

future opportunities, challenges and aspirations

Galway Statement Implementation – Atlantic Seabed Mapping WorkshopDublin Castle, Dublin, 1st – 2nd December 2014

The North Atlantic

• ~20 mill km2

• Mean depth ~ 3900m• Greatest depth 8380m

Example: MAREANO mapping programme

• Started 2006• Total area covered

with MBE: 131 000 km2

• € 6.5 mill/yr• € 0.4 mill/1000 km2

N Atlantic:• € 6.5 billion• € 130 mill/yr – 50 yr

Realistic approaches

• Focus on priority areas• Instrumentation of

commercial vessels• AUV etc• Representative

areas/transects

Bathymetry – terrain descriptors at relevant scales

Spatial information for decision support

3. Sampling

Biological/geological sampling of a selection of video locations

2. Video surveys

Visual documentation of ~0.1‰ of the MBE- mapped seabed

1. Multibeam mapping

II. Unsupervised classification

I. Terrain analyses

VIII. Selection of sampling locations

Environmental proxies

Biotope distribution

Biological values(Biodiversity, vulnerability, productivity, etc)

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IV. Selection of video survey locations

VII. Predictive modeling of biotopes

VI. Faunal classification

V. Video analyses

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Environmental variables

III. Oceanographic modeling

Gaps and challenges

• Efficient use of existing data

• Efficient collection of new data

• Multibeam surveying• Biotope characterisation

• analyses of imagery• Collection of bottom samples

• Use of classifications• Communities and

environment• Unified systems (CMECS,

EUNIS, NiN etc)

• Ecosystem functions/monitoring (selection of locations)

Suggestions and solutions

• Data repositories (PANGEA EMODNET) – Digitization of historic data

• Instrumentation of commercial vessels, Autonomous vehicles

• Semi-automatic image analyses/annotation tools

• Sampling designs supervised by spatial info on environmental/habitat variation

• Develop common systems for describing ecosystems/biotopes

• Develop functional definitions that enable comarisons between areas

• Selection of locations/biotopes/ indicators guided by spatial information on pressures, vulnerability and environmental relationships