- 1. Policy brief no.4 | March 2013 FILLING THE GAP BETWEEN DATA
& POLICY IN THE BLACK SEA CATCHMENT Earth Observation in the
Black Sea catchment The enviroGRIDS project aims to gather,
store,distribute, analyze, visualize and disseminate crucial
information on the environment of the Black Sea catchment in order
to increase the capacity of decision-makers and other interested
stakeholders to use it for development of most relevant management
options. It is building a state of the art Grid-enabled Spatial
Data Infrastructure (G-SDI) as a component of the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) An targeting the needs of the
Commission on theonline Protection of the Black Sea Against
Pollution (BSC) and the International Commission for the Protection
ofQuestionnaire was the Danube River (ICPDR). developedin order to
get information from the project partners on available datasets and
observation systems at What are the data and observation gaps
?different scales: local, national, regional and A gap analysis was
performed to identify the list ofglobal. In total, information
about 162 datasets existing datasets and observation systems within
theand 30 observations systems covering the Black Sea catchment and
to assess their level ofBlack Sea catchment was received. This
compatibility with the international standards of information was
supplemented with an interoperability (deliverable D2.6). The gap
analysis extensive Internet search. All collected allows
identifying areas where further efforts areinformation was analyzed
in order to produce needed to reinforce existing observation
systems in cross-tables showing the availability of identified this
region. The gap analysis was undertaken by the datasets and
observation systems for the end- BSC and ICPDR with contributions
from all project user and project needs. partners. Generalized data
and observation systemsThe analysis of the identified datasets and
requirements were formulated on the basis of end- observation
systems against the project user needs (primarily BSC, ICPDR) as
well as therequirements revealed spatial and temporal project
requirements. gaps in data coverage, gaps in observation 1
2. systems, problems withdata accessibility,compatibility and
interoperability.enviroGRIDS data requirementsThe general aim of
the project is to build capacities inthe Black Sea region modern
Earth Observationsystems and environmental data processing
andsharing. The main outputs of the project is the BlackSea
catchment Observation System targeting bothdecision-makers and
citizens.Another aim of enviroGRIDS is to develop
integratedscenarios of climatic, demographic and land coverchanges
using the Metronamica model (RIKS 2005).Several datasets were
gathered at the best possiblespatial and temporal resolutions to
meet the objectives EnviroGRIDS is also exploring through severalof
this part of the project.case studies the potential impacts
ofenvironmental changes on so-called GEO(GEO 2005) Societal Benefit
Areas (SBAs):ecosystems, biodiversity, agriculture, health,energy
and disasters early warning. These casestudies increased
significantly the number andtype of datasets needed by the
project.The enviroGRIDS project end-users
areInternationalorganizationsdealingwithenvironmental issues in the
region; Nationalauthorities responsible for themesofenviroGRIDS;
Local authorities and Scientists.From the first category of
internationalorganizations listed above, the Black SeaThen,
enviroGRIDS needed data to use the Soil &Commission (BSC) and
the InternationalWater Assessment Tool (SWAT, Arnold et al.
1998),Commission for the Protection of the Danubewhich is a river
basin scale model developed toRiver (ICPDR) are considered as the
main end-quantify the impact of land management practices inusers
of the project.large, complex watersheds. It performs
simulationsthat integrate various processes such as
hydrology,climate, chemical transport, soil erosion, pesticideBSC
data requirementsdynamics, and agricultural management. The
modelThe mission of the BSC is the implementationcan use a daily to
sub-hourly time step, and canof the Convention on the Protection of
the Blackperform continuous simulation for a 1- to 100-yearSea
Against Pollution (Bucharest Convention,period. 1992), its
Protocols and Strategic Action Plan(SAP) for the rehabilitation and
protection of theBlack Sea. The primary geographical scope ofthe
Bucharest Convention is the Black Seaitself. However, its SAP
covers pollutionsources from coastal area and encouragesBlack Sea
coastal states to implementdepollution at the Black Sea catchment
level.The new Protocol on the Protection of theMarine Environment
of the Black Sea fromLand-Based Sources and Activities also
appliesto pollution emissions originating from land-based point and
diffuse sources, which reach 2 3. the marine environment through
rivers or othertransboundary water management in thewatercourses;
inputs of polluting substancesDanube River Basin.transported
through the atmosphere; and activitiesThe ICPDR is a transnational
body, which hasthat may directly or indirectly affect the marine
been established to implement the Danubeenvironment or coastal
areas. Considering the above,River Protection Convention. The ICPDR
isthe whole Black Sea catchment is an area of interestformally
comprised by the Delegations of allto the BSC with respect to
implementation of itsContracting Parties to the Danube
Rivermission.Protection Convention, but has also establishedThe
activities of BSC are concerning the followinga framework for other
organizations to join.transboundary problems: In 2000, the ICPDR
has also been nominated Eutrophication/Nutrient Enrichment;for the
implementation of the transboundary Chemical Pollution, including
Oil; aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive Changesin
MarineLiving Resources,(WFD). The work for the
successfulOverfishing;implementation of the EU WFD is therefore
high Biodiversity Changes/Habitats Loss, includingon the political
agenda of the countries of theAlien Species Introduction; Danube
river basin district. Climate Change.Today national delegates,
representatives fromIn order to carry out the activities on a
regular basis highest ministerial levels, technical experts, andBSC
has established following Advisory Groups (AG): members of the
civil society and of the scientific AG on pollution monitoring and
assessmentcommunity cooperate in the ICPDR to ensure(PMA);the
sustainable and equitable use of waters in AG on control of
pollution from land based the Danube River Basin.sources
(LBS);Since its creation in 1998, the ICPDR haseffectively promoted
policy agreements and the AG on development of common
methodologiessetting of joint priorities and strategies forfor
integrated coastal zone management (ICZM);improving the state of
the Danube and its AG on environmental safety aspects of
shippingtributaries. This includes improving the tools(ESAS);used
to manage environmental issues in the AG on conservation of
biological diversity (CBD);Danube basin, such as: AG on
environmental aspects of the management the Accident Emergency
Warning System,of fisheries and other marine living resources the
Trans-National Monitoring Network for(FOMLR); andwater quality, and
AG on information and data exchange (IDE). the information system
for the DanubeAGs of BSC have Focal Points in each Black
Sea(Danubis),country, which are responsible for collection of data
DanubeGIS.and information in area of their responsibility andThe
main goals of the ICPDR are summarizedreporting them on an annual
basis to the Commissionbelow:via its Permanent Secretariat (BSC
PS). The reporteddata and information, which are obtained in the
Safeguardingthe Danubes Waterframework of the Black Sea Integrated
Monitoring andresources for future generation,Assessment Programme
(BSIMAP), are used for Naturally balanced waters free from
excessperiodical assessment of the State of Environment
nutrients,(SoE) of the Black Sea (annually and every 5 years for No
more risk from toxic chemicals,changes and trends); Transboundary
Diagnostic Healthy and sustainable river systems,Analysis (every 5
years) and assessment of SAP Damage-free floods.implementation
(every 5 years). The different bodies of the ICPDR are: The
Ordinary Meeting Group: taking thepolitical decisions,ICPDR data
requirements The Standing Working Group: providingThe ICPDR works
to ensure the sustainable andpolitical guidance,equitable use of
watershed freshwater resources inthe Danube River Basin. The work
of the ICPDR is The Technical Expert Groups: preparingbased on the
Danube River Protection Convention,the technical background
documents.the major legal instrument for cooperation and 3 4.
Technical Expert Groups are the backbone of theFinally, the
Danube-Black Sea Joint Technicaloperation and the success of the
ICPDR. They are Working Group co-ordinates the work of theformed by
national experts from the ContractingICPDR and the International
Commission forParties and representatives of the observerthe
Protection of the Black Sea, particularlyorganizations. Seven
Expert Groups deal with a aiming to reduce nutrient inputs into the
Blackvariety of issues - from policy measures to reduce Sea.water
pollution to the implementation of the EU WaterFramework Directive.
Generalized data requirementsAll technical work within the ICPDR is
carried out byThe amount of different data types required bythe
Expert Groups. These Expert Groups are essential the project and
project end-users is very large.to the operation of the ICPDR, and
rely upon the Moreover, requirements to spatial and temporalinputs
and contributions of national experts from theresolution of each
kind of data are also veryContracting Parties and from the
Observers. Thediverse, so a gap analysis with respect to eachICPDR
Expert Groups are focusing on: data type would be time consuming
and River Basin Managementimpracticable. Pressures and
MeasuresHereby we undertook an attempt to generalize Monitoring and
Assessment the data requirements that are most important Flood
Protectionfor the project and its end-users. The Public
Participationgeneralized data requirements are presented in
Strategythe table below.Generalized enviroGRIDS data requirements
Data theme / categorySpatial ResolutionTemporal resolution GIS
satisfying project requirements and user needs, i.e. including
detailed watersheds, At least 1:200000 Most recent protected areas,
land use etc. DEM30m Most recent Land cover /use1km, 300m, 100m
since 1990 Soil 1km Population Administrative data downscaled at
1km since 1990 Meteorology (in situ)All existing stations in Black
Sea catchmentDaily Meteorology (remote sensing) 0.25 Daily
HydrologyAll existing stations in Black Sea catchmentDailyStations
in coastal waters of Black Sea countries and Oceanography (in situ)
Quarterlyin open sea Oceanography (remote sensing)Whole Black Sea
DailyAll industrial and municipal sources in Black Sea Pollutants
dischargesMonthlycatchment Pollutants emissions Per enterprises or
administrative units monthlyAccording to monitoring Pollutants in
water, sediments and biota Black Seaprogram River water qualityAll
existing stations in Black Sea catchmentmonthlyStations in coastal
waters of Black Sea countries and Sea water qualityquarterlyopen
sea Climatic data (climatic stations)All existing stations in Black
Sea catchmentDailymonthly,daily Climatic data (remote sensing) Best
available (1x1km)(depending on data) River biologyBest
availablequarterly Marine biology Best availablequarterly
Biodiversity Best availablequarterly Invasive species Point
observation date AgricultureAdministrative unitsyearly
DisastersBest availablepermanent monitoring 4 5. Results from the
gap analysishowever for the rest of the Black Sea catchment the
problem persists.The datasets reported by project partners cover
theWith respect to the river basins of the Black Seanine GEO
Societal Benefits Areas. Most identifiedCatchment:datasets are
related to the Water, Ecosystems, and The Danube river basin has
the best dataClimate SBAs, while the least covered SBAs
arecoverage. Data are available on all scales:Energy, Weather and
Health. global, European, regional and national;The methods for
accessing data are various: direct The large river basins of
Ukraine (Dnepr,Internet links, ftp, e-mail, CD. The datasets
ofDniester, Bug) seem to have rathercountry scale are usually not
accessible online and acceptable data coverage, however due to
thehave to be requested via e-mail from data holders.lack of access
to data it is difficult to assessThe variety of formats for data
storage, as well as their completeness;absence of online access to
the data hamper the For the large river basins of Russia (Don,data
exchange and appear to be a significant gapKuban) and Turkey
(Kizilirmak, Yesilirmak)for the datasets at country scale.project
partners did not report any dataset.In the Questionnaire project
partners reportedThis is identified as a significant gap in
data,national datasets only for four countries around
theparticularly taking into account that these riverBlack Sea. A
large spatial gap in national data basins are important for the
project end-userscoverage remains. This gap is partly covered by
and decision-makers: they cover largeavailable regional and
European scale datasetsterritories populated by millions of people
andcontaining data from Danube basin countries,have important
socio-economic value forthese countries. River basins in the Black
Sea catchment with least data availability for the project (brown
shading).5 6. The analysis of available data confirmed the regional
datasets more easily available. The BS-assumption that for most
required data exist atOS is based on a modern Spatial Dataleast at
one of the spatial scales. The analysis Infrastructure (SDI), which
is interoperable withalso confirmed that the accessibility of data
is one the international GEO (GEO 2005) and theof the main
problems. The data of global and European INSPIRE (EU 2007)
standards andEuropean scale are mostly free, while access
toframework. The situation at the global, Europeanthe data on
regional and national level is usually and regional scale is quite
satisfactory. Thislimited or restricted. For such data categories
as follows from the fact that there are already manyclimatic,
hydro-meteorological, agricultural, anddatasets at these scales
registered in the GEOSSpollutants discharges data of required
spatial and portal, but this is not the case for data at
thetemporal resolution are not accessible, which is country
scale.considered as a significant gap, because these SDI can
clearly improve the situation of data anddata are crucial for
running and calibrating modelsmetadata exchange among partners and
beyond.such as SWAT.The project decided therefore to concentrate
its capacity building efforts through coursesThe enviroGRIDSSpatial
Datadedicated to high-level decision makers capableInfrastructure
(SDI) of changing national data policies in one hand,The Black Sea
catchment Observation System and to technicians capable of setting
new local(BS-OS) built by enviroGRIDS aims at filling someSDI
needed to register existing data and metadataof the identified data
gaps by making national and services into GEOSS and INSPIRE.
Reinforcing regional data sharing through web services 6 7. All
stakeholders in the Black Sea region are nowstrongly encouraged to
make available theirmetadata and data available through the
BS-OSusing the following web services: CSW allows to share metadata
Web Mapping Services (WMS) transform spatial data into dynamic maps
created on request as images that are published on the Internet
without making the raw data available Web Feature Service (WFS)
allow to share vector data itself with all its geometric features
and related attributes Web Coverage Services (WCS) allows a client
to access raster datasets.The Black Sea catchment ObservationgSWAT
allows users to calibrate the SWATSystem componentshydrological
model on the GRID.portal.envirogrids.netThe Geoportal allows users
to search, discover,and access data sets in the Black Sea
catchment. eGLE implements both a user interface, and the tools for
the development, the execution and the management of teaching
materials.GreenLand generates and executes on theGRID workflows for
instance to process satelliteimages.7 8. such as GEOSS and INSPIRE,
as well as metadata catalogues from selected projects. Unlike in
the Danube countries, the gaps in data availability for large areas
of the Black Sea catchment within Russia, Georgia and Turkey cannot
be covered with datasets available in the European union. In order
to further improve Earth Observation in the Black Sea region, the
following actions are recommended: Improve the compatibility of
existing datasetsand observation systems with INSPIRE andGEO
standards of interoperability, Identify and federate national
observationsystems, services, and responsible agenciesBashyt is a
Collaborative Working Environment in all countries of the Black Sea
catchment in(CWE) on the web that builds on complex order to
elaborate recommendation on filling"physically based" hydrological,
land cover and data gaps at country level,ocean models to support
decision makers through Encourage countries (e.g. Georgia,
Bulgaria)a user-friendly Web interface.that are not yet members of
GEO to join thisorganization, Enhance networks of data acquisition
in eachregion/country, Publish the information on available
datasetsat the enviroGRIDS portal as the entry-pointto discover
data and metadata within theBlack Sea catchment. Conclusions The
large amount of datasets relevant to the project and end-users data
need has been identified at different scales from national to
regional, European and global. At the same time, it was found that
access to data in many cases is limited or restricted, particularly
at national level, so the data accessibility appears to be the
mainSome enviroGRIDS recommendations problem preventing effective
data usage.The issue of data accessibility is of primaryWith
respect to the data and observation systemsimportance. Even the
access to project partners needs of the main end-users, the gap
analysisdata can be limited or restricted. In general, it is
concluded that:recommended to elaborate appropriate
dataBSC:policies favoring free data access and exchange There are
significant gaps in availability offor non-commercial purposes.
marine environment data from water column,The metadata catalogs and
portals are keysediments and biota resulted from gaps ingateways to
discover data. The enviroGRIDS corresponding observation /
monitoringgeoportal allows discovering datasets relevant tosystems.
It is unlikely that these gaps can bethe project and end-users data
needs. It iscovered within the enviroGRIDS, since theharvesting the
content of other metadata catalogsproject is focused mainly on the
catchment8 9. area rather than on the Black Sea waterThe project
tried to show the best practices onbody.SDI development, on data
and metadata portals, There are gaps in data on pollution loads
toand on useful applications for citizens andthe Black Sea from
land based sources, decision makers. The beauty, interest and
uniqueincluding rivers,identity of the Black Sea region well
disserve a Observation system to monitor pollutantsstate-of-the-art
system to preserve its value anddeposition from atmosphere is
missing. assess its vulnerability to global changes. LetsICPDR:
hope that the effort of the enviroGRIDS project will Most of
required data are available at thecontribute to convince more data
owners thatregional (Danube) or European scales,sharing their data
is good for the future There are gaps on availability of data on
development of the Black Sea region, andpollutants deposition from
atmosphere. therefore for themselves as well. By sharing
itsSWAT:data, regional and national institutions become Some of
required data (DEM, land cover, more visible thanks to the efforts
of the Globalsoil, population) are available at regional to Earth
Observation System of Systems.global scales, however, Data from
weather and river stations areRelevant enviroGRIDS
deliverablesrather scarce; D2.6 Gap analysis Access to the data on
pollution dischargesD2.10 Spatial Data Infrastructure: GEOSS,
INSPIREand water quality, particularly in non-EU and UNSDIcounties,
is limited or restricted;D3.5 Proposed demographic scenario
analysis and The spatial resolution of crop yield data from
overview of driving forces and justification, modelopen sources of
global scale may be not input parameters and allocation
rules.satisfactory, while access to more detailedD3.6 Proposed
climatic scenario analysis and overviewnational agriculture data is
limited or of the more relevant driving and its justification,model
input parameters and allocation rules.restricted. D3.7 Proposed
land cover scenario analysis andoverview of the more relevant
driving and itsThe analysis of available datasets revealed the
justification, model input parameters and allocationproblem of data
compatibility at different scales.rules.For example, global and
European datasets forD3.8 Outputs from Spatially explicit
combinedland cover are not compatible in terms of
landscenarios.cover categories. Similar problem exist betweenD4.11
Calibrated water quantity and quality model fordatasets of country
scale and other scales. BSC, with impacts of scenariosResolving
this problem may require significant D6.4 First implementation of
the BSC-OS portal D6.8 National GEO committeesefforts, particularly
when it is necessary to D7.12 Policy makers involvement
reportcombine data from different scales.Combining data from
different scales is directly Selected referenceslinked to the issue
of correspondence of datasetsArnold, J.G. et al. 1998. Large area
hydrologicand observation systems to INSPIRE and GEOmodeling and
assessment, Part 1: Modelinteroperability standards. The fact, that
most ofDevelopment. JAWRA Journal of the Americanreported national
datasets are not accessible Water Resources Association 34:
73-89.through the Internet and do not have relevantEU 2007.
Directive 2007/2/EC of the Europeanmetadata available, points to
the absence of such Parliament and the Council of 14 March
2007correspondence. establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial
InformationIn conclusion, the aim of the enviroGRIDS project in the
European Community (INSPIRE). Brussels:14.to build capacity on
Earth Observation Systems GEO 2005. Global Earth Observation System
ofthrough improved data collection, management, Systems 10-Year
Implementation Plan Referencestorage, analyses and dissemination is
more thanDocument: 209.ever a necessity in the Black Sea catchment.
Giuliani, G. et al. 2011. Grid-enabled Spatial
DataInfrastructureforenvironmental sciences:9 10. Challenges and
opportunities. In: Future Generation Computer Systems.Giuliani, G.
et al. 2011. Sharing Environmental Data through GEOSS. In:
International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research.Gorgan, D.
2012. Software Platform Interoperability Throughout EnviroGRIDS
Portal. In: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth
Observations and Remote Sensing.RIKS 2005. The Metronamica
modelling framework: modeldescriptions. Model documentation.
Maastricht: Research Institute for Knowledge Systems.Rouholahnejad,
E. et al. 2012. A parallelization framework for calibration of
hydrological models. In: Environmental Modelling & Software.
2012.Selected websitesenviroGRIDS project:
www.envirogrids.netGEO/GEOSS: www.earthobservations.orgINSPIRE:
inspire.jrc.ec.europa.euBSC PS: www.blacksea-commission.orgICPDR:
www.icpdr.orgMETRONAMICA:www.metronamica.nlSWAT:
swatmodel.tamu.eduSearch enviroGRIDS data
portalhttp://www.envirogrids.czView enviroGRIDS on
Youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/user/envirogridsJoin enviroGRIDS on
LinkedInhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3374617
www.envirogrids.netFollow enviroGRIDS on
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/#!/envirogridsenviroGRIDS
consortiumUNIGE/UNEP, Switzerland; AZBOS, Ukraine;
ARXIT,Switzerland; BSC PS, Turkey; BSREC, Bulgaria;CCSS, Czech
Republic; CERN, Switzerland (Int.);CEU/ACWC, Hungary; CRS4, Italy;
DDNI, Romania;DHMO, Ukraine; EAWAG, Switzerland;
Geographic,Georgia; ICPDR, International Organization;
IGAR,Romania; IHE, The Netherlands (UN); INHGA,Romania; ITU,
Turkey; IBSS, Ukraine; MEF, Turkey;NIMH, Bulgaria; ONU, Ukraine;
ANTEA, Belgium;SPSU, Russian Federation; TNU, Ukraine; UAB,
Spain;UMA, Spain; UTC, Romania; USRIEP, Ukraine;VITUKI, Hungary.
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