The three digital maps provided in this product aim to assess the degree of Offshore windfarm siting suitability existing over a geographical area with a focal point where waters of France and Spain meet in Biscay Bay on 500 m depth. The maps display respectively the spatial distribution of the average and lowest windfarm siting suitability scores along with the average wind speed distribution over a time period of 10 years. They are part of a process set up to assess the fit for use quality of the currently available datasets to support a preliminary selection of potential offshore sites for wind energy development. To build these maps, GIS tools were applied to several key spatial datasets from the 5 data type domains considered in the project: Air, Marine Water, Riverbed/Seabed, Biota/Biology and Human Activities, collated during the initial stages of the project. Initially, each selected dataset was formatted and clipped to the study area extent and spatially classified according to suitability scores, to define raster layers with the variables depicting levels of current anthropogenic and environmental spatial occupation of activities, seabed depth and slope, distances to shoreline, shipping intensity, mean significant wave height, and substrate type. These pre-processed layers were employed as inputs for applying a spatial multi-criteria model using a wind farming suitability classification based on a discrete 5 grades index, ranging from Very Low up to Very High suitability. In adition to suitability maps, an average wind speed spatial distribution map for a 10 years period, at 10 m height, was obtained over the study area from the raster processing of a wind speed time series of monthly means available from daily wind analysis data. The characteristics of the datasets used in this exercise underwent an appropriateness evaluation procedure based on a comparison between their measured quality and those specified for the product. The study area, located in the Biscay Golf includes a coastal zone of Spain and France. Consequently, some zones are subject to constraints to offshore windfarm implementation due to environmental protection, visual impacts and seafoor attributes. Data gaps exist with an emphasis on fishing activity and distribution of essential habitats and species. All the spatial information made available in these maps and from the subsequent appropriateness analysis of the datasets, contributes to a clearer overview of the amount of public-access baseline knowledge currently existing for the North Atlantic basin area.

Temporal series (annual mean values) and Long Term Average (LTA) of sediment load for each river mouth where in situ data is available. Different sources can be mixed if any.

This data product selects sample areas of digital bathymetry, chosen for their relevance to marine activities and data sources alternative to GEBCO. The approach for building the digital map of water depth is to use GEBCO as a baseline and look at a set of sample areas where GEBCO could be improved upon. Sample areas have also been selected to be representative of each continent bordering the Atlantic and expected future requirements. Data sources include GEBCO, EMODNET, USGS and CHS.

The EuroMapApp task of the AtlantOS project aims to integrate Europe’s existing and future bathymetric data sets from the Atlantic Ocean into a seamless whole and put these results into a widely accessible format allowing immediate visualization of the seafloor for the specialist and non-specialist user alike. The partner institutions are GEOMAR, Ifremer, NIOZ, and NERC-BODC.

Temporal series (annual mean values) and Long term Average (LTA) of water discharge for each river mouth where in situ data is available. Different sources can be mixed if any.

Temporal series (annual mean values) and long term average (LTA) of temperature for each river mouth.

Cartographie des écluses à poissons actuellement encore en place sur l'île de Ré

Temporal series (annual mean values) of temperature for each river mouth.Temporal series (annual mean values) of temperature for each river mouth.

The EEA coastline dataset is created for detailed analysis with a Minimum Mapping Unit of e.g. 1:100000, for geographical Europe. The coastline is a hybrid product obtained from satellite imagery from two projects: 1) EUHYDRO (Pan-European hydrographic and drainage database) [https://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/satellite-derived-products/eu-hydro/view] and 2) GSHHG (A Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database) [http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/pwessel/gshhg/]. The defining criteria was altitude level = 0 from EUDEM [https://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/satellite-derived-products/eu-dem/view]. Outside the coverage of the EUDEM, the coastline from GSHHG was used without modifications. A few manual amendments to the dataset were necessary to meet requirements from EU Nature Directives, Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In 2015, several corrections were made in the Kalogeroi Islands (coordinates 38.169, 25.287) and two other Greek little islets (coordinates 36.766264, 23.604318), as well as in the peninsula of Porkkala (around coordinates 59.99, 24.42). In this revision (v3, 2017), 2 big lagoons have been removed from Baltic region, because, according to HELCOM, are freshwater lagoons. This dataset is a polygon usable as a water-land mask.

This product is a map of the uncertainty of available digital bathymetry measurements for the North Atlantic Ocean. This is done for a spatial resolution feasible for this large area (25km x 25km). It is designed to assess the quality of the bathymetry readings with a view to supporting assessments of future need. The product is formulated through a number of characteristics of the data including age of measurement and slope.