Bathymetric data resulting from hydrographic surveys for cartographic purposes and/or port management. Surveys carried out in accordance with the IHO S-44 standard.

Broadscale habitat (EUNIS level 3) for the Mounts Bay recommended Marine Conservation Zone (rMCZ).Seabed texture polygons mapped using automatic segmentation and classification of acoustic data (MBES bathymetry and backscatter) and groundtruthing data from PSA analysis and image (stills and video).

The Lagoon data was created from the orthoimagery and GIS analysis. Lagoons connected to the sea were identified from the aerial images provided by the National Land Survey of Finland and were digitized by utilizing the shoreline data from the chart. Selection criteria were e.g. enclosed nature. Unattached lagoons, gloe lakes, were bordered by using the lake data from the topographic database (National Land Survey of Finland) and contour lines. Water areas lower than 2,5 m asl were selected to add to the lagoon data. Lakes above 2,5 m have most probably been separate lagoons for a long time and therefore interpreted as gloe lakes that are not included into the final lagoon data.

Littoral sediments are found across the intertidal zone and range from boulders, through gravel and sand, to silt and clay (mud). The type of sediment is critical to structuring biological community composition. Sand shores usually support a range of oligochaetes, polychaetes and crustaceans, and muddy shores also favour bivalves. The invertebrate communities present in littoral sediments can support large populations of predatory birds. Littoral sediment environments are extremely dynamic and can change markedly over time. The aim of this project was to undertake a field survey of the intertidal sediments of the SSSIs located at Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges, King's Quay Shore, and the Yar Estuary, Isle of Wight in order to enable a condition assessment of the littoral sediment feature. The survey determined: the extent of the sediment feature; the biological communities present, the sediment character, and the distribution of the biotopes, at each site. The methods followed the standard guidelines for monitoring intertidal environments (Davies et al., 2001). Background information on the study sites was collated in July-August 2008 and the field survey was conducted 17 August-20 September 2008. Maps and aerial photographs were used to compare the extent of littoral sediment in the field, and the distribution of biotopes was mapped using a walkover Phase 1 survey, including photographs. Each site was then sub-sampled representatively (15-25 cells per site) using relatively rapid techniques to record sediment type and macrofauna. More detailed sampling of sediment character and biotope composition was undertaken at five transects per site, each with a mid and lower shore sampling station, where photographs were taken and sediment cores were collected for particle size analysis and identification of infauna in the laboratory. All field data were spatially referenced and integrated within a GIS. Data analysis consisted of summary statistics and multivariate statistical techniques using PRIMER (Clarke and Warwick 2001). There were few methodological constraints, although access to the western shore at the Yar Estuary was restricted. The total extent of littoral habitat mapped at Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges was 130ha. The most extensive biotope type was Polychaetes on littoral fine sand (LS.LSa.FiSa.Po), which covered 40% of the site and formed large flats outside Bembridge harbour. Inside the harbour, Polychate/bivalve dominated mid estuarine mud shores (LS.LMu.MEst) dominated. This pattern reflected a marked contrast between the more exposed littoral sediments outside the harbour, where fine/medium sand and gravel were typical, and the poorly sorted silt with clay inside the harbour. Sediment infauna was generally not abundant and showed variable species richness and density, with a high community dissimilarity between samples. Polychaetes such as Lanice conchilega, Hediste diversicolor and Nephtys spp. were most characteristic but the snail Hydrobia ulvae dominated the community within the harbour. A patch of eelgrass (Zostera) was mapped in the intertidal zone. King's Quay Shore comprised almost 50ha of littoral sediment. A variety of sandy biotope types characterised the site, with Barren or amphipod dominated mobile sand shores (LS.LSaMoSa) and Polychates on littoral fine sand (LS.LSa.FiSa.Po) each covering a third of its area. Sediments were dominated by brown, very fine/medium sand of variable thickness, overlying a basal sub-unit of stiff brown/grey clay, often with a veneer of mixed gravel at or near the surface. The sediment supported moderate faunal diversity and numbers, and there was considerable community dissimilarity between samples. The polychaete Heteroclymene robusta was most abundant, supported by polychaetes Lanice conchilega and Arenicola marina, and the periwinkle Littorina littorea. Oysters (Ostrea edulis) and eelgrass (Zostera) were both recorded at the site during the survey. A total of approximately 42ha of littoral sediment was mapped at the Yar Estuary, with 86% of this comprising the Polychaete/bivalve dominated mid estuarine mud shores (LS.LMu.MEst) biotope type. Throughout the estuary, sediments were dominated by very poorly and poorly sorted grey/dark grey/black silt and clay (mud), which were often highly anoxic at shallow depths. Sediment samples showed that there were few faunal species present but they were in some abundance. The snail Hydrobia ulvae was by far the most numerous, contributing substantially to community similarity across the site, although the vast majority of shells were empty. The bivalve Abra tenuis and the polychaete Arenicola marina were locally quite abundant. There was some evidence of saltmarsh erosion at the site, possibly resulting in increased littoral sediment habitat. Multivariate comparisons of all three sites highlight the dissimilarity between the Yar sediment, which has quite a uniformly small grain size, and the mixed or larger grain sizes that characterise the other two sites. The faunal composition showed high dissimilarity between all sites and a clear distinction between communities from silt substrates and those where sand predominates, suggesting that community composition is influenced both by sediment type and site characteristics. Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges and King's Quay Shore both contain a good range of biotopes and could be considered to represent diverse sedimentary landscapes. In general, the sediment tended to be rather species-poor, especially at the Yar Estuary, and faunal abundance was limited, except at the Yar where snails were numerous. It is possible, however, that the sampling intensity was insufficient to adequately represent the faunal population. It appears that the condition of the littoral sediment feature is favourable at Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges and King's Quay Shore SSSIs, although at both sites invertebrate numbers seem to be quite low and there is a limited amount of comparable information so monitoring is advisable. At the Yar Estuary, a comparison with previous information indicates that the quality of the sediment infauna may have declined and the extent of littoral sediment increased over the past 30 years, although natural dynamics make establishing a baseline difficult. Thus, the condition of the littoral sediment feature at the Yar Estuary SSSI appears favourable for sediment attributes but may be declining for biotope composition.

The map shows the seabed habitat types and associated benthic communities distribution in the coastal area south of Sines (SW Portugal), which is partly included in the Special Protection Area (PTZPE0015) of the Natural Park of Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina. The data were obtained during the new survey crarried out in 2011 within the framework of the MeshAtlantic Project. The survey area is an area of moderate energy under the influence of wave action and tidal currents. The northern near shore area is partially exposed to the outfalls of a thermoelectric powerplant. Physical and biological datasets were combined aiming at matching the habitat classes defined in the EUNIS classification.

Under the MeshAtlantic project (2010-2013) the habitat of an area offshore Portimão (south coast of Portugal) was classified. The biological data was gathered from surveys carried out during 2012. Stratified sampling by depth and bottom substrate was performed using Van Veen grab and beam trawl to estimate fauna densities. Additional and significant data was obtained from image analysis of video records collected during Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys carried out under the UALG/CCMAR programme. Both these surveys began with a previous acoustic mapping of the seabed by means of Side Scan Sonar and Multi-beam, followed by sediment type classification and ground truthing validation using Van Veen grab sampling.

This survey aimed to establish the distribution and extent of Zostera noltii and Zostera angustifolia within areas of north Morecambe Bay where knowledge is currently lacking, primarily in the bay between Roa Island and Foulney Island and along the northern shore of the Foulney Island. There is the potential for Zostera beds in these areas not to be adequately protected in these areas due to gaps and low confidence in the available knowledge and this survey aims to ensure an accurate assessment of its distribution and condition.

This shapefile represents simplified benthic marine habitats of Barbuda created for the purposes of marine spatial planning in Barbuda (the Barbuda Blue Halo Initiative) in 2013. Maps were generated from remote sensed imagery with a Projection of WGS 84 and UTM Zone 20N. Data are suitable for resource assessment, spatial analyses and the development of geographic information systems (GIS) for planning and environmental management type applications.

The Fladen Grounds pMPAs are located within a muddy sand and sandy mud sediment plain in the Northern North Sea, approximately 80 nautical miles east of Orkney. This dataset is a habitat map resulting from a dedicated acoustic and groundtruthing survey was undertaken by Cefas and the JNCC in January 2013 at the three Fladen Grounds pMPAs.

The objective of this project was to generate seabed habitat maps for locations with full coverage acoustic datasets to as detailed a hierarchical level as possible within the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland (version 04.05), also known as MNCR classification, (Connor et al. 2004). The acoustic data were at various stages of processing and interpretation, therefore the mapping of habitats and biotopes in some areas have required a greater amount of work to reach the same level compared to other areas. The constituent polygons within the habitat/biotope maps are labelled to an appropriate level of the Habitat Classification and translated to the corresponding EUNIS code. In order to generate seabed habitat maps for the areas the data associated with each area were required to undergo some preliminary preparation and processing in order to ensure suitability and compatibly with the mapping methodologies employed. The data were then processed using several techniques: a top-down approach was adopted based on the methods developed by MESH and UKSeaMap and used by EUSeaMap, which utilised the updated seabed substrate information provided by BGS. In addition a bottom up approach was taken to utilise the recently acquired point sample data and bathymetry and backscatter data sets, and this process took an object based approach supplemented by supervised classification and categorisation. Three maps for each MPA proposal have been produced (the level of habitat detail which could be mapped was restricted to level 3 or 4 of the EUNIS classification and level 2 or 3 of the MNCR classification) with associated metadata and peripheral supplementary data to aid in future analysis and interpretation. A confidence assessment using the MESH confidence assessment method has been undertaken for each habitat map produced and certainty of classification maps accompany each habitat map also.