Areas of soft sediments in the littoral zone has been delineated using on remote sensing images based on GIS models. These data include only the largest areas.

Areas of high tidal currents havebeen delineated based on physical conditions, nautical charts and local knowledge. Strong tidal currents are defined as being over 5 knots.

Coastal lagoons and semi-landlocked bays are areas with limited exchange of sea water because of sills or narrowing of the opening towards the coastal areas outside. The areas have been identified from maps.

Areas were identified from local monitoring projects in order to make sure that fjords with naturally low oxygen content in the bottom water was separated from those having low oxygen because of eutrophication etc.

Areas of kelp (Laminaria hyperborea) forest has been modelled using different statistical methods (e.g. GAM, BRT, Maxent) based on point data collected along environmental gradients as part of the National Program for Mapping Biodiversity - Coast. These data include only the largest kelp forests.