EMODnet Bathymetry has adopted the CDI Data Discovery & Access service as developed and operated by SeaDataNet, the pan-European network of NODCs, to bring together and provide access to available high resolution bathymetric survey data sets from many data providers, such as National Hydrographic Institutes, Research Institutes, and Survey companies. All bathymetric survey data are described with INSPIRE compliant metadata, following the CDI metadata profile, based on ISO 19115 – 19139 standards. This way, the CDI service gives users a highly detailed insight in the availability and geographical spreading of bathymetric survey data sets that are acquired and managed by an increasing group of data providers and for which users can request access for downloading. The CDI metadata are public domain and freely available for all users. However, a major part of the survey data sets is not freely available and requires negotiation with the data owners. The SeaDataNet CDI search, shopping and tracking mechanism facilitates identifying and requesting access to these background data sets from data providers. Note that all data sets are used internally with permission of the data owners for contributing to the EMODnet Digital Terrain Model (DTM) for the European sea regions. The service URL is : https://geo-service.maris.nl/emodnet_bathymetry/wfs?service=WFS&request=GetCapabilities. The layer in the Map Viewer facilitates users to view the locations of the CDI entries and to retrieve details of individual surveys by clicking on the map. From there users are linked to the actual CDI Data Discovery and Access service (https://cdi-bathymetry.seadatanet.org/search) for performing more queries and submitting requests for data access.

EMODnet Physics - TSM_NorthSea - Concentration of total suspended matter (conc_tsm, mg/l) is a product of the Coastcolour L2W Concentrations Data, obtained from the OC4 algorithm for clear and moderate turbid waters, and from the CoastColour v1 neural network.The L2W product was then remapped on a regular grid, maintaining the 300 m full resolution, in order to obtain L3 products over the North Sea and monthly averaged. Developed by EMODnet Physics.

Circalittoral faunal turfs are animal-dominated shelf assemblages that are found on hard substrata between the lower limit of the infralittoral zone and the shelf edge. Benthic organisms generally form dense intricate mixes that may include tall alcyonarians, sponges, hydroids, scleractinians and gorgonians, as well as less prominent fauna such as encrusting sponges, bryozoans, ascidians, bivalves, solitary cup corals, serpulid worms and vermetid gastropods.

Black corals are antipatharian corals that occur from sublittoral to abyssal depths on hard, mixed and soft substrates. Under favourable conditions, some black coral species form dense stands known as black coral gardens which create habitat for a variety of associated species.

Rhodoliths is a general term used to designate non-geniculate coralline red algae (Rhodophyta) that live unattached (Riosmena-Rodríguez, 2017). The term is used here to encompass (i) branched free-living coralline algae devoid of an evident nucleus, but also (ii) nucleated nodules where the biogenic calcium carbonate deposit around the core represents >50%, as well as (iii) “coated grains” where the core is larger than the algal carbonate component.

Gridded abundance map of Polychaete worm <i>Marenzelleria</i>. This animated gridded abundance map shows how the species invaded the Baltic Sea from Danish waters in the 1990s and became abundant throughout the whole region. This animation shows that probably multiple invasions occurred at the same time. The species is part of the Descriptor 2, Non Indigenous Species of the MSFD and is being monitored under HELCOM. The product was developed with DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) and shows the log-transformed abundance. Data was provided by Sweden (SMH - Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management; Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI); (2015): SHARK - Marine soft bottom macrozoobenthos monitoring in Sweden since 1971)), Finland (SYKE) and Denmark (Aarhus University - Josefson, A.; Rytter, D.; Department of Bioscience - AU, Denmark; (2015): Danish benthic marine monitoring data from ODAM).

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), located in Copenhagen is an organisation providing scientific advice in the North Atlantic on the exploitation and stewardship of the marine ecosystem and marine living resources. Within this role, it is developing an integrated ecosystem advice at a regional level which will be appropriate to managers, policy developers and interested stakeholders. As part of this ICES has recently constructed “Ecosystem Overviews” which describe the trends in pressures and state of regional ecosystems. These advice processes require regular inputs of monitoring information on the oceanography and hydrology of the regions, called Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (OOPS).

Gridded abundance maps of commercial fish species. This product was developed with DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis). Data was provided by ICES (IBTS dataset - Fish trawl survey: ICES North Sea International Bottom Trawl Survey for commercial fish species. ICES Database of trawl surveys (DATRAS). The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen. 2010. Online source: http://ecosystemdata.ices.dk.). The maps show clearly the dramatic stock depletion of the last decades in the North Sea. Scale: log-transformed CPUE.

Gridded abundance maps of marine birds from the North Sea. All the bird species of this dataset are indicator species for Descriptor 1 Biodiversity of the MSFD for the North East Atlantic. This product was developed with DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis). Data was provided by JNCC (Joint Nature Conservation Committee): Dunn, T. 2012. JNCC seabird distribution and abundance data (all trips) from ESAS database. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/427).

Gridded abundance maps of seal species. This product was developed with DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis). Data was provided by JNCC (Joint Nature Conservation Committee): Dunn, T. 2012. JNCC seabird distribution and abundance data (all trips) from ESAS database. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/427).