Projects

BLAST
Bringing Land and Sea Together


Summary

The overall aim of the project was to improve Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Planning (ICZM&P) and maritime safety in a broad sense, by improving and contributing to harmonising terrestrial and sea geographical data and by developing planning and visualisation tools as well as improvement of navigation, in the context of climate change.

BLAST was also represented in the MTC cluster.

Duration
01/10/2009 - 30/03/2013
Priority
2 - Promoting the Sustainable Management of our Environment
Area of Intervention
2.1 Sustainable development of the coastal land and sea areas through integrated coastal zone management
ERDF Grant
2,499,300.00 €
ERDF Equivalent
378,150.00 €
Total Eligible Budget
6,259,100.00 €
Lead Beneficiary
Norwegian Hydrographic Service, Norway
Roy H. Mellum
roy.mellum@statkart.no
Tel: +47 32 11 81 00
Project Homepage
Beneficiaries per Country
Norway
Norwegian Hydrographic Service
Norwegian Coastal Adminstration
United Kingdom
Natural Environment Research Council
Seazone Solutions Limited
UK Hydrographic Office
Denmark
National Survey and Cadastre
Danish Coastal Authority
Local Government Denmark
National Space Institute
Aalborg University
Hjorring Municipality
Germany
Federal Maritime & Hydrographic Agency
Jeppesen GmbH
Sweden
T-Kartor AB
Malardalen University
The Netherlands
Delft University of Technology
Belgium
Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services
Background and Aim

Aim
The overall aim of the project was to improve Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Planning (ICZM&P) and maritime safety in a broad sense, by improving and contributing to harmonising terrestrial and sea geographical data and by developing planning and visualisation tools as well as improvement of navigation, in the context of climate change.

Background
The Operational Programme states with emphasis that future economic development goes hand in hand with environmental consciousness. There is competition for use of the coastal zone, and there is a common challenge to find positive solutions where social, economic and environmental development pressures come into conflict. The BLAST project had a primary focus on “Bringing land and sea together”, by harmonizing and integrating data for land and sea.

In respect to geographic data, it is a fundamental problem that data on the landward side is collected and maintained by topographic mapping or cadastral agencies utilised primarily for development, nature conservation etc., while sea data is collected by hydrographic survey services, focusing primarily on marine navigation issues.

Furthermore, the collaboration between member states at national, regional and local level can be improved. This can lead to seamlessly joined data which gives consistent information without overlap. BLAST followed the IHO-guidelines as state of the art. The outcome of the project was a regional input to the IHO-organisation (International Hydrographic Office). There were also areas not covered, especially in shallow water.

These problems implies a limitation to good planning and integrated coastal zone management, and it poses a risk in handling acute pollution, accidents etc. The project therefore provided a prototype for land/sea interoperable database for testing by practitioners in a study area.


It is a transnational European challenge to harmonise maritime information. One special aspect is safe approach and berthing of ship in ports. Today, maritime information is presented in different ways in different ports and different countries. The project developed a basis for harmonising maritime information. It also demonstrated the value of 3D visualisation in navigational aid displays.

Incomplete, inconsistent maritime information is a leading factor in marine casualties, environmental damage and ship detainments. The process built on the work already made in The Baltic Sea Harmonisation Working Group.

Lack of reliable maritime information will always be a risk in respect to the maritime traffic navigation and monitoring. A harmonised Electronical Nautical Chart system and efficient traffic monitoring system are of utmost importance to keep a high level of security for regional maritime traffic. Integration and distribution of maritime data is therefore important. It is also important to widen access (SafeSeaNet) to these data so that all parties involved in traffic management can use the data to improve decision making. BLAST in part improved the functionalities of databases, and it provided input to improve SafeSeaNet.

The coastal zone is an optimal place to locate renewable energy devices (wind, tidal turbine) while at the same time needing to consider other interests like maritime traffic and vulnerable ecosystems. These interests need to be managed in a context of climate change adaptation. Consequently integration of coastal zone data for planning and management becomes prominent. The project developed a conceptual model for integrated spatial planning utilising GIS, tools for spatial planning in respect to renewable energy plants, and a Web based decision support system for ICZM in a transnational context. The SEA principles were used to ensure impacts are adequately considered.

An important premise for improved ICZM is to link sea and land areas together. Hence, an important aspect of the aim was to structure and supplement geographical data and provide planning/ management tools that were consistent between sea and land.

  • A prototype marine horizontal reference base in a consistent system for the North Sea area
  • Modern laser survey, combined with data provided by airbornjoint sea - land datasets
  • Report on current capability of GIS and tools for convertion
  • A prototype land-sea interoperable reference base for the case study areas and tested by practitioners
  • Documentation and methodologies to support the creation and maintenance of Inspire compliant land-sea in-teroperable reference base for Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)
  • A new methodology for chart datum realization based on the assimilation of data in a shallow-water hydrodynamic model
  • High-resolution digital models of the Mean Sea Level (MSL), the geoid and Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) for the North Sea area, which are consistent with the hydrodynamic constraints
  • Transformation parameters to link these surfaces to the national vertical reference systems around the North Sea
  • A properly referenced and calibrated hydrodynamic model
  • Online demonstration and report on an improved Digital Mariners' Routing Guide for selected North Sea ports
  • A basic platform for further development and specifications for SafeSeaNet
  • Develop an automated tool for ENC harmonisation
    Develop a conceptual model for integrated coastal zone planning in a context of climate change
  • A web site with information about and dynamic visualisations of future sea level rise and flooding
  • A set of strategies based on identified best practices for adaptation to climate change, and experience from tesing in municipalities
  • A catalogue of mitigation strategies with emphasis on renewable energy and appropriate loactions for new plants
  • A web based information, indicator and decision support system for coastal zone planners and managers and erosion. A web based decision support system for ICZM in transnational context

BLAST Final Conference Participants

BLAST 2011 Conference Site Visit

BLAST 2011 Conference Proceedings

BLAST Final Conference Reception

BLAST Final Conference WP5 Presentation

BLAST Final Conference Participants
Events
BLAST Conference 2012
Dates: 17/09/2012 - 18/09/2012
BLAST Conference 2011
Dates: 21/09/2011 - 22/09/2011
BLAST Conference 2010
Dates: 15/09/2010 - 17/09/2010

Event Calendar
Events Archive

06/07/2015
30/06/2015
18/05/2015
21/04/2015
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