Identification

Title

Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Geophysical, Multibeam, Photo and Video Survey 2007/6_MESH: 2007 MESH SW Approaches Canyons Survey (04/Jun/2007 to 18/Jun/2007)

Alternative title(s)

CE0705

Abstract

The survey was led by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, in collaboration with the Marine Institute, the British Geological Survey and the University of Plymouth. Defra Natural Environment Group Science Division (CRO 361) made a significant contribution to this work. This work contributed to the MESH project (www.searchmesh.net). The MESH Project ran between 2004 and 2008 and was made up of a consortium of twelve partners from five European countries led by the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), with financial support from the EC’s INTERREG IIIB NWE Programme. The MESH partnership drew together scientific and technical habitat-mapping skills, expertise in data collation and its management, and proven practical experience in the use of seabed-habitat maps for environmental management within national regulatory frameworks. The aims of the R/V Celtic Explorer cruise (CE0705) on 4th-18th June 2007 were to acquire high resolution multibeam, sub-bottom profiler and camera data in the SW Approaches area, located approximately 320km southwest of Land's End. The cruise not only mapped the variable morphology of the SW Approaches area, but also investigated the biological communities within the canyon system for the assessment of potential Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) under the EC Habitats and Birds Directive (Annex I) (Johnston et al. 2002). The cruise also tested the application of the survey standards and protocols developed under the MESH project. The cruise was the first thorough test for the recently completed MESH Guidance Framework, providing a 'proof of concept' from planning to completion. The backscatter and geophysics data are archived and available for download at the British Geological Survey (BGS) MEDIN Data Archive Centre (DAC) for Geology and Geophysics. Biological and bathymetry data are archived at DASSH and UKHO respectively. Technical details of the survey are contained in BGS Commissioned Report CR/07/123N (http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507379/). Final Report (http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507378/). GeoIndex Offshore - https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex_offshore/home.html?cruise=2007/6_MESH&.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex_offshore/home.html?cruise=2007/6_MESH

protocol: HTTP

name: BGS Offshore Geoindex

description: GeoIndex allows users to search for information about BGS data collections covering the UK and other areas world wide. Access is free, the interface is easy to use, and it has been developed to enable users to check coverage of different types of data and find out some background information about the data. More detailed information can be obtained by further enquiry through the website.

function: search

Unique resource identifier

code

BGS_CMD_REF323

codeSpace

British Geological Survey

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

OGP

code identifying the spatial reference system

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages (L131)

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2010-05-18

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary (P021)

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2011-07-27

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-9.8932

East bounding longitude

-9.4215

North bounding latitude

48.6177

South bounding latitude

48.2370

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

BGS Gazetteer

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2025-03-26

code identifying the extent

Little Sole Bank

Extent group

authority code

title

Charting Progress 2: Regional Sea Boundaries

reference date

date type

creation

effective date

2009-06-18

code identifying the extent

Western Channel & Celtic Sea

Extent group

authority code

title

The SeaVoX Salt and Fresh Water Body Gazetteer: Sub-Ocean Category

reference date

date type

creation

effective date

1954-01-01

code identifying the extent

CELTIC SEA

Extent group

authority code

title

The SeaVoX Salt and Fresh Water Body Gazetteer: Sub-Ocean Category

reference date

date type

creation

effective date

1954-01-01

code identifying the extent

NORTHEAST ATLANTIC OCEAN (40W)

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2007-06-04

End position

2007-06-18

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2007-06-18

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

Geophysical equipment types used included: Deep Tow Boomer and Sparker. The survey was undertaken by Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Navigation: Fugro Starfix-HP (High Precision) GPS positioning system. All data acquisition systems took their time stamp from this navigation signal. The Starfix HP performed well during operations with only one significant occurrence of loss of navigation from 03:27 to 04:54 on the 9th June 2007 during seismic data acquisition on line 4. Some problems were experienced with the USBL system, particularly towards the latter half of the cruise. Multi-tip Sparker System: Source: EG&G, nine candle, multi-tip array with 135 tips. At times during the course of this cruise, it was sufficient to only operate with 90 tips. Power is supplied from an Applied Acoustic Engineering CSP-D HV Bangbox, running at 1000 Joules per shot on lines 1-7, 1250 Joules per shot on lines 8-11, 750-1500 Joules per pulse on line 12 and 1500 Joules per shot on lines 13-16. The CSP-D utilised the ship's main 240V 'domestic' power on a 16A circuit breaker. The Sparker was fired once every 6 seconds, interleaved with the Deep-Tow Boomer firing. Hydrophone: SIG 7 channel, 10m hydrophone streamer and SIG preamplifier with all channels summed to give a single channel output. The summed output was fed into the British Geological Survey (BGS) own designed amplifier that incorporates low pass and anti-alias filters and manually adjustable analogue gain to compensate for acoustic losses with water depth. For the Sparker system the bandpass filter is between 100 and 1730 Hz. Recording: The recording system is a CODA DA200 with twin displays and set up to digitally record two seismic sources simultaneously, in this case the Sparker and Deep Tow Boomer. The output data was stored in CODA and SEGY format. The Sparker signal was sampled at 5000Hz. Deep Tow Boomer System: Source: The Deep Tow Boomer system is a towed negatively buoyant fish comprising a 'boomer plate' transducer, high voltage storage and discharge system, a short hydrophone streamer and various sensors and controls. The high voltage power is supplied by a 240VAC to 6000VDC transformer on the vessel. The Deep Tow Boomer was generally fired 3-4 times in every 6 seconds, depending on water depth and the height of the tow fish from the seabed, interleaved with the Sparker firing. Hydrophone: A 2m, 6 element deep water BGS streamer was used during this cruise. The amplifier incorporates low pass and anti-alias filters and manually adjustable analogue gain to compensate for acoustic losses with water depth. For the Deep Tow Boomer the bandpass filter is between 450 and 4500 Hz. Recording: CODA DA200 system. The Deep Tow Boomer signal was sampled at 10,000Hz. Multibeam: Simrad EM1002 system is designed for high-resolution sea bed mapping in water depths of less than 1000 m. The hull-mounted system operates at a frequency of 93-95 kHz. A fixed swath coverage of 660m was utilised throughout, to maintain a beam spacing of at least 5% of water depth, providing the acceptable data density and data quality. Processing was carried out onboard using CARIS HIPS and SIPS and a variety of output formats were produced including the processed xyz files, ArcGIS raster files, Geotiffs and Fledermaus files. Precision Echo Sounder (EA600): The Simrad EA600 single beam system is a multi frequency hydrographic echo sounder. The three main frequencies are 12kHz, 38kHz and 200kHz with the shared transducer at 120kHz. Seatronics DTS 6000 Drop Frame Camera: The Seatronics drop frame system was deployed from the starboard side of the vessel. The system comprised a 5 mega pixel Kongsberg and Imenco digital stills camera, and an integrated DTS 6000 digital video telemetry system. Sensors monitored depth, altitude and temperature. A USBL beacon provided positional information for 14 camera tows, however, for the latter 30 tows the USBL was not working and vessel position was used. .

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of unknown theme

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2011

degree

false

explanation

See the referenced specification

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Constraint set

Use constraints

unrestricted use, copyright acknowledgement - Available under the Creative Commons Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Marine Institute, British Geological Survey, University of Plymouth materials "Joint copyright ©2007 Defra, JNCC, Marine Institute, BGS, University of Plymouth"

Limitations on public access

The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey (BGS)

full postal address

The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South

Edinburgh

EH14 4AP

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)131 667 1000

facsimile number

+44 (0)131 668 4140

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

custodian

Responsible party

organisation name

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

email address

offshoredata@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

originator

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

British Geological Survey (BGS)

full postal address

The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South

Edinburgh

EH14 4AP

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)131 667 1000

facsimile number

+44 (0)131 668 4140

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2025-03-26

Metadata language

eng