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‘Time series availability’ refers to whether data observations are available for different periods or points in time (e.g. for different years, decades, five-year periods). The time series may be available in one dataset (see e.g. GMCSD-2 Global Mangrove Carbon, 2000-2012) or in multiple, comparable editions of the same data product (see e.g. Global Ocean Gridded L4 Sea Surface Height and Derived Variables; University of Hamburg-Sea level SSH from C3S)[338].
‘First observation’ refers to the first year in the time series for which data observations are available (where time series exist).
‘Latest observation’ refers to the latest year in the time series for which data observations are available (where time series exist), or to the year that the data are intended to represent (where time series do not exist).
‘Publication date of latest observation’ refers to the year in which the dataset was published or released.
‘Likelihood of future production’ refers to the likelihood that further editions of the dataset will be produced in the future. This has been assessed based on available indicative information and should not be taken as a guarantee of future production.
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Box 5. Vietnam used the Global Distribution of Seagrasses and Global Distribution of Corals datasets to develop their first ocean ecosystem accounts. As part of the Quảng Ninh pilot study in 2019, Vietnam used the Global Distribution of Seagrasses and Global Distribution of Corals datasets provided on UNEP-WCMC’s Ocean Data Viewer for the development of seagrass and coral ecosystem accounts. These global seagrass and coral distribution maps are based on point and line data, providing information about the location of seagrasses and corals. However, they do not give information about the boundaries or extent of the ecosystems, which limits their application in the development of extent accounts. To calculate the extent of seagrass and corals in the Quảng Ninh accounting area, the pilot study team combined the global datasets with available information from national reports. This included information about the location and area by hectare of these ecosystems. For each location, a small, conservative buffer was created to determine the ecosystem asset area. This was then overlayed with management areas to determine the relative proportion of ecosystem for each marine unit. |
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Country experience: Indonesia’s ocean accounts pilot study used satellite data for tropical ecosystem extent (coral reefs, seagrass, mangroves) and condition parameters (sea surface temperature, chlorophyll). One important selection criterion for using MODIS[349] and Landsat data was the resolution and data quality assurance integrated into the production of the satellite data by NASA and the United States Geological Survey. |
Where available, the information about quality assurance and/or errors and issues should be reviewed before using a dataset to check whether:
The applied data quality standards conform with any relevant national data quality standards.
Existing validation and ground truthing of the data are relevant for the national context.
Any known issues of the global data and their quality that affect their use in the accounting area of the national ocean accounts.
Additional work is needed to ensure and/or increase the accuracy and reliability for the national context (e.g. ground truthing for the accounting area).
Where information about quality assurance and/or errors is NOT available, this does not necessarily mean that the data is inaccurate, unreliable, inconsistent or not valid. However, caution should be applied when using the data. Additional work may be required to do quality assurance checks and validation before the data can be used with confidence. The available metadata, including information about the acquisition method, should be reviewed carefully to identify any relevant methodological assumptions, criteria, parameters or sources of error that might be described there.
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Most of the datasets in the Inventory are available for free and with minimal use restrictions (usually requiring attribution).
In some cases, use may be restricted. Restrictions are often related to commercial use, which should not affect the use of the data for national ocean account development. For example, data from the World Database on Protected Areas is freely available for non-commercial use, whereas commercial users must pay a fee via the IBAT[3510] Alliance.
The Inventory currently includes one dataset that is available at a cost: Axiom EMI Oil & Gas and Renewables Data (Global): Offshore Wind Database (Renewables). Fees are more likely to apply for datasets related to specific industries/sectors that are provided by commercial data service providers. In some cases it may be worth considering the use of paid data services, where they exist, to fill specific data gaps.
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