D.R. Green and S.T. Ray
116
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
In 1995, AURIS Environmental (Heaps, 1995) undertook a detailed feasibility study of
the siting of artificial reefs in the Moray Firth, Scotland, UK. This investigation
employed many different data sources and consulted with numerous expert groups. The
local fishermen's association was particularly influential and was eventually responsible
for helping to short-list the potential sites for the proposed reef. Paper-based maps were
used in the analysis but were only small-scale and contained generalised information.
The entire selection process employed and described in the AURIS report was
essentially empirical and is based on the criteria summarised in Table 1.
A technique referred to as 'Exclusion Mapping', a type of sieve mapping, was
employed to eliminate areas with the most obvious constraints, thus helping to narrow
down the most suitable location zones. Although this procedure is not described in
detail the AURIS Report, the use of conventional maps is normally difficult to
undertake and is error-prone.
Whilst this 'traditional' manual approach has been well-tested for many similar
tasks and has been deemed reliable in the past, the fact that it is not computer-based
means that it also really only provides a one-off solution. Since all the focus is on one
task, further analyses of the datasets collected are unlikely to be undertaken, largely
because they are so time consuming. GIS
A GIS approach to the problem of locating the optimum site for an artificial
reef offers a number of distinct advantages over the traditional approach adopted by
AURIS outlined earlier. The most significant of these is the creation of a 'general'
environmental database, the datasets of which can potentially be used for numerous
other applications, the artificial reef being just one of the many possibilities. The
primary advantage is that the source data, held digitally within a GIS is more flexible
and accessible and can also be analysed directly using the system's functionality.
Moray Firth Project
The Moray Firth Project undertaken by Ray et al. (1996) followed on from the Moray
Firth Review carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) (Harding-Hill, 1993). The
investigations carried out in this 'Pilot Study' aimed to develop the use of GIS for
environmental management, with particular reference to the necessary background
research, acquisition of data and the conversion of data into a widely used GIS format
(ArcInfo). The purposes of this study were: to ascertain what datasets existed for the
study area; to catalogue and document these datasets; to create a digital environmental
database; to select those datasets from the total that were deemed to match criteria for
siting an artificial reef; and to use those selected as the basis for optimising the siting of
an artificial reef using a GIS. Methodologies were also proposed for the continued
development of this pilot by developing ideas for a particular siting application; that is,
a demonstration system highlighting the potential advantages of utilising GIS
technology in these and other areas of coastal zone and environmental management
applications.
The first part of the study examined the project life-cycle of developing a Pilot
GIS. This included the initial background research, a scoping study, the use of
116
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
In 1995, AURIS Environmental (Heaps, 1995) undertook a detailed feasibility study of
the siting of artificial reefs in the Moray Firth, Scotland, UK. This investigation
employed many different data sources and consulted with numerous expert groups. The
local fishermen's association was particularly influential and was eventually responsible
for helping to short-list the potential sites for the proposed reef. Paper-based maps were
used in the analysis but were only small-scale and contained generalised information.
The entire selection process employed and described in the AURIS report was
essentially empirical and is based on the criteria summarised in Table 1.
A technique referred to as 'Exclusion Mapping', a type of sieve mapping, was
employed to eliminate areas with the most obvious constraints, thus helping to narrow
down the most suitable location zones. Although this procedure is not described in
detail the AURIS Report, the use of conventional maps is normally difficult to
undertake and is error-prone.
Whilst this 'traditional' manual approach has been well-tested for many similar
tasks and has been deemed reliable in the past, the fact that it is not computer-based
means that it also really only provides a one-off solution. Since all the focus is on one
task, further analyses of the datasets collected are unlikely to be undertaken, largely
because they are so time consuming. GIS
A GIS approach to the problem of locating the optimum site for an artificial
reef offers a number of distinct advantages over the traditional approach adopted by
AURIS outlined earlier. The most significant of these is the creation of a 'general'
environmental database, the datasets of which can potentially be used for numerous
other applications, the artificial reef being just one of the many possibilities. The
primary advantage is that the source data, held digitally within a GIS is more flexible
and accessible and can also be analysed directly using the system's functionality.
Moray Firth Project
The Moray Firth Project undertaken by Ray et al. (1996) followed on from the Moray
Firth Review carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) (Harding-Hill, 1993). The
investigations carried out in this 'Pilot Study' aimed to develop the use of GIS for
environmental management, with particular reference to the necessary background
research, acquisition of data and the conversion of data into a widely used GIS format
(ArcInfo). The purposes of this study were: to ascertain what datasets existed for the
study area; to catalogue and document these datasets; to create a digital environmental
database; to select those datasets from the total that were deemed to match criteria for
siting an artificial reef; and to use those selected as the basis for optimising the siting of
an artificial reef using a GIS. Methodologies were also proposed for the continued
development of this pilot by developing ideas for a particular siting application; that is,
a demonstration system highlighting the potential advantages of utilising GIS
technology in these and other areas of coastal zone and environmental management
applications.
The first part of the study examined the project life-cycle of developing a Pilot
GIS. This included the initial background research, a scoping study, the use of