standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

very useful to the design of baseline and monitoring
programmes conducted during exploration.
ii. The general manner in which data are likely to be searched or
accessed, i.e., the categories of identifiers to be associated with
each datum. Important reference categories will include:
- General data type (i.e., physical, chemical, biological,
satellite, cruise log, etc.), with nested specific parameters
(e.g., oxygen concentration in the water column,
macrofaunal abundance in individual box cores, etc.);
- Geographic location (latitude and longitude);
- Date of collection;
- Contractor’s name;
- Claim area;
- Cruise number (an alphanumeric code identifying both ship
and voyage);
- Station number (e.g., an alphanumeric code identifying
contractor, ship, cruise number and cruise operation
number);
- Depth in the water column.
Ideally, the database would be set up so that each datum could be
searched and accessed by any combination of the above categories. For
example, an investigator who wanted to view abundance of macrofauna in
all box cores collected within a certain region and a certain period could
search the database by inputting (1) a latitudinal and longitudinal range,
and (2) a parameter name, i.e., “macrofaunal abundance”. The result
would be a table of macrofaunal values (macrofaunal abundances) with
associated data (geographical location, date of collection, depth, etc.).
Set-up of the database will require (1) input concerning existing and
future data types to be entered, (2) consideration of the most useful and
preferred outputs, and (3) guidance from an experienced creator of
databases.
4. Recommendations for Monitoring Mining – Test Impacts
Until the details of test-mining plans are known, it is difficult to
make many recommendations regarding monitoring of mining-test impacts.
Clearly, parameters and methodologies used in developing environmental
baselines must also be applied in test-mining impact studies to allow broad
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