EurOCEAN 2000 - Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee

partners have overseen the initial phase compiling seismic record metadata prior to digital
scanning and image processing. The image database created has not involved any cost to the
contributing organisations (Miles et al., 1997,1998).
The data in question are the electro sensitive monochrome linescan (EPC) analogue line-scan
records (Figure 1) that, if they were recorded on magnetic tape at all are no longer re-playable.
As the data held in these records will have mostly been worked-up, possibly published, there
are few Intellectual Property Rights issues that prevent their digital archival for future use.
Much of these data lay un-referenced and inaccessible to many marine science workers for new
regional analyses. These records are generally stored as rolls 50 cm wide and up to 20 metres
long, readily handled by modern large continuous feed scanners. The SEISCAN data capture
area is nominally limited to the European EEZ and beyond the 200 m shelf edge. These are
areas critical to the monitoring of the marine environment and relevant to the environmental
impact of mass wasting and slope stability. The data can also be used in preparation of
submissions to the UN Law of the Sea according to the provisions of Article 76. Access to the
information in these seismic records as digital images could also avoid unnecessary duplication
of seismic acquisition. Data re-playable from magnetic tape is excluded in this initiative but
digital reconstruction to wiggly trace and SEG-Y file format is part of the Technology
Implementation Plan.
Image ARCHIVE
A fundamental factor in the set-up of this project has been a co-ordinated hardware and
software strategy. Common Unix platforms operate CALDERA Cameleo imaging software
that drives identical A0 format scanners at stations in Barcelona and Strasbourg. Processing
centres in Southampton and Strasbourg also operate identical configurations. The partners in
Athens and Trieste manage contact databases and advise on scanning issues. Therefore there
is a degree of hardware redundancy in the event of maintenance. The Scanning centres have
suitably enhanced storage facilities for data backup.
Each of the partners is responsible for liaising with marine research centres in their own
countries and for agreed European regions. Information in the form of metadata, conforming
to the FGDC (1994) standard, identifies qualifying seismic records and associated
navigational information to enable the scanning phases to be organised. These metadata have
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