SOTEAG: Shetland Rocky Shore Transect Surveys from 1976

1976 marks the start of biological surveys of rocky shore transects near the Sullom Voe oil terminal and reference sites. The data, collected by the Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group, provides a baseline for assessing gross environmental change. The dataset is aggregated by the Government Digital Service on the eu_open_data platform.

Use Cases

• Establishing environmental baselines for industrial impact assessment based on the described transect surveys.
• Analyzing long-term ecological trends in coastal zones based on the multi-decade time range.
• Comparing impacted sites near an oil terminal to reference sites based on the described survey design.
• Modeling the effects of industrial activity on marine biodiversity based on biological survey data.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term baseline starting from 1976, enabling trend analysis.
• Includes both impacted and reference sites, allowing for comparative studies.
• Data is associated with a formal advisory group (SOTEAG), suggesting structured collection.

Limitations

• Row count, column details, and file formats are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Last update date and license are unknown; data freshness and usage rights are unverified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group (SOTEAG)

Collection Method

Biological surveys of rocky shore transects.

Time Range

1976 - ongoing

Freshness

Ongoing collection, but last update date is unknown.

Geography

Vicinity of Sullom Voe oil terminal, Shetland, and reference sites outside the Voe.