Scottish Seabed Habitat Map for Wee Bankie to Gourdon, 2013

Joint Nature Conservation Committee produced a rule-based seabed habitat map for the Eastern Approaches to the Firth of Forth, covering the Wee Bankie to Gourdon area. The map classifies habitats using the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland and EUNIS codes, with a confidence assessment for each polygon. The data was generated in 2013 from processed acoustic datasets and seabed substrate information.

Use Cases

• Classifying seabed habitats based on acoustic and substrate data mentioned in the description
• Assessing habitat mapping confidence using the MESH confidence assessment method described
• Translating habitat classifications between MNCR and EUNIS coding systems as detailed
• Supporting Marine Protected Area planning with geospatial habitat maps

Strengths

• Includes a confidence assessment for each habitat polygon using the MESH method
• Classifies habitats to level 3 or 4 of EUNIS and level 2 or 3 of MNCR hierarchies
• Provides associated metadata and supplementary data for future analysis

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Collection Method

Rule-based mapping from acoustic datasets using a top-down approach based on MESH and UKSeaMap methods.

Time Range

2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 09:47:34.944991; freshness should be verified

Geography

Eastern Approaches to the Firth of Forth, Wee Bankie to Gourdon area, Scottish waters