New Marine Regions product
My professional practice was hosted by The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) which promotes accumulation and promotion of marine knowledge and excellence in marine research. I was involved with the data centre team (VMDC) who has for mission to aggregate international data in different domains (biology, environment, economy) to develop innovative data products with added value for academic research, industries, and policymakers.
The goal of my internship was to extend the Marine Regions database , by creating a new product: the continental shelf. This database is a really important tool, as it gives open-access to a unique georeferenced standard information for marine place names.
You will find in this website the methodology I followed to create the product, you will be able to get a sneak peek of the product before its official launching date, you will have an overview of my contribution and will be given the opportunity to contribute to the project by answering a short survey.
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During my internship I not only contributed to the creation of this product but I also learned a lot on the continental shelf, the laws of the seas and of course Marine Regions. If like me you are curious to learn more about the context in which this project is placed, I summarized my discoveries for you!
Methodology
Step 1 - Digitalization of official documents
Most treaties and agreements between coastal states are submitted to the UN and gathered under the UNCLOS website. Coordinate points pertaining the relevant submission were stored and converted to a uniform point layer grouping all submission and recommendation in a unique coordinate system: WSG84. For this step I went over a hundred documents: submission recommendation and treaties and digitalize 38 934 points.
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Step 2 - Creation of Lines
By connecting the relevant points together lines representing the outer edge of the ELCS was created. Different information were added to each lines: Line name, line number (in the marine region database) submission type, territory information (name, ISO code, UN number), sovereign information (name, ISO code, UN number), Origin, link to source document, full title of the source document, and date of submission. For this step I created 155 lines.
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Step 3 - Creation of connection lines
There is an unavoidable mismatch between the EEZ limits lines calculated by Marine Regions and the ELCS lines created from points collected on UNCLOS. Polygons cannot be drawn without an uninterrupted set of lines. Connection lines are lines added to bridge the gaps between the CS line and the EEZ limit. They were drawn by linking a line to the nearest relevant vertex (the closest point on the EEZ product or the country EEZ boundary limit), calculated using geodesic distances. For this step I created 114 connexion line and learned how to use ArcMap. I estimate that around 20 lines are left to be created in order to finish the product.
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Step 4 - Creation of polygons
A set of polygons was drawn from the lines, in order to represent the entire area concerned by the country submission. Polygons are assigned to a unique ID in the Marine regions database, called the MRGID (Marine Regions Geographic Identifier). I created 113 polygons, 17 polygons are still to be constructed. I manually created 25 MRGID, the rest will be automatically added from the database once the polygon layer is finalized.
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Step 5 - Launch product online
I was not able to finish the product in two month. My work will be continued by Salvador Fernandez. Once the product is finalized and has went trough check-ups, it will be launched on marineregions.org. With the end of the product development starts the product maintenance. The team will continue to constantly update and correct the product in the future.
Sneak peek at the product
The map interface made available by this website is not the final version of the product, it only showcase my contribution. The final version will be available on marineregions.org by the end of the year. Follow up versions will then be added as the legislation changes, in order to provide the most accurate representation possible.
This is an interactive map showcasing the (unfinished) continental shelf product, Click on a feature for more information!
A geopolitically active context
Overlapping claim
The steps to gain sovereignty over an extension of the continental shelf are long and really often the claims of neighbouring countries overlap. The CLCS does not determine the maritime boundaries of the nations if there are overlapping continental shelf claims. States with overlapping continental shelf claims must settle the dispute with the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The overlapping claims are not rare cases since it is estimated that 2.7million km2 of the potential extended continental shelf area are in this situation (Van de Poll & Schofield, 2010).
The process of resolving these issue is long and still ongoing concerning the area of the continental shelf. In this unstable geopolitical context Marine regions gives a sens of stability though access to a product that will be often updated to match as much as possible to the current legislation in force. The unresolved overlapping area are mapped with a different polygon labeled with all the countries claiming this area.
(1) as a general matter, the States concerned shall act in good faith with respect to the dispute on delimitation;
(2) if applicable, the States concerned shall abide by an order on provisional measures of protection by a competent international court or tribunal;
(3) the States concerned shall negotiate in good faith toward a final agreement on delimitation;
(4) pending the reaching of such an agreement, the States concerned shall seek a provisional arrangement of a practical nature;
(5) pending reaching a final agreement, the States concerned shall not take steps that jeopardize the reaching of such an agreement;
(6) the States concerned shall use only permissible counter-measures in response to unlawful acts;
(7) the States concerned shall not threaten or use force in violation of the U.N. Charter; and
(8) third States shall not knowingly assist one of the States concerned if it is acting wrongfully.
You can also contribute!
The VLIZ impact on my professional project
Thank you!
I wish to sincerely thank Lennert Schepers who gave me the opportunity to work with the VLIZ data centre team on this project and Salvador Fernandez who patiently accompanied me during these two months, showed me the ropes and was very involved despite the difficult conditions imposed by the quarantine. I also wish to thank the IT department without who the remote work of this internship would not have been possible.
Thanks to you and this professional practice I was able to acquire new competences and move one step further to my career aspiration.
