African Marine Atlas

The African Marine Atlas developed by the Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa (ODINAFRICA) was officially launched on 23 February 2007 at the IOC Project Office for International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) in Ostend, Belgium.

The African Marine Atlas provides substantial maps, images, data and information to coastalama_screen_400x310.shkl.jpg resource managers, planners and decision-makers from various administrative institutions and specialized agencies in Africa. The Atlas will be of immense benefit to national institutions and a variety of users such as environmentalists, local administrators, park managers, scientific community, fishing cooperatives, tourists, hotel keepers, teachers, NGOs, the general public, and any other interested persons. It has over 800 downloadable data products derived from the fields of marine geo-sphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, geopolitical and the human socio-economic dimensions.

The Atlas indicates areas of intense use along the coastline requiring careful management and provides potential foresight on likely consequences of specific decisions. Further, the Atlas indicates gaps in knowledge and information base, where additional efforts may be directed. The Atlas will also act in other ways as a guide to recreational opportunities and tourist attractions.

In developing the Atlas, the main objective was to collate available geospatial datasets and information on the marine environment and to summarize it into an African Marine Atlas suite.

The website is one of a set of Marine Atlas products that will include web data services, web mapping and an Atlas publication when completed.

The Atlas was realized through intensive work between May 2006 and February 2007 by a team of 16 marine scientists and GIS experts from NODC’s in Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania. International ocean data experts provided key inputs in data analysis. It is based on an extensive survey of coastal and marine data needs undertaken in early 2006 in all the countries participating in ODINAFRICA.

Primary partners in this project were the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the African Coelecanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP). UNEP will develop a clearinghouse and information system on coastal and marine resources of Eastern Africa from the regional atlas. The Atlas has brought great benefits to participating national institutions and Africa as a whole, by encouraging scientists to work together, learn new techniques, and build teams that will continue to regularly update the Atlas with national and local scale data sets.

_____________________________________________________________________

由非洲海洋数据与信息网络（Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa, ODINAFRICA）开发的《非洲海洋地图集》（African Marine Atlas）于2007年2月23日，在比利时奥斯坦德的联合国教科文组织政府间海洋学委员会国际海洋数据与信息交换项目办公室（IOC Project Office for International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange, IODE）正式发布。

该地图集为非洲各行政机构与专门机构的海岸带资源管理者、规划者及决策者提供了丰富的地图、影像、数据与信息。本图集将为各国机构以及环境学家、地方行政人员、园区管理者、科研群体、渔业合作社、游客、酒店经营者、教师、非政府组织、普通公众及其他所有相关人士等各类用户带来极大助益。图集包含源自海洋地质圈、水圈、大气圈、生物圈、地缘政治以及人类社会经济维度的800余种可下载数据产品。

该地图集标注了沿海岸线需精细化管理的高强度开发区域，并可为特定决策的潜在后果提供前瞻性预判。此外，图集还指明了当前知识与信息基础存在的空白领域，可为后续研究指明方向。同时，该图集还可作为休闲娱乐机会与旅游景点的导览参考。

在本图集的开发过程中，核心目标是整合现有海洋环境相关的地理空间数据集与信息，并将其汇总为《非洲海洋地图集》系列产品。

该网站是海洋地图集系列产品之一，后续还将完善网络数据服务、网络制图功能及图集出版物。

该图集由来自贝宁、加纳、肯尼亚、毛里塔尼亚、毛里求斯、莫桑比克、纳米比亚、塞内加尔、塞舌尔、南非及坦桑尼亚的国家海洋数据中心（National Oceanographic Data Center, NODC）的16名海洋科学家与地理信息系统（GIS）专家组成的团队，于2006年5月至2007年2月期间通过密集工作完成。国际海洋数据专家为数据分析提供了关键支持。本图集基于2006年初对所有ODINAFRICA参与国开展的沿海与海洋数据需求的广泛调研。

本项目的主要合作伙伴为联合国环境规划署（United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP）以及非洲腔棘鱼生态系统计划（African Coelecanth Ecosystem Programme, ACEP）。联合国环境规划署将基于该区域地图集开发东非沿海与海洋资源信息交换中心与信息系统。本图集通过推动科学家协作、学习新技术，并组建将持续通过国家与地方尺度数据集定期更新图集的团队，为参与的各国机构及整个非洲带来了诸多益处。