Proposed subject for internship at Flanders Marine Institute
Subject: Marine Regions
Introduction
Marine Regions is a database with a list of mostly marine place names. These place names are
described by coordinates or shapefiles which are available through the website. Besides this list
(gazetteer), one can also download shapefiles (f.i. Exclusive Economic Zones, IHO Sea Areas)
covering the world oceans and static maps.
The Marine Regions Geographic IDentifier (MRGID) is a unique and persistent identifier to refer to a
Geographic Object. Use of the MRGID, as URI and persistent identifier has the commitment of the
Flanders Marine Institute, issuing the identifier to maintain the http domain registration, and a
strategy for managing the domain and the web servers.
Marine Regions provides several web services which allow the user to have direct access to the
geographic data, maps and metadata from a GIS desktop or for online applications. Currently Marine
Regions provides the OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) services WMS (Web Map Services), WFS
(Web Feature Services) and CSW (Catalogue Services for the web).
The purpose of Marine Regions is to work towards a standard for georeferenced marine names.
Possible tasks for students
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Marine geographic data management
o Update geometry of IHO map of the World Seas and Oceans, based on the
publication from http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-12-00079.1
o Identifying gaps in data and completing the information available in the database
o Creating shapefiles for certain place types
o Quality control of the data
Requirements
-
GIS knowledge recommended
Background geography/geology for data management tasks
Computer scientist for web developments
Internship for a period of at least 1 month
Working environment and support
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) is an autonomous institute with the legal status of a non-profit
organisation and has the following strategic objectives:
• Promoting Flemish marine scientific research.
• Serving as an international contact point in the marine scientific field.
• Promoting the international impact of Flemish marine scientific research.
• Promoting the visibility of Flemish marine scientific research to the public at large by means of
popularisation and sensitisation.
• Providing scientific information on the sea to policy makers, whether or not upon request, so
that they can use this information to develop their policy with regard to marine affairs.
VLIZ is located in the coastal town of Oostende (Belgium). For more information on our activities,
please visit the website www.vliz.be
Contact
Simon Claus, Flanders Marine Institute
simon.claus@vliz.be