Ireland’s Marine Atlas is developed and maintained by the Marine Institute with funding by the Government of Ireland. This work is part supported by the Irish Government and the European Maritime & Fisheries Fund as part of the EMFF Operational Programme for 2014-2020. The atlas provides a one-stop-shop to view and download marine environmental data relevant to reporting under Ireland’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The aim of the European Union’s MSFD directive is to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe through the establishment of “good marine waters”. Data in Ireland’s Marine Atlas has been guided by the European Directive on harmonising environmental data across Europe within a spatial data infrastructure known as INSPIRE. INSPIRE Data Specifications (Data Models) have been used to manage data to the categories visible under THEMES in the atlas. Many of the layers displayed in the Atlas are also used in the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF). This framework aims to bring together all marine-based human activities, outlining the government’s vision, objectives and marine planning policies for each marine activity. The NMPF report details how these marine activities will interact with each other in an ocean space that is under increasing spatial pressure, ensuring the sustainable use of our marine resources to 2040. Please read the following information carefully as it sets out the terms and conditions that govern the use of products and services on this website. Once you have read these terms and conditions click the "Agree" button at the bottom of the page to proceed. By clicking the "Agree" button you will be deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions, our legal notices and privacy statement.

This is a compilation of OSPAR habitat point data for the northeast Atlantic submitted by OSPAR contracting parties. The compilation is coordinated by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee, working with a representative from each of the OSPAR coastal contracting parties. This public dataset does not contain records relating to sensitive species (e.g. Ostrea edulis) in specific areas, or where data are restricted from public release by the owner's use limitations. This version (v2020) was published in July 2021.

HydroWASTE is a spatially explicit global database of 58,502 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their characteristics. This database was developed by combining national and regional datasets with auxiliary information to derive or complete missing characteristics, including the amount of people served, the flow rate of effluents, and the level of treatment of processed wastewater. The HydroSHEDS river network with streamflow estimates was used to geo-reference plant outfall locations and to assess the distribution of wastewaters at a global scale. All wastewater treatment plants are co-registered to the global river network of the HydroRIVERS database via their estimated outfall locations.

Output of the 2019 EUSeaMap broad-scale predictive model, produced by EMODnet Seabed Habitats and aggregated into the Benthic Broad Habitat Types of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (as defined in the Commission Decision 17 May 2017). The extent of the mapped area includes the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and areas of the North Eastern Atlantic extending from the Canary Islands in the south to the Barents Sea in the north. The map was produced using a "top-down" modelling approach using classified habitat descriptors to determine a final output habitat. Habitat descriptors differ per region but include: - Biological zone - Energy class - Oxygen regime - Salinity regime - Seabed substrate - Riverine input Habitat descriptors (excepting Substrate) are calculated using underlying physical data and thresholds derived from statistical analyses or expert judgement on known conditions.

Distribution of unequivocal Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and VME likelihood based on indicator taxa records, on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W). Several datasets, originating from public databases, literature review and data call to ATLAS partners, were gathered to compute the presence of unequivocal VME habitats in 25km * 25 km cells for the ATLAS work package 3. One layer displays the unequivocal VMEs (value=4) and the assigned high (value=3), medium (value=2) or low (value=1) likelihood of gridsquares to host VMEs, indexed on indicator taxa records from public databases with the method detailed in Morato et al (2018). The second displays the confidence associated to the VME likelihood score, indexed on data quality as detailed in Morato et al (2018) (values for unequivocal VMEs thus 100% confidence=4; high confidence=3; medium confidence=2; low confidence=1). This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.

This dataset shows the global distribution of mangroves, and was produced as joint initiatives of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (UNESCO-MAB), United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Major funding was provided by ITTO through a Japanese Government project grant; the project was implemented by ISME.

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) is a long-term, marine-data initiative funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund which, together with the Copernicus space programme and the Data Collection Framework for fisheries, implements the EU’s Marine Knowledge 2020 strategy. EMODnet Physics (www.emodnet-physics.eu) is one of the seven domain-specific portals of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). EMODnet-Physics map portal (www.emodnet-physics.eu/map) provides a single point of access to validated in situ datasets, products and their physical parameter metadata of European Seas and global oceans. More specifically, time series and datasets are made available, as recorded by fixed platforms (moorings, tide gauges, HF radars, etc.), moving platforms (ARGO, Lagrangian buoys, ferryboxes, etc.) and repeated observations (CTDs, etc.). The available themes are the temperature of the water column, the salinity of the water column, horizontal velocity of the water column, sea level and sea level trends, wave height and period, wind and atmospheric pressure, optical properties (e.g. light attenuation, back scattering, turbidity, etc.), underwater sound pressure level (acoustic pollution), river runoff, other biogeochemical data (e.g. chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, etc.), sea-ice coverage. Acquisition of these physical parameters is largely an automated process based on a “federated” network infrastructure linking data providers and other marine data aggregating infrastructure. In particular, EMODnet Physics is strongly federated with two other European data aggregating infrastructures. One is the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service - In Situ Thematic Assembly Centre for operational data flow, while historical validated datasets are organised in collaboration with SeaDataNet and its network of National Oceanographic Data Centres. The NRT data go through a stricter quality control before NODCs validate the datasets for long-term storage and stewardship. This validation process ends when the metadata of the processed dataset are published in a CDI (Common Data Index). CMEMS-INSTAC and SDN-NODC subsets are integrated with other available sources to make the most comprehensive physical parameter data catalogues available. Thanks to international collaborative relationships to provide data access to – and preview for – coastal data in non-European areas (e.g. NOAA platforms for the US, IAPB platforms for the Arctic area, IMOS for Australia and others), EMODnet Physics catalogues are going beyond European borders to offer an even more exhaustive entry point to global-ocean physical observations.

Seabed Habitats was one of seven themes of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) initiative, funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. Since its inception in 2009, EMODnet Seabed Habitats developed, improved and gradually increased the coverage of a broad-scale seabed habitat map for Europe's seabed, also known as EUSeaMap. In addition, EMODnet Seabed Habitats continued the work started by MESH and MESH Atlantic projects in collating and making available seabed habitat maps from surveys, through the EMODnet Seabed Habitats map viewer. In it's third Phase (2017-2019), EMODnet Seabed Habitats collated and provided habitat point data and the outputs of habitat distribution modelling, and the third phase has now been extended to 2021. The extended third phase of the project will: - Continue to grow Europe's only comprehensive library of habitat maps from surveys and collection of survey sample points - Create new composite data products to add to those for the Essential Ocean Variable habitats and OSPAR threatened and/or declining habitats - Update the EMODnet broad-scale seabed habitat map for Europe (EUSeaMap) using the next seabed substrate update from EMODnet Geology - Update web content with extra resources for habitat mapping, including a catalogue highlighting all the most useful data products

This layer shows the current known extent and distribution of Seagrass meadows in European waters, collated by EMODnet Seabed Habitats. The polygons portion was last updated in 2019. The points were added in Sept 2021. The purpose was to produce a data product that would provide the best compilation of evidence for the essential ocean variable (EOV) known as Seagrass cover and composition (sub-variable: Areal extent of seagrass meadows), as defined by the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Seagrasses provide essential habitat and nursery areas for many marine fauna. There are approximately 72 seagrass species that belong to four major groups: Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae, Posidoniaceae and Cymodoceaceae. Zostera beds and Cymodecea meadows are named on the OSPAR Threatened or Declining Habitats list. Posidonia beds are protected under Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive. This data product should be considered a work in progress and is not an official product.

This layer shows the current known extent and distribution of macroalgal canopy in European waters, collated by EMODnet Seabed Habitats. The polygons portion was last updated in 2019. The points were added in Sept 2021. The purpose was to produce a data product that would provide the best compilation of evidence for the essential ocean variable (EOV) known as Macroalgal canopy cover and composition (sub-variable: Areal extent), as defined by the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Kelp and fucoid brown algae are the dominant species that comprise macroalgal forests. This data product should be considered a work in progress and is not an official product.