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Metadata: National Marine Character Areas (NMCA)
Abstract:
Seascapes, like landscapes, reflect the relationship between people and place and the part it plays in forming the setting to our everyday lives. Marine Character Areas highlight the key natural, cultural and perceptual influences that make the character of each seascape distinct and unique. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) were commissioned on behalf of Welsh Government to identify the character of Wales’ seascapes at a broad-scale. We divided our inshore waters into 29 Marine Character Areas. This work provides the strategic spatial evidence on seascapes to inform the Wales National Marine Plan, which is being prepared by Welsh Government. Each area profile includes a description of the key characteristics, including their natural, cultural and perceptual influences, as well as land - sea inter-visibility maps.
Data holder:
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
| Other details | ||
| Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 8866 |
| Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | National Marine Character Areas (NMCA) |
| Alternative title | The purpose of alternative title is to record any additional names by which the dataset may be known. | Marine Character Areas |
| File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | NRW_DS119124 |
| Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313139313234 |
| Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | dataset |
| Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2015-01-01 |
| End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2021-11-03 |
| Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | notPlanned |
| Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | Seascapes, like landscapes, reflect the relationship between people and place and the part it plays in forming the setting to our everyday lives. Marine Character Areas highlight the key natural, cultural and perceptual influences that make the character of each seascape distinct and unique. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) were commissioned on behalf of Welsh Government to identify the character of Wales’ seascapes at a broad-scale. We divided our inshore waters into 29 Marine Character Areas. This work provides the strategic spatial evidence on seascapes to inform the Wales National Marine Plan, which is being prepared by Welsh Government. Each area profile includes a description of the key characteristics, including their natural, cultural and perceptual influences, as well as land - sea inter-visibility maps. |
| Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | This work was carried out under contract to LUC. Character assessment involves desk-based stages and field verification, considering the variety and combination of natural, cultural and perceptual influences that make one place distinct and recognisable from another. In all cases the UK Hydrographic Office’s Marine Charts and Ordnance Survey basemapping (for where the MCAs meet the coast) were used as the primary reference points to guide the boundary drawing process, which was digitised in GIS at a scale of 1:250,000. |
| Additional information | This describes relevant references to the data e.g. reports, articles, websites plus other useful information not captured elsewhere. | https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-and-data/maps/marine-character-areas/?lang=en LUC, 2015. National Seascape Assessment for Wales. NRW Evidence Report 80. 78pp, Natural Resources Wales, Bangor (Wales) |
| Related keywords | ||
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Land cover |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | seascape character assessment | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | seascapes | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | spatial plan | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Habitat characterisation | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Sea and Coast (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Management Areas (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Marine (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Water Resources (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Natural Resources (Incl. Features and Processes) (SMNR) | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Ecosystem (SMNR) | |
| Geographical coverage | ||
| North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 53.513067 |
| East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -2.608865 |
| South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 51.240829 |
| West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -5.777741 |
| Regional sea | benthic boundary layer | |
| Wales (WLS) | ||
| Responsible organisations | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | Natural Resources Wales (NRW) | |
| Delivery point | Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales | |
| enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk | ||
| URL | http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en | |
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | Natural Resources Wales (NRW) | |
| Delivery point | Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales | |
| enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk | ||
| URL | http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en | |
| Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
| Organisation name | Natural Resources Wales (NRW) | |
| Delivery point | Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales | |
| enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk | ||
| URL | http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en | |
| Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
| Organisation name | Natural Resources Wales (NRW) | |
| Delivery point | Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales | |
| enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk | ||
| URL | http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en | |
| Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
| Organisation name | Natural Resources Wales (NRW) | |
| Delivery point | Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales | |
| enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk | ||
| URL | http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en | |
| Resource locators | ||
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://datamap.gov.wales/layers/inspire-nrw:NRW_MARINE_CHARACTER_AREAS |
| Locator name | Name of the web resource | View and Download |
| Locator function | Code that describes the function of the resource. ISO function code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | information |
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://datamap.gov.wales/capabilities/layer/390/?ows_service=wms |
| Locator name | Name of the web resource | Web Mapping Service |
| Locator function | Code that describes the function of the resource. ISO function code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | information |
| Dataset constraints | ||
| 20.1 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 20.2 Limitations on Public Access - Other constraints | This states any limitations on access to the data. Multiple occurences are allowed here. One entry shall be from the INSPIRE Metadata registry and the other free text should be part of the resource `Have specific limitations`. | There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely. |
| no limitations | ||
| 21.1 Conditions for Access and Use - Use constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 21.2 Conditions for Access and Use - Other constraints | This states any constraints on use of the data. Multiple conditions can be recorded for different parts of the data resource. If no conditions apply, then `No condtions apply` is recorded. This uses free text. | © CNC/NRW All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and copyright of the owners. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose. |
| This states any constraints on use of the data. Multiple conditions can be recorded for different parts of the data resource. If no conditions apply, then `No condtions apply` is recorded. This uses free text. | Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right. | |
| https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ | ||
| Available data formats | ||
| Data format | Format in which digital data can be provided for transfer | Geographic Information System |
| Version info | ||
| Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2025-01-30 |
| Harvest date | The date which this record has been (re)harvested from the provider. | 2026-04-12 |
| Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2026-03-03 |
| Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN |
| Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 3.1.2 |