OGUK works closely with members and regulators to support the development of tools and datasets to help industry better understand the marine environment and improve preparedness for oil spill response.
Coastal sensitivities
OGUK’s Oil Spill Response Forum facilitated a study to collate and map information about coastal areas required for oil spill planning and response in Scotland, including environmental sensitivities and socioeconomic data. The data are now available to download through the Marine Scotland National Marine Plan website.
Seabird oil sensitivity index
OGUK’s Oil Spill Response Forum closed out the recommendations of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) for the oil and gas industry to work with the Joint Nature Conservation Council to validate and update existing seabird data. OGUK commissioned a new seabird survey data in 2013. A new seabird oil sensitivity index was developed based on data from 1995 to 2015 from boat-based, visual aerial and digital video aerial surveys. The data is available through the Joint Nature Conservation Council.
The seabird survey data was placed on the European Seabirds at Sea (ESAS) database. It includes A Review of the Value and Applicability of the JNCC Seabird Vulnerability Index to the Marine Waters off Eastern Scotland, which examines data from the Seabird Oil Sensitivity Index. Another area of published work, ESAS Suitability Study, tested the Seabird Oil Sensitivity Index data against collected data. Download the research published.
Metocean data
OGUK members can freely access a two-year metocean dataset (wind, waves, currents and tides) that is used in oil spill modelling for oil emergency pollution plans. Contact [email protected] to access the data.
UK Benthos database – Offshore Environmental Surveys
The OGUK Database of Offshore Environmental Surveys has been in existence for over 15 years and is widely used as a source of offshore benthic monitoring data by operators, contractors, government agencies, NGOs and research institutions. The database contains datasets for some 740 surveys carried out between 1975 and 2015.
Raw data tables are provided so that the user may import data into software of their choice for more detailed manipulation. The tables are now supplied in Microsoft Excel format. The contents of these tables are described in detail in the ‘Database Structure’ file.
North Sea Interactive
In 2014, OGUK worked with researchers at Herriot-Watt University, the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) to translate the UK Benthos (v5.03) into spatial datasets and combine it with physical oceanographic data and sediment data. It was created through a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)-funded research proposal. The data was distributed to users via memory stick and is available to download via BGS. Click here for data.
Oil and Gas Environment Interactive
A NERC-Funded Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, has created an online mapping portal for the UKBenthos database, including the data produced in the North Sea Interactive project, updated UKBenthos data, (data will be automatically updated as new versions released), the Oil and Gas UK Wide Area Surveys, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) surveys and the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN) surveys.
Additional Web Map Services (WMS) can also be viewed alongside this data, including, JNCC’s Marine Protected Areas MPA Mapper |, EMODnet and BGS sediment data and data from Marine Scotland’s National Marine Plan Interactive (NMPi). The online mapping portal was updated in November 2020. Click here to view portal.