[Seavox] Sea Areas

[Roy Lowry]

Thanks Greg,

Don't worry, I wasn't planning starting WWIII in the far east - IHB(2002) is just a convenient handle for our internal discussions. Would we be OK calling it something like 'SeaVoX Sea Areas' in the short term and then renaming it should IHO publish?  

I got a holding reply from IHO - a polite note thanking me for my interest and acknowledging the problem.  However, the main purpose of the note was to give Robert Ward support for moves within IHO so concrete any concrete results will probably take some time.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on Drake Passage.  I'd assumed from your images that they'd split it.  I'd be happy with one Drake Passage in the South Atlantic but we could have one Drake Passage with mapping links to both Oceans.  Only consequence of that would be one key used by IHO would be AWOL from our list.

Cheers, Roy.

>>> "Greg Reed" <greg at metoc.gov.au> 04/21/08 10:28 PM >>>
Roy

I agree with your proposal to use the S-23 hierarchy.  This hierarchy could
then be extended, as required, at the national level for more detailed
areas. A word of caution - until you get an official response from IHB,
don't refer to the list as the official IHO list of sea areas.

I am not sure of the implications of using using periods vs underscores but
this should not be an issue either way.

Regarding Drake's Passage, this area has been duplicated, not split, by IHB.
The same area appears twice - once in South Atlantic and once in Southern
Ocean. I would prefer to see it as a single entity, probably in the South
Atlantic, as this is where the majority of the area falls.

regards, Greg

On 21/04/2008, Roy Lowry <rkl at bodc.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> I have now formally written to IHO encouraging regional publication of the
> updated S-23 (Sea Areas) standard on a regional basis to get past the China
> Sea problem.  I will keep the list informed of developments.
>
> However, I don't think we can wait for this to happen, particularly for
> SeaDataNet so me need to take some action to take the Sea Area issue forward
> by setting up some new lists in the Vocabulary Server.
>
> Currently, we have a C16 'superlist' made up from the 1953 Sea Areas plus
> the 4 'ROSCOP extras'.  I gave some thought to implementing the update by
> adding more lists to this superlist, but have decided that approach will
> cause more problems than it solves.
>
> So, I think that I need to set up a new superlist, containing the
> following lists:
>
> (1) IHO S-23 (2002) hierarchy top level terms
> (2) IHO S-23 (2002) hierarchy middle level terms
> (3) IHO S-23 (2002) hierarchy bottom level terms
> (4) SeaVoX term extensions (to deal with issues like the ROSCOP extras and
> large fresh/brackish water bodies like the Caspain and the Great
> Lakes).  Just one level is envisaged at present, but this could
> change.......
>
> For those who aren't aware, the IHO sea areas terms are linked to spatial
> extent definitions (polygons).  I would obviously build a mapping between
> the new terms and C16. The result would form a 'suspension framework' for
> local gazetteer hierarchies.
>
> Before doing this I'd like to ask a few questions:
>
> (1) Would switching from C16 to a new list at some stage cause anything
> more than I the minor hiccough I foresee to SeaDataNet?
>
> (2) Should we stick with the IHO Sea Area keys that include periods (e.g.
> 1.6) or replace the periods by underscores (e.g. 1_6). Just how
> IT-unfriendly are periods?
>
> (3) Do we need to persist with the current 'ROSCOP extensions' (the four
> large ocean splits)?
>
> (4) What should we do about Drake Passage?  IHO have split this into two
> bits, one part of the South Atlantic and one part of the Southern Ocean.  My
> instinct is to preserve the two entities and play with their labelling such
> as Drake Passage (South Atlantic) / Drake Passage (Southern Ocean).  Other
> suggestions welcome.
>
> Any views on my suggested course of action are welcome now before I start
> building anything.
>
> Cheers, Roy.
>
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