Coastal Resources Inventory System

Coastal Resources Inventory System - CRIS

The Coastal Resources Inventory System (CRIS) was developed as a tool to enable countries to compile the necessary baseline data for the execution of project activities related to the sustainable management of coastal resources. The CRIS manages several types of coastal resources data, including coastal physical characteristics, natural environments, and information on the use of coastal areas and resources. The idea behind the CRIS is to assist in moving the agencies in each country beyond simple data collection, and to facilitate their cooperation in establishing GIS-based coastal resource data management and analysis for policy and decision making. The CRIS is an interactive system based on a web-GIS concept, capable of combining data with spatial applications such as remote sensing and satellite imagery. It is addressed to planning agencies and ministries of environment, and has the potential for being used as a multi-layered multi-scenario decision-making support tool.

The CRIS consists of 2 parts: a database for storing the spatial and attribute data for each country, and a simple set of software tools that will provide users with basic querying, updating and reporting capabilities. The CRIS links two kinds of data:

	attribute data - data in a relational database: tables and queries (Microsoft Access)
	spatial data - maps in a Geographic Information System (ArcView)

Relational databases allow for linking several data tables through common fields, and for displaying data records through queries designed by the user. Relational databases present several advantages:

	They eliminate (or greatly reduce) the repetition of data (i.e. eliminate for redundancy).
	They allow for convenient updating of records without adversely affecting other records (i.e.eliminate "update anomalies"); the process of solving these problems is called "normalization".

Spatial data are data that have spatial identifiers associated to them. The identifiers could be positional markers, such as the placing of the data in a grid (x, y coordinates), or a georeferenced attribute, where the data have a latitude/longitud reading associated to them.

CRIS automates linkages between Access and ArcView, enabling the spatial representation of the Access data in coverages (digital map layers). Specific queries in Access can then be spatially processed by ArcView, and the records returned are stored in an ArcView table which can be manipulated but not modified. The end result is a system that allows for performing spatial analysis on large datasets of coastal resources which can be continuosly updated and/or added to.

For further information, please go to http://www.cpacc.org/c3wn.htm

Also see presentation by Ian King, CPACC/ACCC, The Coastal Resource Information System: An Approach to the Development of a Decision Support System.

[Home] [Menu] [Summary] [Pilot Network] [Documents] [Indicators] [Events Calendar] [Training Materials] [Press Releases] [Suggest Links] [Contact Us]