Title of dataset | 2011, Envision, Isle of Lewis Wave Array,Benthic Survey |
Narrative summary of dataset | Lewis Wave Power Ltd. (LWP) (a wholly owned subsidiary of Aquamarine Power Ltd.) was seeking to develop a wave energy demonstration array off the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. As a first stage of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project, LWP commissioned Royal Haskoning Ltd. to produce an Environmental Scoping Report (Lewis Wave Power Ltd., 2011) to facilitate the identification and assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with the project.
The survey reported on here formed this field-based benthic component. Its purpose was to provide site-specific benthic data to inform an assessment of impact of the proposed development.
The key objectives were to: Determine the distribution and abundance of marine habitats and communities within the study areas; Determine the substrate type at all locations sampled and Identify habitats or species of conservation importance.
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Summary of processing methodology | A field sampling strategy was created and approved Aquamarine Ltd. Transects were run roughly perpendicular to the shoreline (from shallow to deep water), transects were also placed equidistant over the sites with four video drops along each transect.
Short camera drops with a small robust CCTV bullet camera system was used to withstand the rugged conditions at the survey site. Each video drop was recorded using a Sony DV tape recorder and time at the start and end of each deployment were logged. Positions were recorded using a differentially corrected GPS (dGPS) system (with a published accuracy of = 1m). These were displayed on the video. Depths were also noted for each video drop. The Transect survey areas were represented with line data and specific drop camera points are recorded using point data within GIS.
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Start date | 2011-08-23 |
End date | 2011-08-30 |
Frequency of observations | day to sub-week |