Combining Geology, land map and marine charts would provide a potential benefit to public authorities and industry around the Uk coastline. The Integrated Coastal Zone Mapping project is being tested in areas around the Firth of Forth, Milford haven and from Shoreham to Lyme Regis. The scheme comprises the three party consortium of the Ordnance Survey, UK Hydrographic Office and British Geological Survey. The two year project from 2001 has provided a unified digital database from up to 5kms inland to 20 kms offshore. A Steering Group including professional and academics and representatives from the Environment Agency, Island Authorities, Defra and Port Authorities provided a further client focus. Other considerations within the study included changes in sea levels, climatic change, coastline erosion, marine nature conservation and commercial and industrial activities including pollution, offshore wind farms and new marinas.

It is hoped the trial will give rise to a full coverage of the 11,000 miles of UK coastline which is currently covered in a combination of maps and charts at different scales and projections held by the three authorities.

Professor Mike Cowling is chairman of the ICZMap Steering Group, says "Everyone who has been involved in the project now recognises the value and importance of extending ICZMap out from the trial areas to encircle the entire coastline of Britain. But if we are to progress this quickly and effectively we shall need significant additional funding to bring the coastal datasets of Ordnance Survey, the UK Hydrographic Office and the British Geological Survey to a common standard and to retain such standards. We shall therefore be presenting our report to the UK government so they can assess the potential benefits and consider funding issues."

The latest and most detailed OS MasterMap is proposed to form the foundation data with hydrographic data such as MHW (Mean High Water) and MLW (Mean Low Water) are marked by continuous lines to define the coast. Other data would be adjusted to match the base data. There will be continued research and analysis on the best vertical referencing which currently includes the OSN (Ordnance Survey Datum Newlyn) on maps and CD or Chart Datum for the UKHO chart publications. Additional survey research on shallow water areas within the MLW and 10m depth contour would be required and in some places these will cover substantial areas.

The trial data set is not to be issued as a separate publication, but rather to provide a basis for ensuring consistency between the three subsets of data. Further information can be found on the User Group sites registered with: www.iczmap.com