We develop custom analytics and reporting for projects. These analytics give project users real-time feedback about the consequences of their sketched ideas. These reports range in complexity, from simple feedback on whether a sketch meets minimum size requirements of a planning process, to analytics that relate a sketch to other data in the project, to incorporating sophisticated models and trade-off analysis. This is presented in easy-to-understand reports, making sophisticated analysis accessible to users at a wide range of technical levels. We work with projects individually to scope custom analytics that meet their project needs exactly.

Basic Analytics

Above report describes sketch size & attributes.

(4 hours development time)

The most basic level of reporting provides users with simple metrics about the sketch they have created (size, distance, etc.) and display attributes of the sketch.

Intersection Reports

(8 hours development time per intersection type)

Our intersection analytics relate a sketch to other data layers, often habitat, fishing effort, or overlap with existing infrastructure or sensitive areas. For example, you may have a report that calculates the types of habitat within the sketched area, what % of that habitat is captured in relation to the project region, and how that relates to project goals. Or, it may report on what types of human uses are currently present within the sketched area. A report may simply tell the user that their sketch intersects with another feature that prohibits that design, like a shipping lane passing too close to existing oil rigs. We work with projects individually so that reports match planning goals and user needs exactly.

Above report describes habitat represented in sketch area.

Incorporating Model Results

(8-20 hours development time per model type)

Many decision-support tools for environmental planning use available data to model where the management zones should be placed to be most effective. Within SeaSketch, projects can incorporate the guidance of this type and other models by associating the user’s ideas with the model’s output. To date we have worked with projects to incorporate Marxan, InVest ecosystem services, energy-use, and Simpson’s diversity modeling.

Read further about the use of Marxan in the Marine Planning Partnership of British Columbia.

Tradeoff Analysis

(1-2 weeks development time depending on complexity)

We develop tradeoff analysis reporting for projects depending on the various priorities they wish to weigh in their decision-making process. The image below demonstrates plotting various comprehensive zoning plans against each other based on Ecological Value and Fishing Value as defined by a project in Barbuda. These reports allow users to easily compare plans, assessing their relative impacts or benefits given various parameters defined by managers or planners.

Cumulative Impacts

(2 weeks plus, depending on complexity)

Cumulative Impacts analysis and mapping allows decision-makers to clearly see what geographic areas are most impacted by human activities, in relation to the sensitivity of the habitats in that area. By incorporating these models into SeaSketch, users may (1) visualize the cumulative impacts to prospective planning areas, and (2) artificially adjust those human activities to better understand the benefit of various potential management priorities. For example, a can calculate the average and range of cumulative impacts for an area sketched (e.g., a prospective management zone), and see how those numbers would change if there were no organic pollution, no commercial fishing, or 50% less of both. Visit impacts.seasketch.org to see the use of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Global Cumulative Impacts model connected to SeaSketch reporting.