HELCOM launches a new online map service

Helsinki, 14 September (HELCOM Information Service) – The Helsinki Commission working for the protection of the Baltic marine environment announced today the launch of a new online map and data service with many advanced and improved features. Its main objective is to make environmental information accessible for interested users and the general public.

The new HELCOM map and data service aims to be easy to use, intuitive and attractive, with a similar look and feel as Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc. It is based on ESRI's ArcGIS Server and Flex development platform.

The new service allows users to access and visualize a wide range of data on activities and pollution loads affecting the Baltic marine environment, including also information about monitoring activities and regional preparedness for accident response. Users can view, create and save/print their own maps, download datasets, and create live links to the HELCOM GIS website via the new service.

“The main change compared to previous map and data services provided via the HELCOM website is in the visualization,” says Ms. Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.  “There is a brand new way for navigating and accessing information from the map. All icons are placed at the top of the site and you can see all the sub-menus just by placing your mouse on the icons. These icons open the so called widgets on the right side of the map which contain all the information.”

“Another significant change is that HELCOM has joined all former GIS map services (MARIS, Nutrient GIS, maritime spatial planning GIS, coastal fish monitoring metadata-based GIS, COMBINE monitoring GIS and Data delivery service) into one single service,” says Brusendorff. “This solution makes it easier to combine and analyze data.”

Downloading of GIS shape files is considerably easier via the new map and data service. It also provides OGC compliant Web Map Services (WMS) so that users can access available layers from their own GIS software.

The development of the new HELCOM map and data service has been made possible by the work of the HELCOM project Development of HELCOM Data and Geographic Information System which was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers during 2009-2010. The data that is available through the HELCOM map and data service has been compiled through various different sources. A large amount of work carried out by different HELCOM groups, experts, projects as well as the HELCOM Secretariat staff has contributed to the broad selection of data now available. Also data produced by other organizations and projects are displayed via the map service.

Follow-up:

Additional info on the new HELCOM map and data service: http://www.helcom.fi/GIS/Mapservice/en_GB/AboutMapService/  

HELCOM map and data service: http://maps.helcom.fi/website/mapservice/index.html

For any feedback, questions or assistance, please contact Mr. Manuel Frias (manuel.frias@helcom.fi), Ms. Hanna Paulomäki (hanna.paulomaki@helcom.fi) or Ms. Minna Pyhälä (minna.pyhala@helcom.fi) at the HELCOM Secretariat.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi