2002 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF IRELAND
ENDA GALLAGHER, EDDIE MORTIMER & KOEN VERBRUGGEN
GSI – Firmly in the 21st Century

Cover of the 2001 GSI Annual Report.


The Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) Annual Report for 2001 highlighted some areas of important progress:
  • Work started on a document management system, underpinned by a newly established scanning service, and on development of an integrated database structure in Oracle.
  • The 1:100,000 bedrock map series progressed sufficiently to ensure its completion in 2003, and new fast-track approaches were advanced in Quaternary mapping, providing important information for resource and land use planning
  • 90% of deeper water areas was surveyed in the National Seabed Survey and a data management system established to ensure the resulting information is easily available for fisheries, energy and engineering projects.
  • Work on four county (Kilkenny, Monaghan, South Cork and Tipperary North) Groundwater Protection Schemes was either fully or almost fully completed and the data provided to the relevant local authorities as a decision-supporting system in land use planning.
But GSI is not resting on its laurels! This article is concerned with two items – the Information Management Programme (IMP) and the National Seabed Survey. In particular, the IMP is a central theme at the heart of much that GSI will be doing in the next few years. The IMP will a make for a revolutionary change in the way that GSI does its business and we expect that our customers will reap increasing benefit. Furthermore, information management is central to the strategic goals of GSI which are set out in the Strategic Vision of GSI which was published in conjunction with the Annual Report, 2001. In summary the goals are:
1. To provide easily accessible and accurate geological information,
2. To support sustainable development, environmental protection and the National Development Plan,
3. To map Ireland’s earth resources,
4. To promote public understanding of the role of GSI and geology in Irish society,
5. To provide a stimulating, motivating and rewarding work environment for GSI staff.
Information Management Programme
Information Management has become the top priority for GSI. At its heart is the management of how we acquire, verify, manipulate, interpret and provide information. The Earth Resource Information Warehouse (ERIW), intended to deliver integrated database and geographic information systems (GIS), which started in 2000, was designed to ensure GSI could provide this service electronically and effectively. Significant progress, stimulated by moneys from the Government’s Information Society Fund, has been made. In particular:
  1. A digital document management system (DMS) has been designed and installed.
  2. A bureau scanning service had at end 2001 captured about 40,000 records, including a significant batch of nineteenth century six-inch field sheets.
  3. The Geotechnical Database has been developed to allow internal web browser access to data through the provision of an embedded GIS input and editing module.
  4. A pilot B2C (Business to Customer) site was initiated. This is scheduled to be fully operational during 2002.
  5. Work started on developing an integrated database structure in Oracle. This project, developed in collaboration with the British Geological Survey, will revolutionise the storage and manipulation of digital data in GSI. Importantly, it will form the foundation for web-enabled data delivery systems to customers.
  6. Web-enabled information delivery systems, the ultimate goal of the ERIW initiative, are being developed and funding is being sought to speed up this element.

National Seabed Survey
This €27 million project will progress through its third survey season in 2002. By the end of this season, coverage of Zone 3, the deeper water area of the Irish seabed where water depths exceed 200m, will be complete. The Survey is producing several datasets – including multibeam bathymetry, multibeam backscatter, sub-bottom profiler, magnetic and gravity data, and sea-water temperature and salinity profiles. 2002 sees the beginning of surveying in Zone 2 (200m–50m water depth), and data in even shallower waters are also being gathered during transits to deeper waters. 2002 will also see the start of the deep seismic and ground truthing programmes. The Survey is originating vast amounts of data and a 3 tera-byte mass data storage and management system has been established in order to ensure that information can be provided efficiently to customers. All of this information is now available in both paper and digital formats.

 Despite there being no obvious precedent for this type of project in size and scope anywhere in the world, and despite it conforming to the highest international standards, the Survey is ahead of schedule. It remains true to a primary objective, that of widening the national skill pool in marine science, by facilitating various ancillary projects – including the collection of weather data for Met Éireann and cetacean observations for the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group. It continues to encourage inter-departmental co-operation and facilitates international technology transfer arrangements, and is now a worthy model for future large-scale government projects. The overall dataset is the seed for Joint Industry Programmes – e.g. a strategic partnership has been developed with Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the fisheries industry, and holds potential for EU 6th Framework Programme Integrated Projects and Public Private Partnerships.

 The Annual Report and Strategic Vision can be seen at the GSI web site. A limited number of copies are available from Theresa Williams – Tel: 01 604 1481.
Contacts:
IMP – Koen Verbruggen 01 604 1425;
E-mail [email protected];
Seabed Survey – Enda Gallagher
01 604 1381
E-mail [email protected] ; Web: http://www.gsi.ie