ABPmer commissioned by The Crown Estate to support QA of shared marine data

The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange (MDE) supports the marine renewables industry with shared offshore survey data to inform future development projects.

Leading marine consultancy ABPmer has been commissioned by The Crown Estate for data handling tasks critical to the effective management of the MDE.

Supporting seabed management around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, The Crown Estate awards seabed rights for offshore energy, marine mineral extraction and laying of cables and pipelines. The MDE collates data collected from these projects, then made freely available to promote collaboration within the sector, reduce survey costs and de-risk offshore investment.

High-standard data maintenance and discoverability is critical to the effective use of MDE data. ABPmer will prepare, validate and upload data in strict compliance with the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) Data Guidelines.

“Holding quality-assured data is incredibly important for the effectiveness of the Marine Data Exchange,” said Chelsea Bradbury, Marine Data Manager at The Crown Estate. “We are pleased to have the experienced Data team at ABPmer support our in-house team with the preparation, validation and upload to the MDE for the support of our customers, to ultimately aid the long-term development of our sea bed.”

Chris Jackson, Head of Data Services at ABPmer, said “We are delighted to be working with The Crown Estate to maintain the MDE. This work further demonstrates our breadth of experience in delivering data and quality management processes in the marine space.”

ABPmer’s Data team are experienced marine data handlers, providing management, quality assurance, data solutions and GIS support to the Welsh Government, Marine Institute, Marine Scotland and many other clients working in the coastal and offshore environment.