Pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan. Regional Locational Guidance.

2 data

2.1 Origin of data

2.1.1 Geographical Information System ( GIS) data layers have been collected from a variety of sources to be used in this document. Some layers have been created by Marine Scotland using their own data sets or those provided by other organisations, some are obtained from commercial data providers and some are freely available for download.

2.1.2 The data layers used are the best currently available to spatially describe the use of the marine area in this RLG. It has been recognised that once more accurate or up to date data has been collected this will be used to inform further iterations of this Plan.

2.1.3 The GIS data sources and details are listed in section 8.

2.2 Limitations of data

2.2.1 Limitations can arise from the spatial resolution, the temporal coverage and the accuracy of the data. Confidence in the data layers can vary depending on how accurately they have been collected. Some layers are based on modelled data, for example resource (wind, wave, and tidal), or seal densities and as such contain varying levels of uncertainty.

2.3 Use of data

2.3.1 The GIS data layers are used to create thematic maps that illustrate the likely interactions that will need to be considered by offshore renewable energy developers and licensing bodies. These layers of spatial information provide a contextual framework that is designed to facilitate a cumulative illustration of areas where opportunity is maximised and constraint minimised.