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Ballast Water Risk Index

The Ballast Water Service (Login) which has been developed within ESA Innovator II Project "BallastWater" has the objective to support the decision process for ballast water exchange in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The project started in January 2009 and ended in June 2010. The service includes the provision of two products:

(1) the ship dependent (dynamic) Ballast Water Risk Index and
(2) the Average Risk Index.

"Risk" means the risk that an invasive species, which is released by ballast water exchange at a certain location, survives and causes damage to the ecosystem. The model that has been developed for calculating the Risk Index follows the recommendation expressed in the IMO Ballast Water Convention for ballast water exchange.

This risk index is derived from a number of input information, namely the:

  • Water depth and distance to the coast as well as to protected areas
  • The transparency, the chlorophyll concentration and the concentration of total suspended matter derived from satellite remote sensing
  • The currents derived from an operational prediction model (here provided by BSH)
  • The salinity and temperature measured at the ballast water uptake (derived from the ballast water reporting sheets) and at the destination (derived from remote sensing data and the prediction model).

The concept of the model is that for certain situations high or low risk is assumed, e.g.:

  • a high risk is assumed for high chlorophyll concentration,
  • low risk is assumed for clear water (high transparency values),
  • high risk is near the coast and at low water depths,
  • high risk is assumed for currents that potentially transport the ballast water to the coast or to protected areas and
  • high risk is assumed if the ecological situation (temperature and salinity) at the source of the ballast water is similar to the situation where the ballast water shall be exchanged?

For further information or login access please contact info@brockmann-consult.de.

Service description

Dynamic Risk Index

The dynamic Ballast Water Exchange Risk Index provides the potential risk of intrusion of invasive species due to ballast water exchange in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea depending on the current environmental situation and the source of the ballast water.

The Ballast Water Risk Index is build from three individual risk indices, indicating the risk at the exchange position (Risk Index Exchange), the risk from a drift of the ballast water (Risk Index Drift) and the risk derived from the comparison between the source and the destination ecosystem (Risk Index Ecoregion). The 50 nm zone provides additional important information for the assessment of the risk and is plotted as a line in the map on user request (see Figure 1).

Risk indices
Figure 1: Example for the Risk indices (Date: 19.05.2006).

Average Risk Index

The Average Risk Index is calculated by averaging daily risk indices (Risk Index exchange and Risk Index drift) for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on a yearly, semi-annual, quarterly and seasonal basis. The product provides the mean (Figure 2) as well as the standard deviation (SD; see Figure 3) of all daily input risk indices for a selected time period. The mean product indicates where the risk might be high or low while the standard deviation provides the information where stable or unstable regions can be detected.

Average final risk indices
Figure 2: Average final Risk Index (RI eco) of summer months June, July and August.

SD of final risk indices
Figure 3: Standard deviation of the final risk indices (RI eco) of summer months June, July and August.

Web application

Both Risk Index Products can be generated and displayed via a web interface.

Dynamic Risk Index

The dynamic risk index is calculated via this interface depending on input that has to be provided by the user. The result is displayed as risk index map. The ship position can be marked in the map using a form at the lower right area of the page.

UI for dynamic risk indices
Figure 4: User interface for dynamic risk index.

Average Risk Index

The average risk indices are pre-calculated and are displayed according to the user specification of the time period and product type (mean or standard deviation (SD)).

UI for average risk indices
Figure 5: User interface for average risk index.

As additional information the shipping routes as well as protected ares can be plotted in the map (see Figure below).

Additional information
Figure 6: Additional Information (e. g. ship routes, protected areas etc.).

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