ScheldeMonitor, het online informatiesysteem rond onderzoek en monitoring van het Schelde estuarium = ScheldeMonitor, the online information system on research and monitoring of the Scheldt estuary

The Scheldt estuary has been, and still is, the object of study in numerous fundamental and more applied scientific studies. Quasi-continuously the Scheldt estuary is monitored for all sorts of different parameters providing scientists and policy makers with the necessary data to base their conclusions and decisions. In the framework of long-term planning of the Scheldt estuary, which is a cooperation between Flanders and The Netherlands, the need was detected for an information system that gathers and gives access to all the information on the performed research and monitoring of the estuary on both sides of the border. The “Administratie Waterwegen en Zeewezen (AWZ)” for the Flanders region and “Rijkswaterstaat - Rijksinstituut voor Kust en Zee” for the Netherlands have assigned the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) the task to set up this information system.Since the launch of the website in april 2004, the ScheldeMonitor is now an online accessible information system for research and monitoring information regarding the Scheldt estuary. There is already a considerable amount of information in the database is gradually increasing. Based on the content, the available information has been classified into different contextual themes. The themes defined in ScheldeMonitor are: system characteristics, safety, shipping, waterway, nature, environmental quality, fish and fisheries, public administration and law, methods and techniques, social-economical system. Technically, the ScheldeMonitor was set up as a subset of the IMIS database. Using the IMIS system and its built-in possibility of assigning records to a predefined context, an information system equal to IMIS but containing information specific for the Scheldt estuary was realized. Like the IMIS system, the ScheldeMonitor presents its information in different modules, that are separately accessible for the user, but are closely interconnected and integrated. At the moment there are 6 information modules in the system: Persons, Institutes, Projects, Publications, Datasets, Conferences. Choosing for one of these modules, the information system tells the user who the main players are (Persons, Institutes), what projects are being carried out (Projects), what products are delivered (Publications, Datasets) and what events are being organised (Conferences). For each of the modules, the advanced search facilities ensure an efficient retrieval of the required information.The ScheldeMonitor website can be visited on following urls: http://www.scheldemonitor.be, http://www.scheldemonitor.nl or http://www.scheldemonitor.org