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BGS GeoScour provides river scour susceptibility information for Great Britain using a three-tiered data provision allowing increasing levels of understanding at different resolutions from catchment to local (channel/reach) scales.
The Catchment_Designated_Sites layer is part of a suite of 11 GIS layers, organised into three different levels (Tiers 1, 2 and 3) and focussing on the natural characteristics and properties of catchment and riverine environments. This layer is part of the Tier 2 level, which focusses on the small catchment areas. Tier 2 contains four other layers: Catchment_Geological_Runoff_Potential, Catchment_Morphology, Catchment_Urban_Coverage and Catchment_Flood_Accommodation_Space.
The Catchment_Designated_Sites is a polygon shapefile that describes the number, area and coverage percentage of designated (or protected) sites per catchment using the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Management Catchments Cycle 2 for England, Wales and Scotland, respectively. The six designated sites included in the layer are the Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI), National Nature Reserves (NNR), Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The designated sites correspond to areas that need and receive protection because of their environmental, historical or cultural value to the nation. These designated sites are areas protected for their bio and geodiversity value.
Catchments having a large percentage coverage or number of designated sites will require a higher attention in terms of scour risk and management. |