In principle UCIT represents a philosophy that aims to conveniently combine data, models and tools for analysis for the benefit of end users and researchers. It is developed with the "frame of reference"-approach as a basis as described in Van Koningsveld et al. (2004).
The UCIT philosophy: data, models an analysis tools
Van Koningsveld et al. (2005) describe the development of the UCIT concept and an experimental application of this concept to Dutch coastal managment. UCIT is developed with the "frame of reference"-approach as a basis. The "frame of reference"-approach, developed by Van Koningsveld (2003) aims to facilitate the communication between researchers and end users of research, in a practice oriented research context. Although both researchers and end users play their own roles in practice oriented research, they must work together to come to mutually acceptable results. Although the
communication process is infinitely more complex, practice shows that both end users and
researchers benefit from working with a simple template to help them focus their discussion
Van Koningsveld et al. (2005). A scheme that was shown to work in a wide range of
practical applications is the 'basic' frame of reference, presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The 'basic' frame of reference.
Discussions, using the 'basic' frame of reference as a guiding template help to identify the
crucial components of a management problem at a conceptual level. To facilitate the step
from conceptual to actual quantitative information the rather conceptual frame of reference
was expanded to a more concrete instrument, viz. UCIT (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Flow diagram of UCIT showing coherence between data, models and coastal state indicators, with a
potential link to a Geographical Information System GIS.
DATA
MODELS
CSIs GIS
UCIT instrument
June, 2005 8.5460.70 Universal Coastal Intelligence Toolkit
UCIT
2—2 WL | Delft Hydraulics
A fundamental notion behind UCIT is that for stretches of coast that are regularly monitored
and constantly subject to management activities, the same data, models and CSIs are used
time and again!
Once CSIs are selected they are commonly to be extracted from the field data and to be
analysed on a routine basis. Data helps to monitor a CSIs past values and trends. Models
may be used to predict their future state and evolution. The (potential) GIS is mainly used
for visualisation and less for a direct analysis (at least at the momen).
The interaction between specialists and end users would greatly benefit from a system
where these three elements are combined in a structured and efficient manner.
To test this notion the UCIT philosophy was put to the test in an application for the Dutch
coast. The Dutch coast fits the previously mentioned criteria in the sense that there is an
extensive database containing bathymetric and topographic profiles. Dutch coastal
management focuses on a number of topics using well defined coastal state indicators. In the
Dutch example case coastline preservation and dune strength preservation are the main
CSIs, JARKUS data is the main data source (transect based) and coastal area, coastal profile
and coastline models are the main modelling instruments included.
Although each UCIT has its own peculiarities, some basic steps may be identified. The next
chapter focuses on a brief description of those steps.
Cited literature
Van Koningsveld, M., 2003. Matching specialist knowledge with end user needs. Bridging the gap between coastal science and coastal management. PhD thesis, Twente University, Enschede, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-365-1897-0
VAN KONINGSVELD, M. and MULDER, J.P.M., 2004. Sustainable coastal policy developments in the Netherlands. A systematic approach revealed. Journal of Coastal Research, 20(2), 375-385.
Van Koningsveld, M.; M.J.F. Stive and J.P.M. Mulder, 2005. "Balancing research efforts and management needs. A challenge to coastal engineering." Proceedings of the 29th Int Conf. of Coast. Eng. Lisbon, Portugal, 2004. pp. 2985 - 2997
This document is separated into two parts.
