Guidance notes for the SEIS-BASIS information system v.1.1

SEIS-BASIS SEIS-BASIS_Template_guidance.pdf 

SEIS-BASIS Team Guidance notes for the SEIS-BASIS information system v.1.1 Page 1 of 50 

Joint Research Centre 

Institute for Environment and Sustainability 

Spatial Data Infrastructures Unit 

Administrative Arrangement between DG-Environment 

and 

Joint Research Centre-Institute for Environment and Sustainability 

SEIS Monitoring Capacity Baseline and Evolution Study (SEIS-BASIS) 

Guidance notes for the SEIS-BASIS 

information system v.1.1 

Title Guidance notes for the SEIS-BASIS information system 

v.1.1 

Creator Robin S. Smith 

Creation date 2009-07-30 

Date of last revision 2010-02-14 

Subject SEIS 

Status Draft 

Publisher European Commission 

Type Text 

Description Guidance document for users of the SEIS-BASIS information 

system to capture baseline details about environmental 

monitoring programmes across Europe 

Contributor Regina Babo, Emanuele Bigagli 

Format pdf 

Source European Commission 

Rights Public 

Identifier seis-basis_template_guidance.pdf 

Language EN 

Relation 

Coverage 

Not applicable



Contents 

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3 

1.1 Key for this document .................................................................................. 4 

2. Getting started ................................................................................................. 5 

2.1 Creating an account ..................................................................................... 5 

3. System Structure ............................................................................................. 7 

3.1 Your programmes ........................................................................................ 7 

3.1.1 Edit home- system tools ........................................................................ 7 

3.1.2 Edit home- programme tools ................................................................. 8 

3.1.3 The preview site- home ......................................................................... 9 

3.1.4 Searching by nation............................................................................. 10 

3.1.5 Searching by theme............................................................................. 11 

3.1.6 Searching by free text.......................................................................... 12 

3.2. Entering details ......................................................................................... 13 

4 The topics ........................................................................................................ 14 

4.1 Programme Design and Activities.............................................................. 14 

4.1.1 Overview.............................................................................................. 14 

4.1.2 Description........................................................................................... 18 

4.1.3 Further main sources of information.................................................... 19 

4.1.4: Contact persons ................................................................................. 22 

4.2 Policy Context and Data Generation.......................................................... 23 

4.2.1 Programme measures and policy-linkage........................................... 23 

4.2.2 Site metadata ...................................................................................... 30 

4.2.3 Additional site details........................................................................... 31 

4.2.4 Observation Metadata ......................................................................... 32 

4.2.5: Data access and user interaction to the programme ......................... 34 

4.3 Programme Stakeholders and Funding ..................................................... 36 

4.3.1 Programme measures and policy-linkage........................................... 37 

4.3.2 Stakeholders' roles and programme staff numbers ............................ 37 

4.3.3 Programme funding, sustainability and risk ........................................ 40 

4.4 System connectivity and INSPIRE-related developments......................... 41 

4.4.1 Virtual connectivity of the programme's systems ................................ 41 

4.4.2 Status of INSPIRE related network resources used in the 

programme ................................................................................................... 43 

4.4.3 Programme's relationship to INSPIRE Annexes ................................. 44 

4.5 Additional Topics and Ideas....................................................................... 46 

4.5.1 Issues you want to raise, lessons you want to learn?......................... 47 

4.5.2 Consultation......................................................................................... 47 

4.5.3 Acronym Wiktionary............................................................................. 48



1. Introduction 

Shared Environmental Information System: Monitoring Capacity 

Baseline and Evolution Study (SEIS-BASIS) 

SEIS-BASIS aims to address our current limited understanding of both the 

comparability and quality of data about the environment. Such barriers 

present time-consuming and costly problems that limit the usability, efficient 

assessment and ready conversion of data into information that meets the 

needs of users. Data comparability is hampered by issues such as diverging 

definitions between thematic groups, varying data collection practices and 

methodologies, a lack of common standards, insufficient interoperability of the 

systems used between monitoring activities and a lack of coordination of 

monitoring programmes between different levels of government and across 

borders. 

Launched by DG ENV and carried out by the JRC, in collaboration with the 

EEA and the Member States, SEIS-BASIS documents the current state-ofplay 

of environmental monitoring across Europe to address such challenges. 

The project has three main objectives: 

1. To provide a baseline assessment of the operational capacity of the 27 

EU Member States (plus Norway and Switzerland) when collecting 

data required for: 

a. The implementation of the environmental Acquis, including 

reporting obligations 

b. The integration of environmental concerns in other policies 

2. To undertake a comparative analysis and fitness-for-purpose 

assessment of environmental data and related information. 

3. Identify and assess policy options that address the gaps and barriers 

identified in the studies above. 

The baseline assessment of environmental monitoring programmes (objective 

1 above) will help us to understand the current ‘operational capacity’ of 

participating countries in terms of who is monitoring what in the European 

environment, how they are doing this, for which reporting obligations (and 

other policies) and where, including specific sites, certain countries or 

regions, as well as cross-border partnerships. To develop and maintain this 

shared understanding, the project has developed an online information 

system for the Member States to provide and maintain information about their 

monitoring programmes. 

This document provides guidance for adding to and maintaining this 

system’s information.



1.1 Key for this document 

To allow for quick reference for readers, some of the text is colour-coded: 

Important notes are given in orange text 

References to objects or text on the screen are given in blue text 

Screenshots are provided throughout the document but have been clipped to 

the main details (highlighted in the green box, below) so that key features are 

clearer. 

Figure 1: Screenshot details



2. Getting started 

2.1 Creating an account 

To access the SEIS-BASIS system you need a user account. The following 

notes describe each of the details requested on the user registration page. 

When you register, a message is sent to a national representative (usual a 

member of staff of an environment ministry or agency) to follow who is 

registering. 

Figure 2: Account registration page 

The top of the page highlighted in light blue contains the mandatory field for 

registration (also marked with (*) beside the relevant text). 

username (*) Please provide a username for the system. Please avoid 

organisation names in this box unless you are sure you will be the only person 

from your organisation that will use the system. 

password (*) (min. 6) Please provide a password for your account, using at 

least six characters. It is suggested you use a mixture of letters and numbers 

to make the password more secure. We have added a tool: how secure is 

your password? (green=strong; orange=medium; red=bad) to help you 

pick a good password. 

confirmation password (*) (min. 6) Please retype your password in this box 

to ensure that you have entered it correctly. 

country (*) Please select which country you work in (rather than the country 

you are from) from the drop-down list provided. Staff of the European 

Commission and related agencies (e.g. European Environment Agency) can 

also register under “European Union- Institutions and Agencies”, as shown 

above. 

surname (*) Please provide your surname/family name.



firstname (*) Please provide your first name/given name. 

e-mail (*) Please provide your full e-mail address with the ‘at sign’ (@), (e.g., 

firstname.surname@organisation.com). It is important that this information 

is provided in case a system administrator needs to contact you regarding 

your account or programmes (etc.), including if you forget your login details. 

insert the following code (*) To reduce automatic registration we have 

introduced a code as an image (a ‘CAPTCHA’). To register your account you 

need to insert the code displayed in the image in the box below. In the 

example above the code would be “C5FU3WSE”. 

organization name Please provide the name of the organisation or company 

you work for. This is an optional field. 

address Where possible, please provide a postal address of your office. Most 

communication will, however, take place through e-mail. 

telephone Where possible, please provide a contact telephone number. Most 

communication will, however, take place through e-mail. This is an optional 

field. 

fax Where possible, please provide a fax number. Most communication will, 

however, take place through e-mail. This is an optional field. 

clear Clicking on this button will remove all the entries from the screen. It will 

also generate a new CAPTCHA (see above). 

Once created, please click register to ensure the system is updated with 

your account (in case you are timed-out). Once you log in to the system 

you can update/alter your details by clicking on your username at the 

top of the window (see below).



3. System Structure 

3.1 Your programmes 

Registered users manage their monitoring programmes’ details in the SEIS- 

BASIS system. When you log in you are presented with a screen with several 

sections, noted below. 

3.1.1 Edit home- system tools 

The first screen you will see when you log in is Edit home. The top of the 

screen contains a number of links and tools, as shown in Figure 3 with the 

rest of the screen shown in Figure 4, below. 

Figure 3: Programme overview page (Edit home) system tools 

The above banner appears on every screen in the system and has a number 

of functions, outlined below. 

Edit home This link takes you to the first page from anywhere in the system, it 

contains the menus to access various parts of the system and provides the list 

of monitoring programmes that you manage as a user. 

Wiki This is the overall system ‘acronym wiktionary’ to define acronyms used 

in the SEIS-BASIS system by all registered users. More details about how to 

use the wiki are given at the end of this document. 

Preview site Programmes are not published for the general public to view but 

they can be seen internally by all registered users in this preview site, a 

community-support tool that helps stakeholders view each others’ 

programmes. 

Important: Before looking at the instructions for filling in programme 

details in section 4, we recommend that you look at some examples 

using this preview site tool (instructions are given below). 

Public site As noted above, monitoring programmes are not published for the 

general public but we have created a space where details about SEIS-BASIS 

can be shared once the system develops. This part of the site is currently 

under construction. 

Username (e.g. guidelinestest) Here you will find the username that you 

logged in with. Clicking on the name takes you to a version of the registration



page where your details can be updated and amended, as noted above. 

Please ensure you click save after updating your details if you enter this 

page. 

National user We have included an extract from the system database so that 

all users can see other stakeholders from their country. As noted above, each 

country has a “national official” for the system, who appears at the top of the 

list and is marked with a cross. 

Help This link takes you to the page where support documents are held, 

including this guidance document. 

Logout This link makes you exit the system and take you back to the login 

screen 

3.1.2 Edit home- programme tools 

To help you keep track of your programmes (once you have entered details) 

the entry screen presents them as a list and we provide a number of 

navigation tools to help you find them quickly. 

Figure 4: Programme overview page (Edit home) programme list tools 

Info: This box at the top of the screen displays details of when the last time 

the programme was edited. 

Search This box allows you to put in a keyword to search through the titles of 

your monitoring programmes if you have a long list to manage. Use clear to 

remove the text from the search box. 

add new press this button to insert a new programme in the system and 

launch the data entry tools. Important: Before looking at the instructions 

for filling in programme details, we recommend that you look at some 

examples using this preview site tool (instructions are given below). 

Themes (Air Quality etc.) To help organise the content of the system we 

want to classify the monitoring programmes under certain environmental



themes. To provide a common reference point for all users we are using the 

headings from the environmental legislation contained in chapter 15.10 of 

EUR-Lex (http://eur-lex.europa.eu). When you click on a theme (e.g. Water) 

only programmes under that theme will be displayed. To see all the 

programmes, again click on the All button to the left of the list of themes. 

Programme found: 1 This part of the table reports the total number of 

programmes you have entered in the staging site. 

The Alphabet To help searching through a list of programmes we have 

inserted the alphabet. By clicking on a certain letter, only programme titles 

starting with that letter will be displayed. The other button allows you to find 

programmes that start with numbers. As with the themes, to see all the 

programmes click on the All button to the left of the letters. 

Native name and English name A list of the titles of the programmes is 

provided in the main part of the table with the name of the programme in your 

language and in English. The following tools allow you to make changes to 

each of your programmes. 

Edit By clicking on this link (a pencil and paper icon), you can edit your 

programmes (see instructions in Section 4). 

Delete By clicking on this link (a cross in a red circle icon) you will delete 

the programme. Warning: If you do this the programme cannot be 

recovered! 

Generate xml By clicking on this link (an xml file icon) you can create a 

preview version of the monitoring programme’s details. Only programmes 

that have been generated by pressing this button will be presented in 

the preview site. This will normally be the last stage in the data entry 

process. 

Updated The last column in the table provides the date when the 

programme’s details were last updated. 

^ Top If you have a long list of programmes this link will take you to the top of 

the screen. 

3.1.3 The preview site- home 

Registered and logged-in users can view all the monitoring programmes’ 

details in the SEIS-BASIS system once a programme owner has made them 

available using the generate xml file icon in the edit home table. When you 

log in you are presented with the following screen.



Figure 5: Programme overview page (home) 

The main way to interact with the preview site is through three main menus: 

ABOUT, SEARCH and HOW TO EDIT, outlined below. 

ABOUT This section contains an overview of the database. As the system 

develops more information will be added to this page. 

SEARCH Clicking on this button presents a list of options for browsing the 

database: by Nation, by Theme, or through keywords (Free Text option). 

HOW TO EDIT In case you need some general guidance on how to use the 

system we have also provided a short presentation for using the tools in the 

SEIS-BASIS information system. 

HOME This link takes you back to the welcome screen for the preview site. 

LOGOUT This link makes you exit the system and take you back to the login 

screen 

3.1.4 Searching by nation 

To look at the monitoring programme details of a particular country click on 

Search and then from the drop-down menu choose by Nation, the webpage 

below will be displayed. 

Figure 6: Search by nation page



You can choose the country whose environmental monitoring programmes 

you would like to consult by clicking on the corresponding flag. Countries are 

listed in alphabetical order, accompanied by a two-character international 

country code. You can also check for the full name of the country by passing 

your mouse pointer over the corresponding flag where it will be underlined in 

red. As more countries provide details to the internal preview site, more flags 

will appear at the top of the page. 

Figure 7: List of Programmes in Search by nation page 

After clicking a flag, a list will display the monitoring programmes stored in the 

database for that country. You can also filter your view by theme, by clicking 

on the blue horizontal bar displayed at the top of the list, as illustrated in the 

above screenshot for Finland, where All has been highlighted in yellow to 

display all the programmes in this country. To change the selected country, 

simply click on the corresponding flag at the top of the page. 

Clicking on a single program title (e.g. Alg@line Monitoring) or the blue 

notebook icon on the right-hand-side of the screen will open a new page. 

This page gives some general information about the selected programme. 

You can browse other content of the selected programme through the menu 

on the left-hand-side of the new screen. For an overview of how to interpret 

this and other content of the preview system, please refer to the 

instructions for data input in the rest of the document, as the preview 

site is a browser for content requested in Section 4. 

3.1.5 Searching by theme 

After clicking on Search and then by Theme, a list is displayed of all the 

programmes in the system, as shown in the following Figure.



Figure 8: List of monitoring programmes by theme 

3.1.6 Searching by free text 

After clicking on Free Text search option, the following page is displayed. 

Figure 9: List of Programmes in Search by Free Text page 

This free-text search box can be used to insert keywords that you would like 

to search for (such as “lake”). After clicking on the Search button, 

programmes containing this keyword are displayed, with flags showing the 

countries they belong to. Again, you can either click on the name of the 

programme or the blue notebook on the right-hand-side of the screen to 

open the webpage about the selected programme. By clicking on Clear you 

can remove your search terms and start the search again.



3.2. Entering details 

Important: Please look at the instructions before creating a programme, 

as the server will time-out if you do not interact with the database 

frequently. 

The system’s overall content is split into five parts: 

1. Programme Design and Activities 

2. Policy Context and Data Generation 

3. Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

4. System Connectivity and INSPIRE-related Developments 

5. Additional Topics and Ideas 

Figure 10: List of the Five Main Parts of the SEIS-BASIS system 

As noted above, the staging site contains an add new button. Once this is 

clicked you will see the Programme Design and Activities section 

highlighted in the left-hand-side of the data input window ringed in yellow. 

Once the basic details are entered and the programme created, this full list of 

parts of the information system to be completed will be displayed here, as 

shown below. These are displayed as a menu system. By clicking on one of 

the headings of that part, various sub-sections are then displayed (e.g. 

description, further main sources of information and contact persons are 

only displayed when the Programme Design and Activities part is active). 

The remainder of the guide explains how to provide details for each of these 

sections and give further information about each question, which will also help 

you to interpret the content of the preview site.



4 The topics 

4.1 Programme Design and Activities 

Background: This section collects basic details about the monitoring 

programmes, including their title, theme, geographical coverage, 

duration, documentation for further reading and contact details of those 

responsible for the monitoring programme. 

Important: Entering details in this section creates your programme’s 

record in the system. Once you have entered the Title of the program 

(see below) it is suggested that you click create. Errors can be edited 

and the entire contents of the screen removed by clicking clear. Once 

created, please ensure you click save after each entry to ensure the 

system is updated, in case you are timed-out from the server. 

4.1.1 Overview 

1. Title of the program This is the full title of the monitoring programme in 

your language (or more than one language, if appropriate), so that 

anyone interested in your programme can find out more information from 

related websites, reports and other sources. It is a short free-text box where 

you can type or copy/paste in details. 

2. Title in English Please translate the title of the monitoring programme into 

English. This allows a large number of users to readily understand what your 

programme is about at a glance. For titles already provided in English, it 

would be useful to copy and paste in this information again to make searching 

the system more efficient. It is a short free-text box where you can type or 

copy/paste in the details. 

3. Acronym/Abbreviation 

This is the acronym or abbreviation used for the monitoring programme. This 

can also be helpful for users when trying to look for details about the 

programme, as well as allowing less information to be entered in other 

sections of the system. It is a short free-text box where you can type or 

copy/paste in the title. 

Please note, there is an acronym wiktionary, so that all acronyms are 

defined in all monitoring programmes. Your monitoring programme’s 

acronym should be entered there too, see Section 5 at the end of the 

document for more guidance.



Figure 11: First Data-entry Screen 

4. Theme 

To help organise the content of the system we would like to classify the 

monitoring programmes under certain environmental themes. To provide a 

common reference point for all users, we are using the headings from the 

environmental legislation contained in chapter 15.10 of EUR-Lex (http://eurlex.europa.eu): 

• Air Quality 

• Chemicals 

• Horizontal 

• Industrial Pollution Control 

• Nature protection 

• Noise 

• Waste 

• Water 

Please use the check-box to select which theme (or themes) your monitoring 

programme best relates to. 

5. Country 

To help organise the content of the system, we also would like to classify the 

monitoring programmes in terms of which country they apply to. If there are 

more specific geographical areas covered (including cross-border 

initiatives) please see the next question. To select the country the 

programme applies to, please browse and highlight the name from the list 

provided. If more than one country is involved in the monitoring programme, 

you can hold down the control key on your keyboard and click on each 

country name to select all that apply. Please note, if more than one country



is involved, please ensure you reply yes to 47. Is the monitoring 

programme a cross-border initiative? 

6. Programme's Geographical Coverage (country, region or other 

territory) 

The monitoring programme may cover a variety of territories, such as a whole 

country, a region, river basin, national park or other range. Given the possible 

differences involved, details can be provided in two ways. In some cases both 

may be appropriate and they are, therefore, outlined in two parts: 

Part 1- Selecting from pre-defined regions (where appropriate) 

Sometimes a group of administrative regions or provinces may be the specific 

territory of a monitoring programme. To help identify this extent we have 

created a tool to pick which region(s)/province(s) are involved from a list 

based on the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics/nomenclature 

d'unités territoriales statistiques (NUTS) classification. 

Once a country is selected from the Country question, the add a zone link 

can be used to activate the list of regions/provinces in a pop-up window. 

By clicking on the country name (in hypertext) in the pop-up, the list of 

regions appears for that country (see Figure 12). By clicking on the green 

plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table, the region can be selected. To 

go back a level, the green circular arrow icon can be used to move back to 

previous stages in the selection. If more than one region is involved, the “add 

a zone” button can be used again in the same way to add another region. 

If a particular group of provinces is involved the same process can be used to 

select them: Click “add a zone”, click the country name (in hypertext), click 

the region name (in hypertext) and select the appropriate province using the 

green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. To go back a level, the 

green circular arrow icon can be used to move back to previous stages in 

the selection. If more than one province is involved, the “add a zone” button 

can be used again in the same way to add another province. 

To delete a region or province, please click on the green minus icon 

displayed to the right-hand-side of the name of the region or province. 

The advantage of this tool is that it can allow users to have details about the 

territory of your monitoring programme that can be used to generate 

informative maps based on the NUTS classification.



Figure 12: Selecting NUTS Regions and Provinces Tool 

Part 2- Providing details of other geographical coverages 

Sometimes other administrative areas or specific designated sites may be 

involved in a monitoring programme. We would like to collect the names of 

these territories wherever possible. Please provide a name for the 

programme’s coverage. Please also explain what sort of coverage it involves 

(e.g. a national park, specific water-body or mountain range etc.) and, where 

possible, also provide these details in English to aid comparison across 

monitoring programmes. This is a short free-text box where you can type or 

copy/paste in details. 

7. Start Year (YYYY) 

In order to understand the duration of the monitoring programme, please 

provide the year when the current programme's activities started in the full 

year format (e.g. “2009”). 

8. End Year (YYYY) 

Some monitoring programmes may have a defined duration (possibly due to 

certain funding arrangements). Where appropriate, please note in what year 

the monitoring programme's activities are due to end in the full year format 

(e.g. “2009”). 

In all other cases, please do not enter any date and use the check-box to 

select that the monitoring programme is ongoing.



This is the end of the instructions for the first screen of the topics for 

the system. 

4.1.2 Description 

Having an overview of a monitoring programme in a short description gives 

users a better understanding of it overall. 

Figure 13: Description 

9. Description 

This is an abstract/summary of the monitoring programme. We would like you 

to provide a short description of the programme in English, highlighting 

details about your programme that help provide the context for its activities in 

terms of related monitoring programmes or environmental themes. The short 

description is also a place for you to add any clarification or other notes that 

you would like to share about the programme. In the future, the description 

can also be used to record any notable changes to the programme, such as 

changes to the name, several monitoring programmes being combined into 

one or a change in methodology. The text editor shown in the screenshot is 

provided inside the system to allow you to write (or copy/paste) details about 

the programme. Depending on your browser settings, this editor can also 

display some of the tools in your language and the appearance may differ 

slightly. 

Once details are provided, please ensure that you click save to update 

the system (in case you are timed-out). 

This is the end of the instructions for the second screen of the topics for 

the system.



4.1.3 Further main sources of information 

Figure 14: Further main sources of information 

10. Programme Report 

In the description box, please provide the title of the report you consider to 

contain the most information about the programme, particularly relating to 

policy. If this report is available online please provide a hyperlink in the url 

box. If there is more than one report (for example if several regions produce 

reports relevant for the programme) please use the green cross icon to add 

another row so the details can be added, as above. To remove an additional 

entry you can use the green minus icon. If other documents are available 

relating to the programme, please insert them in the Other relevant online 

sources section. Please note that both boxes for the programme report 

details are short free-text boxes. 

11. Programme technical manuals 

Many environmental monitoring programmes have technical manuals for data 

capture, sampling methodology, equipment details, site maintenance, quality 

assurance etc.. Please provide the reference to these documents (e.g. author, 

date, title and publisher) and any hyperlinks to where the various documents 

can be found. A simplified text editor is provided inside the system to allow 

you to write (or copy/paste in) the details about the programme’s technical



manuals. Depending on your browser settings, this editor can also display 

some of the tools in your language. 

12. Other relevant online sources 

As with the Programme Report, please insert in the description box a title 

for webpages that provide further details about the programme, including 

other reports, data sources, news items, factsheets, records in other 

databases etc. Please provide a hyperlink for each source in the url box. 

Additional sources can be added clicking on the green plus icon, if there is 

more than one source you would like to report. To remove an additional entry 

you can use the green minus icon. Please note that both boxes are short 

free-text. 

Please remember to click save so that the system is updated with your 

entry. 

13. Total number of monitoring sites used in the programme 

Monitoring programmes can gather data from a number of sites over a defined 

period of time. Please provide the total number of sites the programme uses 

in the box provided. Please note that the box will only accept numbers. 

This number should apply to a given year, to be added in the next question. 

14. In which year does this figure apply? 

Networks of sites for monitoring programmes can change over time due to a 

number of reasons. Please provide the year that the Total number of 

monitoring sites used in the programme refers to in the full year format 

(e.g. 2009). 

The following few simple yes/no questions deal with Monitoring programme 

site details 

15. Are this programme’s monitoring facilities used for other 

programmes? 

Sometimes a particular facility or site (etc.) may be used for more than one 

programme. Please select yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the 

question is not answered the default not responded will be highlighted. 

16. Do locations of monitoring sites (e.g. Environmental Monitoring 

Facilities) vary between reporting periods? 

Please indicate if the location of the programme’s monitoring sites (such as 

Environmental Monitoring Facilities) change between periods when data are 

reported (for example for policy reasons, such as Reporting Obligations). By 

responding to this question we will be able to see if some of the questions 

above should be updated in the future. Please select yes or no from the 

buttons in the table. If the question is not answered the default not 

responded will be highlighted. 

17. Does the programme involve a long-term project or reference 

research sites?



Although monitoring programmes are of interest, some particular projects may 

provide data for environmental monitoring such as reference studies to help 

calibrate other monitoring activities or provide long-term research data (such 

as forest catchment experiments). Please select yes or no from the buttons in 

the table if the programme involves such projects. If the question is not 

answered the default not responded will be highlighted. 

18. Do all sites gather the same measures? 

Please specify if all the sites used in the monitoring programme gather the 

same measures/observations. This can include all sites recording details 

about the same pollutants, species or other conditions. Please note that 

further details on the specific measures used in the programme are 

requested in the Policy Context and Data Generation section). Please 

select yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered 

the default not responded will be highlighted. 

19. Do all sites use the same instrumentation? 

Many monitoring programmes have sampling stations where instruments 

record the (often physico-chemical) conditions of the site, either in fixed 

locations, mobile devices or through instruments taken into the field. We 

would like to know if the same instruments (type, manufacturer, model, 

approximate age etc.) are used across a network of sites, something which 

may impact on calibration and data quality. Please select yes or no from the 

buttons in the table. If the question is not answered the default not 

responded will be highlighted. Please also select yes if there is only one site 

in your monitoring programme. 

20. For programmes related to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 

please tick the box if the programme’s observational approach is: 

• Surveillance (all relevant measures over a fixed time) 

• Operational (gathers data on areas most sensitive to pressures in 

comparison to reference conditions) 

• Investigative (relating to known exceedances, where quality levels 

have not been achieved and/or accidental pollution) 

• Not applicable (programme is not related to WFD) 

Please note, this question only applies to programmes that are relevant 

to the Water Framework Directive (WFD). 

As water is a key policy area in the environmental Acquis, we would like to 

understand the type of observational approach being adopted in support of 

the WFD. Some of these details are requested as part of the reporting 

obligation for monitoring from Article 8 of the WFD (see the EEA’s Reporting 

Obligation Database (ROD) entry: http://rod.eionet.europa.eu/obligations/520 

and the Central Data Repository country folders for more details). Depending 

on how monitoring programmes are organised, a programme may use a 

range of the different observational approaches. In this case, a comment 

can be added to the short Description to clarify any variation.



21. GMES relevant Through a simple check-box, the SEIS-BASIS information 

system offers an opportunity to identify those programmes that are relevant 

for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES, 

http://www.gmes.info), particularly for the in situ component that many 

environmental monitoring programmes are involved in. 

Once details are provided for these short questions, please click save to 

ensure that the system is updated (in case you are timed-out). 

This is the end of the instructions for the third screen of the topics for 


4.1.4: Contact persons 

22. Contact persons 

Please note, the main contact for the programme should be the first 

person entered into the system. 

Contact details are important to highlight who is responsible for the monitoring 

programme and how to contact them, including those providing details for the 

SEIS-BASIS system, thus allowing administrators to keep in contact with the 

community. As shown in the next figure, the main details requested are: 

• surname (or family name) 

• firstname (or names, if appropriate) 

• organization name (the organisation where the registered user for this 

monitoring programme is based) 

• e-mail (full e-mail address with the ‘at sign’ (@) for this registered user; 

e.g. firstname.surname@organisation.com) 

By clicking on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table, a popup 

window displays the boxes to be completed. If a user has already been 

entered into the system, the Select an existing contact from list drop-down 

menu can be used to quickly add them to the list for the current programme. 

To remove an entry you can use the green minus icon that appears when an 

entry has been added. All monitoring programmes should have at least one 

contact person. 

Some programmes may involve partnerships with several other organisations. 

In this case, it is possible to enter the details (as above) for other contacts. 

Again, please note that it will only be the first person listed in the system who 

is the main contact for the programme.



Figure 15: Contact persons 

This is the end of the instructions for the fourth screen of the topics for 

the system and the end of the first section on Programme Design and 

Activities 

4.2 Policy Context and Data Generation 

Background: This section aims to provide a link between the measures 

monitored in the programme and which policies from the environmental 

Acquis (and other policy areas) that they apply to, helping to identify 

where gaps and overlaps may exist. It will also help to outline the scope 

of the programme in terms of the measures captured, through metadata 

of the monitoring sites and of the information the observations made, as 

well as how accessible such data is. 

4.2.1 Programme measures and policy-linkage 

The table contained in this part of the system provides the main means 

to organise and capture details about what is measured in monitoring 

programmes and which policies this information is used for.



Figure 16: Programme measures and policy-linkage 

23. Relevant Programme Measures (One measure per box) 

Please list the details of the relevant measures that the programme gathers. 

This can include a range of items that are observed in the monitoring 

programme, including chemical compounds, physico-chemical conditions 

such as pH or temperature, certain species or site conditions. It is important 

to adopt standard ways of describing the relevant measures wherever 

possible, as they will need to be searchable and comparable in the 

system. Please provide chemical elements and compounds in English or in 

scientific notation (e.g. “methane” or “CH4”). For organisms, please provide 

the full scientific name: genus and species (e.g. Talpa europaea instead of 

“mole”) or similar classifications (e.g. Class: Mammalia, Order: Soricomorpha, 

Family: Talpidae), as appropriate. Further details about the programme’s 

measures may be provided through the site metadata and observation 

metadata parts of the system. 

Please note that a short free-text box is provided for these details and that 

every measure should appear as a different entry by using the green plus 

icon to add another row to the table. Measures can be removed from the 

table using the green minus icon. 

24. Measurements (including exceedance levels) 

For each of the Relevant Programme Measures reported in the system, we 

would like to know which specific measurements are taken. Again, it is 

important to adopt standard ways of describing the relevant



measurements wherever possible, as they will need to be searchable 

and comparable in the system. Also, for many pollutants, it is important to 

know about the quantity of material being detected over a certain period of 

time (e.g. mg per hour) and, therefore, exceedance levels. Where possible, 

please use the International System of Units (‘SI units’) in the description of 

these measurements. For certain species, only their presence may be 

measured, whereas abundance or estimates of composition may be estimated 

using standard techniques such as quadrat surveys for vegetation analysis or 

transacts. Such information should also be recorded in this short text field. 

If the same measure is assessed in different ways using different 

measurements in the programme, a new record should be created in the 

system (again by clicking on the green plus icon), the name of the 

measure added again and new details entered for the measurements. 

25. Standards Applied to the Programme Measure 

A range of standards may apply to sampling or classifying certain measures. 

These may be national or international standards (such as CEN or ISO). A 

useful way to provide this information is to simply add a recognised code for 

the standard such as "EN14211:2005" rather than writing "Ambient air quality. 

Standard method for the measurement of the concentration of nitrogen 

dioxide and nitrogen monoxide by chemiluminescence from CEN". For this 

question, details for several standards can be entered into the same cell for 

each measure, if appropriate, for a given measure and measurement. 

Standards may also apply to recognised field methodologies. Where relevant, 

references to scientific papers (for example) can also be added to this box to 

indicate what ‘standard approaches’ have been taken. These should take the 

format of at least “author, (date), article/chapter title, journal/book title and 

pages numbers”. 

26. Relevant Reporting Obligations from EU Environmental Legislation 

This is one of the most valuable pieces of information the system 

captures. Please read these details carefully. 

The system contains a list of all the current Reporting Obligations from the 

environmental Acquis (i.e. environmental legal acts such as Directives etc.). 

We want to understand how different monitoring programmes across Europe 

provide details for these Reporting Obligations and specifically for which 

measures. This will, importantly, also allow us to link together details about 

monitoring programmes with their wider policy context. 

For measures in the monitoring programme that do not involve European 

Union Reporting Obligations, please ensure that the not reported check-box 

is selected (the default setting in the system). For those measures that do 

involve European Commission Reporting Obligations, a tool is made available 

by clicking the select reporting obligation link. The following pop-up window 

appears



Figure 17: Select reporting obligation 

If either a reporting obligation or specific article is known, keywords/codes 

can be entered in this free-text search box. 

If not a Reporting Obligation can be selected from a menu. First select the 

Theme from the drop-down menu list of headings from EUR-Lex: 

• Air quality 

• Nature protection 

• Chemicals 

• Noise 

• Waste 

• Water 

• Horizontal 

• Industrial pollution control 

A list of Directives appears from your selection in that theme. By clicking on a 

Reporting Obligation (in blue hypertext) your table will be updated with the 

appropriate reporting obligation. 

You can click clear search at any time to start the search again. 

Important: Just as certain measures can be examined with different 

measurements (noted above), it is expected that certain measures in a 

monitoring programme could be reported more than once for different 

Reporting Obligations. In such cases, the measure should be added 

again by clicking on the green plus icon and by browsing the select 

reporting obligation tool. Although this creates some duplication, it



provides a clear way to show where different methods are being applied 

to certain measures/observations. 

Once details are provided, please ensure that you click save to update 

the system (in case you are timed-out). 

EU reporting obligations can be removed from the table using the green 

minus icon. 

27. Programme's Contribution to International Conventions and other 

Organisations 

Measures may be reported for other policy demands other than EU Reporting 

Obligations. The system also contains a list of all the current Reporting 

Obligations from a range of international conventions and other relevant 

organisations, derived from the Reporting Obligations Database (ROD) of the 

European Environment Agency (see http://rod.eionet.europa.eu). To 

understand which measures (etc.) may be duplicated in their reporting to both 

the EU and other organisations/conventions we have developed a similar tool, 

available by clicking the select reporting obligation link under this heading 

that launches the following pop-up window. 

Figure 18: Selecting International and other reporting obligations 

To aid searching, a drop down list of all the international conventionsorganisations 

is provided. Alternatively, keywords can be entered in the 

Reporting Obligation free-text search box. In both cases, click the search 

button to look up the relevant convention/organisation. Again, clear search 

removes the search from the pop-up window. 

The results from the search are displayed as the title of the 

convention/organisation followed by the relevant reporting obligation (as 

shown above). We know that the same reporting obligations can be used by a 

range of organisations. By clicking on the reporting obligation’s hypertext link 

a new section appears with a check-box for that reporting obligation. Once 

selected the check-box adds the reporting obligation to your programme. A list 

of SUGGESTIONS: is also given for other organisations that may be reported



to. Where relevant, selecting these other organisations also adds their details 

to the entry. If no other organisations are present then NO suggestion is 

displayed. For long lists of reporting obligations the ^ Top link allows you to 

move back to the top of the page. The close button allows you to close this 

window. Additional conventions/organisations can be added by using the 

green plus icon, where relevant, and can be removed from the table using 

the green minus icon. 

28. Programme's Contribution to National, International and other 

Reporting Obligations not already mentioned 

Although every effort has been made to provide resources to document EU 

and other international reporting obligations (etc.), some may have been 

missed. Similarly, others may exist at the regional/national level. We would, 

therefore, like to add all relevant reporting activity/policies to the database. 

Details about the other relevant reporting activities (such as the name of the 

policy and/or relevant codes) can be added to the free-text box below this 

heading for each measure (etc.). If there are several policies for a particular 

measure, then these can all be listed in the same box. If more than one 

measure is present, then the green plus icon can be used to add another 

row. 

The following subsection involves Other reporting obligations. 

29. Programme's Contribution to other European Union Reporting 

Obligations (questionnaires etc.) 

Some details from the monitoring programme may be used for reporting 

obligations that are not directly linked to particular measures. In these cases, 

please provide details in the free-text box provided and use the select 

reporting obligation tool to pick the relevant EU reporting obligation, as 

before. Again if these general details do not involve European Union 

Reporting Obligations please ensure that the (default) not reported checkbox 

is selected. 

The remainder of this section deals with Programme Data and Models 

following a series of yes/no questions. 

30. Is the programme’s data used for purposes other than reporting? 

Is data from the programme used for other purposes other than European 

Union Reporting Obligations? This can include local/national/international 

policies, research projects, income via licensing of data or informing the 

public. The question provides a check for a number of points covered 

elsewhere in the system, including the previous questions. Please select yes 

or no from the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered the default 

not responded will be highlighted. 

31. Do the specific measures need to be combined with other data 

before reporting? 

Please specify if the measures mentioned above are reported in their raw 

state (including averages from samples) or if the data needs to be processed



or combined with other data before reporting. Such activity may have 

implications for the dataflow/workflow in monitoring-to-reporting activities. 

Using the buttons in the table, please select yes if the data needs to be 

combined with other information before reporting (including comparison 

against historical data) or no if the reported information only comes from the 

monitoring programme (including any averages for certain measures). If the 


32. Do the monitoring facilities from the programme produce near realtime 

data? 

We would like to know which monitoring programmes produce data relatively 

quickly, in what is know as ‘near real-time’ datasets (possibly producing and 

sharing information in a few minutes (or less) from when data were first 

captured). Please select yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the 


33. Are any models used to produce data in the programme? 

Sometimes data are reported or generated in monitoring programmes based 

on models, including mathematical models, statistical/analytical models or 

estimates, theoretical models, forecasting or other processing models 

(including some forms of geospatial analysis). Are any models used in the 

programme to help to produce data, particularly in relation to reporting, 

managing the sampling network or related research activities? Please select 

yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered the 

default not responded will be highlighted. 

34. If so, please note the name of any models/modelling approach used 

in producing the programme’s data 

As noted above, models can take varying forms but some are recognised as a 

standard way to process or create certain datasets. In order to better 

understand the role of models in the monitoring programme, please name all 

relevant models/modelling approaches. Please add a new record for each 

model by clicking on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. 

This will make the list of models easier to retrieve and display. Details can be 

removed by using the green minus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. 

Remember, once details are provided, please click save to ensure the 

system is updated (in case you are timed-out). 

This is the end of the instructions for the fifth screen of the topics for 

the system.



4.2.2 Site metadata 

Figure 19: Site metadata 

35. Is there site metadata available? 

Does the programme’s Environmental Monitoring Facilities (EMFs) or other 

data gathering activities have site metadata (i.e. details such as name of the 

site, location, measurements taken etc., about the nature of the sites)? Sites 

can take many forms in environmental monitoring, from networks of sampling 

stations for air quality to locations where samples are taken or observations 

recorded. Please select yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the question 

is not answered the default not responded will be highlighted. 

36. Please provide a hyperlink to webpages or catalogues for site 

metadata if available on line 

If the metadata for the sites in the programme, such as Environmental 

Monitoring Facilities (EMFs), is available online through a catalogue or 

website, please provide a hyperlink to the homepage in the short text box. If 

more than one main source of metadata is available in the programme, 

additional details can be added by clicking on the green plus icon on the 

right-hand-side of the table. Details can be removed by using the green 

minus icon, also on the right-hand-side of the table. 

37. If the metadata is not available online, please provide an example of 

a metadata record 

In some cases, the Environmental Monitoring Facility (EMF) or other data 

gathering activity may not be held online but it is still catalogued. Where no 

link is available (e.g. if it is held in an offline system) please provide examples 

of the Metadata element (e.g. “site name”) in the short text box provided and 

content (e.g. “Edinburgh St. Leonards”) by using the click on grey text to 

edit, which produces a small text editing tool to allow you to type or 

copy/paste in details. 

For example, this content could be the first record in the metadata database. 

For every new item in the metadata record, please add a new row by clicking 

on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Entries can be



removed by using the green minus icon, also on the right-hand-side of the 

table. 



This is the end of the instructions for the sixth screen of the topics for 


4.2.3 Additional site details 

38. In relation to the monitoring cycle, please note how often (on 

average) sites in the programme are visited to take samples or 

measurements: random, a set time period- weekly, daily or other. For 

permanent sites or continuous recording please note “continuous”. 

Figure 20: Additional site details 

If the site metadata reported in the previous screen does not contain the 

relevant details, please note how often sites in the programme are visited. 

This is likely to involve programmes that have site inspection or fieldwork. The 

system allows you to note if a particular element or measure (etc.) in the 

programme is recorded over a particular period, allowing you to choose from 

a drop-down menu of units of measurement from: 

• daily 

• weekly 

• monthly 

• yearly 

• continuously 

• random 

If the programme has different or specific time periods than those stated 

above, please note them in the element box. For example, “Pollutants are 

measured in the lake in the summer and in winter”. 

This means that units of time can be specified for the first four periods in 

relation to the frequency (number of times) of the site visits and how often 

this happens in the monitoring programme’s cycle. For example, for a given 

element, a visit may take place four times every year: the period selected 

should be “yearly“, the frequency should be “4” and the cycle should be “1”.



In the case where a visit takes place every four years: the period selected 

should be “yearly“, the frequency should be “1” and the cycle should be “4”. 

For variations between elements, please add a new row by clicking on the 

green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Details can be removed 

by using the green minus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. 



This is the end of the instructions for the seventh screen of the topics 

for the system. 

4.2.4 Observation Metadata 

As well as details about the sites in the programme we are interested in the 

data held about those sites in terms of the measures or observations made 

and the composition of datasets. 

Figure 21: Observation Metadata 

39. Is there observation metadata available? 

Does the programme have metadata relating to the observations and 

measures noted in the Relevant Programme Measures? This could include 

various datasets produced by the monitoring programme. Please select yes 


not responded will be highlighted.



40. Please provide a hyperlink to webpages or catalogues for 

observation metadata if available on line 

If the metadata for the observations from the programme is available online 

through a catalogue or website, please provide a hyperlink to the homepage. 

Please enter details into the short text box. If more than one main source of 

the metadata is available in the programme, additional details can be added 

by clicking on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Details 

can be removed by using the green minus icon, also on the right-hand-side 

of the table. 

41. If the metadata is not available online, please provide an example of 

a metadata record 

In some cases, the programme may store details of its observations offline in 

databases (etc.). Where no link is available, please provide details of the 

Metadata element (e.g. “temperature- degrees Celsius”) in the short text box 

provided and an example of the Content (e.g. “25”) by using the click on 

grey text to edit link which produces a small text editing tool to allow you to 

type or copy/paste in details. For example, this content could be the first 

record in the metadata database. To note, this differs from Relevant 

Programme Measures, as we would like to know more about the structure of 

the data captured by the monitoring programme. 

For every new item in the metadata record please add a new row by clicking 

on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Details can be 

removed by using the green minus icon, also on the right-hand-side of the 

table. 

The following Additional measurement details should only be completed 

if they are not already specified in the observation metadata. 

42. On average, how often are the measurements in the programme 

taken (please also state the units- minutes, months etc. or note if 

continuous)? 

As with site visits, observations may be made with varying frequency, often 

relating to sampling methodologies for certain measures. If the observation 

metadata does not contain relevant details, please note how often (on 

average across all sites) the measurements in the programme are taken. This 

can vary from continuous recording to annual site visits that involve fixed 

periods of time in order to sample the environment. A short free-text box is 

provided for this answer, given the large variety of possible responses. 

Examples of responses could be: “Invertebrate sampling for water quality in 

spring and autumn is carried out six times over a twenty-four hour period” or 

“Chemical detectors from the sampling station are removed and tested three 

times per day”.



43. What type of data is produced in the programme? (please select all 

that apply) 

Please provide details about the types of data the programme produces from 

the list below. This should not include data obtained from other sources 

that may be used in the analysis of the monitoring programme’s details: 

• Numerical data including data in databases, other numerical 

measures or alphanumeric codings/classifications 

• Written notes and surveys (field observations etc.) including notes 

about conditions and context of study sites or other textual 

descriptions/qualitative information used in the programme, as well as 

any questionnaires or forms etc. (e.g. as used in waste monitoring) 

• Photographs (not including aerial photography) including site 

conditions or images used to show the context of the monitoring 

instruments but not remote sensing imagery (see below) 

• Remote sensed imagery including aerial photography, satellite 

images, oblique images 

• Maps (or other geospatial information) this can include raw 

numerical data that is re-processed as well as mapping derived from 

Global Position System devices (etc.), point or transect data to locate 

monitoring sites and their details from map-reading (etc.), network data 

for flows (e.g. hydrography), density maps created about species 

dispersion etc. Please note that more details about geographical 

information in the monitoring programme are sought in part 4. 

• Videos and other visual media this can include video images as a 

continuous stream from webcam technology or videos to survey wildlife 

(etc.) 

• Audio records this can include recording noise levels in relation to 

noise pollution or sound recordings for certain biological conditions 

such as bird song (etc.) 

• Other (please specify) If other types of data are collected in the 

programme please note them in the short text-box provided. This could 

also include any physical samples, where relevant. 



This is the end of the instructions for the eighth screen of the topics for 


4.2.5: Data access and user interaction to the programme 

44. Is the data publicly available online? If so, please provide a hyperlink 

to where it can be accessed 

Do you make data (raw or processed) available online from this programme 

for any user to access? This can include any national or international data 

centres or data repositories. Please select yes or no from the buttons in the 

table. If the question is not answered the default not responded will be 

highlighted. If your response is yes, please provide an appropriate hyperlink



to where data can be obtained (e.g. a homepage or location where the data 

can be viewed or downloaded from) in the box below the question. A new row 

can be added by clicking on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the 

table. Entries can be removed by using the green minus icon, also on the 

right-hand-side of the table. 

Figure 22: Data access and user interaction to the programme 

45. Does the programme gather user feedback? 

Do you gather information from users about the programme? This could be 

part of customer services, licensing or improvements to the way the data 

and/or information are presented, including topics such as data quality or the 

users’ needs for certain data formats or content. Please select yes or no from 

the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered, the default not 


46. Is the programme used to inform the public of environmental 

conditions? Please provide a hyperlink if this also includes online 

activities 

Do you use details from the programme as part of ‘public’ information 

services, including State of the Environment reporting, mass media broadcast 

(e.g. as part of weather forecasts, flood alerts etc.), website-based information 

services and paper-based materials (including public exhibitions)? Please 

select yes or no from the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered, 

the default not responded will be highlighted. If you response is yes, please 

provide an appropriate hyperlink in the box below the question to where 

details from the monitoring programme are shared. A new row can be added 

by clicking on the green plus icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Entries 

can be removed by using the green minus icon, also on the right-hand-side 

of the table. 

47. Is the monitoring programme a cross-border initiative? 

As indicated in the part dealing with the Programme's Geographical 

Coverage (country, region or other territory), we would like to know if any 

monitoring programmes involve partnerships across administrative borders.



This can include a partnership between several provinces, regions or 

countries. This is important in terms of highlighting where cooperation is 

needed in generating and sharing data between organisations and instances 

where different standards and technologies may be applied, thus creating 

possible barriers to sharing. The question also acts as a way to check if a 

monitoring programme is being reported several times in the system by 

different stakeholders, helping to improve its quality. Please select yes or no 

from the buttons in the table. If the question is not answered, the default not 


48. Is the programme used as part of public consultation or other 

participatory activities? Please provide a hyperlink if this also includes 

online activities 

Thinking more in terms of interactive and decision-making activities with 

members of the public, are details from the programme used as part of public 

participation or consultation activities? This may include consultation to help 

develop the programme itself or other policy areas such as town planning, 

Local Agenda 21, Environmental Impact Assessments or Strategic 

Environmental Assessments (etc.). Please select yes or no from the buttons 

in the table. If the question is not answered, the default not responded will be 

highlighted. If you response is yes, please provide an appropriate hyperlink 

in the box below the question to where details about the participatory activity 

can be found (either as live online consultation exercises or reports from such 

events/activities etc.). A new row can be added by clicking on the green plus 

icon on the right-hand-side of the table. Entries can be removed by using the 

green minus icon, also on the right-hand-side of the table. 

49. Does the programme charge for access to its data? 

Is data made available from the programme for a charge? This may involve 

charging for access to all data in some cases, only charging for access to raw 

data or a range of varying licensing and pricing arrangements depending on 

the users and their use of the data. Access is not considered to mean 

whether the data is ‘readily accessible’ (e.g. online) or not. Please select yes 


not responded will be highlighted. 



This is the end of the instructions for the ninth screen of the topics for 

the system and the end of the second section on Policy Context and 

Data Generation. 

4.3 Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

Background: This section aims to gather more information about the 

types of organisation involved in both monitoring and reporting and the 

roles they perform. This can vary between the remit of just one 

organisation, possibly at a central government level in smaller Member 

States, to organisational networks of varying partnerships between



several organisations within governmental and other sectors. We would 

also like to know about the costs of monitoring and the sources of 

funding that monitoring programmes use. 

4.3.1 Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

50. Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

In developing the system we realise that it may be difficult to provide accurate 

costs for monitoring programmes in any given year, especially when issues 

such as initial investment/set-up costs and costs associated with renewing 

equipment could be considered. 

At this stage we would like stakeholders to estimate the average annual cost 

of the programme (in their own currency) and to specify where this estimate 

comes from. Such sources can include specific studies, the prices of contracts 

or less specific expert opinion. Where possible, a list of variables/factors that 

contribute to this cost (equipment, staff, technology etc.) should also be noted; 

helping to develop a better methodology for the following section. 

Figure 23: Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

In the first page of this part of the system, details about the source of any 

estimate and the total amount (that must only be entered as a number) can 

be entered. It is possible to report this total in your currency but you must 

note the currency in the source text-box. The next questions aim to breakdown 

this cost for different stakeholders, where possible. 



This is the end of the instructions for the tenth screen of the topics for 


4.3.2 Stakeholders' roles and programme staff numbers 

In order to organise the details about partners, their roles and estimates for 

costs, a tool has been created. By clicking on the green plus icon on the 

right-hand-side of the table, a pop-up window appears so that details can be 

filled in on the following topics. This can be repeated the same way for 

every stakeholder in the programme.



Figure 24: Programme Stakeholders and Funding 

51. Organisation 

Please insert the full name of the stakeholder involved in the programme in 

the short text-box provided. If a large group of local organisations is involved 

in the programme that is too long to list individually (e.g. local 

authorities/municipalities, local hydrographic offices etc.) a collective term can 

still be noted in this box but no hyperlink is needed (see below). For large 

organisations, sub units can also be reported (see below) 

52. Organisation link 

Where possible, please also provide a relevant hyperlink from the partner's 

website (except in the case where organisation involves many entities, as 

noted above). 

53. Sub units 

Large organisations may contain several departments or units involved in 

monitoring, from data capture to reporting, with data entering and exiting an 

organisation several times. Please list all relevant sub-units in the organisation 

that deal with the programme. A short text box is made available so that 

details can be typed in or copy/pasted. 

54. Sector 

On the left-hand-side of the table a drop-down menu allows each stakeholder 

to be classified into one of eight terms: 

• public authority: national 

• public authority: sub-national 

• public authority: local 

• private company 

• university/research



• voluntary body 

• Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) 

• Other 

This classification is being used in other SEIS-related projects allowing 

comparisons to be made and for additional details to be added to the system. 

55. Stakeholder Roles 

The roles different stakeholders play in the programme is also of interest to 

us. These have been coded in the following way by selecting the one or more 

of the following check boxes: 

• Programme Management such as the organisation who manages the 

programme overall, including those who contract others in the 

programme 

• Monitoring Facility Maintenance those involved in managing the sites 

where data is captured, including sampling stations (e.g. for air quality) 

and their maintenance 

• Data Management including those involved in data capture, statistical 

analysis, modelling, Geographical Information Systems etc. within the 

programme 

• QA/QC & Validation in terms of those involved in ‘Quality 

Assurance/Quality Control’ of the data in the programme and validation 

of the results for activities such as reporting 

• Dissemination & Reporting in terms of those responsible for reporting 

details to the European Commission, Eurostat, European Environment 

Agency (etc.) and disseminating material for other purposes, including 

public information services, websites etc. 

56. Staff numbers Full Time Equivalent (FTE) 

Where possible, for every role selected, we would like an estimate of the 

number of staff involved in that role for the programme, expressed as a “Full 

Time Equivalent” (FTE), i.e. two staff each working half their time on a 

monitoring programme equals 1 FTE. For groups of organisations (such as 

“local authorities”), the staff numbers do not need to be completed. Such 

figures allow us to estimate the effort involved in various aspects of the 

monitoring programme and a better understanding of any cost data provided. 

57. Partner Total 

Please provide an estimate of the total annual cost of the programme for each 

of the stakeholders; however, in this case, all details need to be provided 

in Euros. For groups of organisations, the costs do not need to be completed. 

Again, cost estimates should try to reflect the cost of the programme for an 

‘average’ year and not necessarily take into account set-up or changes to 

equipment costs (etc.), although staff costs should be included. The details 

will be refined based on the inputs from the Programme Stakeholders 

and Funding section, as noted above. 

Once details are provided for the overall table, please click the add 

button to ensure the system is updated (in case you are timed-out). 

Details can be cleared from the form with the clear button but all 

information from the entry will be lost.



Once added, details in the table can be deleted using the green minus icon 

or edited using the pencil and paper icon. 

This is the end of the instructions for the eleventh screen of the topics 


4.3.3 Programme funding, sustainability and risk 

58. Who funds the programme? 

Please provide the full name of the organisation or organisations (i.e. rather 

than an acronyms) that provide funding for the programme. As shown in the 

screenshot, a text editor provided inside the system, allows you to write (or 

copy/paste) details about the funder(s). Depending on your browser settings, 

this editor can also display some of the tools in your language and the 

appearance may differ slightly. 

Figure 25: Programme funding, sustainability and risk 

59. Are there any issues of programme funding or sustainability? 

Monitoring programmes may face a range of problems that impact on the 

consistency of the data captured and information reported. Please provide any 

further comments you have in relation to funding or organisational issues for 

the programme, including near-future activities. This may include having to 

compete for funds, timing of funding cycles; or changes in staff, organisational 

structure, methodology, standards, equipment (with associated costs), policy 

etc. As shown in the screenshot, a text editor provided inside the system, 

allows you to write (or copy/paste) details about funding/sustainability. 

Depending on your browser settings, this editor can also display some of the 

tools in your language and the appearance may differ slightly. 

This is the end of the instructions for the twelfth screen and the end of 

the third section on Programme Stakeholders and Funding



4.4 System connectivity and INSPIRE-related developments 

Background: This section aims to establish how well the information 

systems involved in the programme are connected. Part of these 

developments relate to the network infrastructure of the INSPIRE 

Directive that aims to develop a European environmental Spatial Data 

Infrastructure (SDI), as well as understanding the relevance of the 

environmental (and related) themes it supports for the monitoring 

programme. 

4.4.1 Virtual connectivity of the programme's systems 

Figure 26: Virtual connectivity of the programme's systems 

60. System-connectivity matrix 

The matrix in this section aims to outline the level of ‘virtual connectivity’ that 

exists in various stages of the data flow relating to the programme. It aims to



classify the flow of data/information between activities and information 

systems into high, medium and low levels of connectivity between varying 

stages: 

• Data capture to quality assurance 

• Quality assurance to Analysis 

• Analysis to Dissemination (including reporting) 

To illustrate the possible variations in the matrix three scenarios are 

presented below. In practice, programmes are likely to contain a 

combination of all three, particularly as different programmes may need 

to adopt high or low technological strategies at different stages of the 

workflow/dataflow: 

Scenario 1: A monitoring programme that involves high connectivity across 

all parts of the dataflow would, for example, use sensors to capture data, 

convert that into digital information (perhaps in the device used to capture the 

data), process the data live or in near real-time with online quality assurance 

checks comparing the data to historical records held on a server, with a web 

service then consuming this verified data to display on a webpage or other 

output. This example may relate best to some air quality monitoring 

programmes and the development of technologies related to the ‘sensor web’. 

Scenario 2: A monitoring programme that involves medium connectivity 

across all parts of the dataflow would involve a certain amount of human 

intervention in the phase of capturing data, digitising it and passing it on to 

another system or user for quality assurance (as a first phase of checking) 

and then from the quality assurance systems to actively ‘push’ the data to 

analysts who may have to import the data to different software and export it to 

spreadsheets for submission as official ratified reports. This example perhaps 

is more common where samples need to be taken and processed off-site in 

laboratories and where official decisions need to be made about the outputs of 

monitoring programmes. 

Scenario 3: A monitoring programme that involves low connectivity across all 

parts of the dataflow would have a lot of offline systems, manual intervention 

or the need to adopt a lot of analogue or offline methods. Data may be 

captured solely by human observation, the details would be recorded by hand 

and records may only be kept in paper files or offline bespoke databases with 

limited export function. Data made available for quality assurance and 

analysis needs to be examined by several experts, slowing the process but 

ensuring high quality data is produced from the analysis. Paper-based forms 

need to be signed based on the analysis and sent to the appropriate 

organisation by post. This example is perhaps less frequent nowadays in 

many monitoring programmes but parts of this activity may certainly still take 

place, particularly with regard to disseminating information. 

By using the pencil and paper icon, a pop-up window appears with text 

editors allows each row in the matrix (high, medium and low) to be edited so 

that details can be inserted about Data capture to quality assurance (top 

box), Quality assurance to Analysis (middle box) and Analysis to



Dissemination (including reporting) (bottom box). The details sought 

include the names of any techniques, technologies or information systems 

used in each stage/level of connectivity in the dataflow of the monitoring 

programme, including links to any websites that publish details in the 

Analysis to Dissemination (including reporting) box. 

As shown in the screenshot, the text editor allows you to write (or copy/paste) 

details about the technology involved. Depending on your browser settings, 

this editor can also display some of the tools in your language and the 

appearance may differ slightly. 



This is the end of the instructions for the thirteenth screen of the topics 


4.4.2 Status of INSPIRE related network resources used in the 

programme 

61. Status of INSPIRE related network resources used in the programme 

The purpose of this section is to understand where Geographical Information 

(and related data) from environmental monitoring programmes is being shared 

through INSPIRE network services. In order to capture details about the 

development of these network services, the system has another matrix 

recording details about: 

• Discovery services- metadata 

• Discovery services- services 

• View services 

• Transformation services 

• Download services 

Further details discussing INSPIRE’s network services can be found here: 

http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports.cfm, with an architecture overview here: 

http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/ImplementingRules/network/D3.5_INSPI 

RE_NS_Architecture_v2.0.pdf 

For each network service, you are asked to indicate if there is (i) no plan for a 

service (ii) if one is planned or (iii) if an actual service in place for the 

monitoring programme itself or if it contributes information to/through one. 

Where services are in place, you are asked to provide further details, by 

writing a short description of the resource in the text-box to name the resource 

and provide the hyperlink in the link text-box.



Figure 27: Status of INSPIRE related network resources used in the 

programme 



This is the end of the instructions for the fourteenth screen of the topics 


4.4.3 Programme's relationship to INSPIRE Annexes 

62. Please rate the relevance of the INSPIRE Annexes (high, medium, 

low, not relevant) to the monitoring programme and provide a comment 

on your choice, where appropriate. 

Given the length of the page, you should click save often (at the bottom 

of the page) so that the system is updated and that you are not timedout. 

The INSPIRE Annexes cover a range of thematic topics related to the 

environment, particularly for those items in Annex III, as well as data related to 

other policy areas and administration (see list below)



Figure 28: INSPIRE Annexes 

In this part of the system we ask you to estimate how relevant each Annex 

theme is to your monitoring programme (High, Medium, Low or Not 

relevant) and to comment on your response in the note box provided, 

outlining the role of each particular item for the programme (see Figure 

below). Sometimes an INSPIRE Annex theme may have a direct relationship 

to the programme (such as the presence of environmental monitoring 

facilities- see Annex 3) or an indirect one (such as land use that may be 

used to contextualise survey sites etc.). 

Further guidance on the definition of the Annexes can be found in a Feature 

Concept Dictionary in the INSPIRE Registry: 

http://inspire-registry.jrc.ec.europa.eu/registers/FCD 

Further guidance is also available here in Annex Themes and Scope (D2.3 

Version 2) here: 

http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/ImplementingRules/inspireDataspecD2_ 

3v2.0.pdf 

In addition, a multilingual version of the annexes headings can be found here: 

http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/inspire_themes?langcode=en 


system is updated (in case you are timed-out).



Figure 28: Programme's relationship to INSPIRE Annexes 

This is the end of the instructions for the fifteenth screen of the topics 

for the system and the end of the fourth section on Virtual connectivity 

of the programme's systems 

4.5 Additional Topics and Ideas 

Background: This section aims to establish (i) how the system can be 

developed and provide (ii) tools for interaction between users, including 

a place where all acronyms across programmes can be defined and 

managed.



4.5.1 Issues you want to raise, lessons you want to learn? 

Figure 29: Issues you want to raise, lessons you want to learn? 

63. Issues you want to raise, lessons you want to learn? 

Please indicate any issues you want to raise relating to your programme or 

information you would like to find out about related programmes by providing 

Keyword(s) to outline the issue you want to raise/learn and a note by using 

the click on grey text to edit (which produces a small text editing tool) to add 

longer comments or to copy/paste in further details. 



This is the end of the instructions for the sixteenth screen of the topics 


4.5.2 Consultation 

Figure 30: Consultation Questions 

64. What features, applications and improvements would you like to see 

for the system as it evolves?



As with the previous issues section, a tool is offered to highlight 

improvements that could be made to the SEIS-BASIS system itself. 

Keyword(s) can be entered to briefly outline the improvement and a note can 

be inserted to add more detail by using the click on grey text to edit (which 

produces a small text editing tool) to add longer comments or to copy/paste in 

further details. 

65. Are there any opportunities for streamlining reporting from this 

programme (alongside others)? 

In the same way, comments can be added about any opportunities to 

streamline monitoring and reporting within the programme, perhaps identified 

in the Reporting Obligation Database section, for example. Keyword(s) can 

be used to outline the streamlining opportunity and a note can be inserted by 

using the click on grey text to edit (which produces a small text editing tool) 

to add longer comments or to copy/paste in further details. 



This is the end of the instructions for the seventeenth screen of the 

topics for the system. 

4.5.3 Acronym Wiktionary 

66. Acronym Wiktionary- Please define all acronyms reported for the 

monitoring programme 

As noted above, all acronyms (etc.) reported in the system should be entered 

into the ‘acronym wiktionary’ (an online multi-author dictionary for acronyms 

and abbreviations used in the programmes). The first screen displays all 

acronyms associated with this programme and should be empty when you 

first arrive at this page. Once acronyms have been selected they will appear 

on this page. If you need to add some acronyms, you can see if your acronym 

has already been defined in this system by clicking on the green plus icon on 

the right-hand-side of the table. The search box can be used to find and add 

acronyms to your monitoring programme’s records by clicking on the green 

plus icon to the right of every defined acronym, as shown in the figure below.



Figure 31: Acronym Wiktionary- Wiki Search 

If the acronym does not exist you can add new ones via a pop-up tool where 

you can type the acronym into the short text-box and write a long definition in 

the text editor provided. 

Figure 32: Acronym Wiktionary- Edit and pop-up window 

Once details are provided to the new wiki window click create so that the 

wiki is updated.



This is the end of the instructions for the eighteenth screens of the 

topics for the system and the end of the fifth and final section on 

Additional Topics and Ideas 

Please remember to see Section 3 about how to generate xml so you can 

publish your programme in the preview site. 

End of guidance document 

New version created 14/02/2010

Guidance notes for the SEIS-BASIS information system v.1.1

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