Marine Data Portal

Turning marine data into practical decisions

The Baltic Sea is a shared space. It does not belong to one sector, one institution or one country. The same area may be relevant for shipping, offshore energy, aquaculture, environmental protection, monitoring, tourism or coastal communities.

That makes marine decision-making unusually complex. Data is collected by different organisations, sectors and countries through satellites, sensors, monitoring programmes, research projects and environmental models. As a result, marine knowledge is often scattered across separate systems, tools and datasets.

At the same time, the sea itself is constantly changing. Ice conditions, currents, waves, temperature and ecosystem pressures vary across time and place. This means marine decisions cannot rely on a single static map or one source of information.

Different users may work with different information when making decisions about the same sea area.  Yet the Baltic Sea itself functions as one connected system across sectors and national borders. The challenge is not only access to information, but how to bring different types of marine knowledge together in a way that supports practical decisions.

Screenshot of Blue Bio Sites, the existing web platform that MarTe builds on.

Building on an existing and trusted platform

MarTe does not start by building a new portal from scratch. It builds on Blue Bio Sites, an existing open web environment developed by the University of Tartu research team to make marine data, maps and decision-support tools available beyond the modelling community.

Blue Bio Sites provides a working foundation for marine spatial analysis and decision support, bringing scientific models and spatial datasets into a web interface that planners, managers, researchers and industry actors can use in practice.

MarTe takes this foundation further by connecting tools, models, data and evidence into a more usable decision-support environment. In practice, this means one planning question can be followed across several modules. Existing tools such as PlanWise4Blue for cumulative impact assessment and ABC Planner for conservation prioritisation can work together instead of operating separately.

A proposed marine area, for example, could be viewed at the same time through environmental pressure, conservation priority, operational risk and technology-testing needs. Results from one module can feed into another, helping users compare trade-offs and understand the wider picture.

The platform also follows FAIR data principles and supports co-creation between researchers, planners and other stakeholders, helping make marine knowledge more reusable and trustworthy across sectors. With the University of Tartu continuing to support the platform beyond the project, this development can keep growing after the MarTe activities end.

From model outputs to real-world risk maps

One of the key MarTe developments is model-based risk mapping. Scientific models often produce highly technical datasets that are difficult for non-specialist users to interpret, so the portal translates these outputs into practical visual tools that support real decisions.

The first prototype focuses on sea-ice conditions. Using variables such as ice concentration, thickness and drift, the portal can generate interactive risk maps showing where operational risks may increase under different conditions.

This is especially useful for offshore infrastructure, navigation, winter operations and marine technology testing. It can also support planners and authorities when comparing scenarios or discussing trade-offs between development and environmental protection.

Different users can also adjust thresholds according to their needs, because a ship operator, offshore engineer or planner may all define “risk” differently. Instead of giving one fixed safe-or-unsafe answer, the portal lets users test how the result changes when ice concentration, thickness or drift is considered risky for a specific route, site or technology — while clearly showing which conditions the result is based on.

The same logic can later support other environmental conditions relevant to the blue economy, including waves, currents, temperature extremes, ecological sensitivity or harmful algal blooms.

Better data helps plan Baltic Sea algae cultivation and assess risks.

An AI assistant that explains evidence — not invents it

Another major development is the AI-enabled evidence assistant. The assistant is connected to a structured knowledge base built from a systematic review of more than 2,000 extracted research records related to marine technologies, monitoring systems, environmental conditions and blue economy development.

Unlike general AI chatbots, the evidence assistant is deliberately limited. It retrieves information only from validated and source-linked records, while clearly stating when information is missing or uncertain.

In marine planning and environmental decision-making, unsupported answers can affect investments, technology deployment, environmental protection and public trust. The purpose of the assistant is not to replace expert judgement, but to make existing evidence easier to access and use.

Instead of searching through large reports or datasets manually, users can ask practical questions and receive source-based answers connected to the existing evidence base.

A user with a new marine technology idea could ask what similar solutions have been tested before, which environmental conditions mattered and what limitations should be considered. This makes it easier to judge whether an idea could be tested in practice and what evidence is still needed before moving further.

One sea, many decisions

A common perception is that a data portal is simply a place to store data. In practice, the marine data portal under development can do much more: it can bring different types of marine knowledge into the same decision context. Risk maps, environmental pressures, monitoring data, planning scenarios and scientific evidence can be explored together instead of remaining isolated in separate tools and datasets.

The Baltic Sea functions as one connected system, while decisions are still often made through fragmented information and separate planning processes. The portal aims to create a more shared basis for decision-making across Estonia, Latvia and the wider Baltic Sea region.

The real measure of success is whether marine knowledge becomes easier to use in real decisions. Companies should be able to identify suitable testing environments faster, authorities should be able to justify decisions with stronger evidence and local communities should be able to understand more clearly how marine decisions may affect their coastal area in practice.