Table 1
Descriptions of the input files to BEAT 3.0.
| File name | Description |
|---|---|
| SAU.txt | Defines the spatial assessment units and consists of a hierarchical list of the assessment units with four levels (according to the HELCOM spatial assessment unit levels: 1 = Baltic Sea, 2 = HELCOM Sub-basins, 3 = HELCOM Sub-basins with coastal and offshore division, 4 = HELCOM Sub-basins with coastal WFD water types of water bodies. The area (km2) of all spatial assessment units are specified here if applying the area-weighted spatial aggregation option. |
| EcosystemComponents.txt | Defines the hierarchical structure of ecosystem components. (birds, fish, mammals, pelagic habitats, benthic habitats) with four levels (1 = Biodiversity, 2 = Ecosystem component, 3 = Species group/broad habitat type, 4 = Species/habitat element). Each component is linked to the relevant higher level ecosystem component. |
| descriptors.txt | Lists the MSFD descriptors. |
| criteria.txt | Lists the MSFD criteria according to the revised European Commission Decision on GES criteria. |
| IndicatorCatalogue.txt | Lists the indicators and assigns them to relevant ecosystem component and MSFD criteria. |
| indicators.txt | The table where indicator results are inserted. This table contains the minimum and maximum values, threshold value and observed value (indicator result). Also the indicator type and confidence evaluations are inserted here. One row is added for each assessment unit the indicator is used in, note that the minimum, maximum and threshold values can vary between assessment units. |
| ooao.txt | In this file parameters used in conditional indicators can be grouped to be treated with the OOAO approach, i.e. using the parameter with poorest status classification in further integration steps. |
Figure 1
An example of how weights are distributed among indicators. The structure is balanced so that all ecosystem elements at same level (that have indicators assigned) have equal weights.