25 
ESTABLISHING AN ENVIRONMENTAL DATA PLATFORM FOR PROMOTING 
COASTAL ZONE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 
Toshimitsu Ishiwata d ' *, Masahiro Muroi b , Tsutomu Harada b , Hideo Nakajima 3 , Isamu Ogasawara 3 
a Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd, 2-24-1 Harumi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, 183-0057, Japan - (toshimitsu ishiwata, 
hideojnakajima, isamu_ogasawara)@kkc.co.jp 
b Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport 2-1-4 Hashimoto-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, 221 - 
0053, Japan - (muroi-m83ab, harada-t82ab)@pa.ktr.mlit.go.jp 
Commission IV,WG IV/1 
KEY WORDS: Environment, Databases, GIS, Intemet/Web, Data Structures, Metadata, Radar, Real-time 
ABSTRACT: 
This paper reports a standardization activity for coastal environmental information in Japan to promote the sharing of various spatial 
data among related parties, including data specifications, designs of software tools to create and utilize data based on the ISO/TC211 
standards, and a case study of its implementation as a web-based information system. It has become possible for “everyone” to 
“easily” obtain environmental information by using this system. As a result, cooperation between related organizations is also 
promoted and effective environmental management can be achieved. It is anticipated that this system will provide enough 
environmental information to practice environmental policies, and help consensus building among a wide range of stakeholders. It is 
also expected that this system will promote research and development for environmental improvement measures for enclosed coastal 
areas such as Tokyo Bay. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Various organizations have been dealing with infrastructure 
improvements in Japan. Therefore, we are able to enjoy a 
convenient and pleasant living environment. However, as the 
infrastructure improvements focused on quantitative fulfilment, 
mass production, mass consumption and mass disposal style 
socio-economic activities and lifestyles have taken root. As a 
result of this, various environmental problems are currently 
emerging such as air-pollution, water-pollution, increased waste 
and a reduction of living organisms. Japan, which is surrounded 
by sea on all sides, is blessed with fish and mineral resources 
from the sea and takes advantage of the qualities of the coastal 
areas and utilizes them as places for industry and recreation. So, 
we must implement management (adaptive management 
including the PDCA: Plan Do Check Action cycle) suitable to 
the environment after grasping an accurate understanding of the 
current environment in order to pass it on to generations to 
come and resolve environmental issues in a desirable way. 
Moreover, the environment continues to change hour by hour. 
Consequently, if one is to grasp an understanding of the coastal 
zone environment, it is essential to gather a wide range of 
environmental information about the various living creatures 
and the inanimate objects in the ample area from the land to the 
coastal zone. Accordingly, until now, environmental research 
has been continuously carried out mainly by administrative 
bodies such as the national and regional municipalities and the 
implementation of environmental improvement projects and 
regulations. Furthermore, recently citizens’ knowledge of 
environmental issues has heightened, environmental education 
is being carried out and there is active participation in 
environmental improvement activities. 
Despite each body being actively involved in environmental 
improvement, it seems that there are no results produced for the 
realization of an environment that we deem as desirable, for 
example results such as, water-purification and increase of 
biodiversity. The supposed reasons for this are identified as 
follows. 
(1) Many bodies for their environmental objectives use 
independently obtained data. Thus, even in the same coastal 
zone, effectiveness of management cannot be wholly evaluated 
because the initiative has not been unified. 
(2) To begin with, the details of the initiatives are not being 
fully explained to local residents and related parties. 
(3) The current problems and necessary initiatives are not 
enough to be understood by local residents and related parties. 
Thus, effective environmental improvement projects are not 
being carried out. 
Therefore, in order to implement more effective environmental 
management at an earlier stage, it is important for the various 
bodies to share information and to deal with environmental 
improvement upon consulting on consensus building for 
environmental objectives and values. However, the issues 
which arise at the time of environmental data sharing are listed 
below. 
(1) As the whereabouts of environmental data is unclear, the 
existence and inquiries of information is not identified. 
(2) As data is defined by each body carrying out research and 
the definitions are not inconformity, it is not easy to share data. 
(3) For the environmental data being disclosed, there are many 
records of only the final figure, and the method of creating the 
data (examination tools and analysis methods etc.) is unclear. 
Thus, if the method of creation is not confirmed then it cannot 
be compared with other data. 
Corresponding author.