This dataset contains all heavy metal monitoring station locations where sediment is samples are analyzed as reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.

Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are often devoid of vascular plants, usually coated by blue algae and diatoms. They are of particular importance as feeding grounds for wildfowl and waders. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Only Denmark, Germany and Estonia reported occurrences of mudflats and sandflats. Most of the submitted data is based on modelling and/or GIS analysis. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

This dataset contains all heavy metal monitoring station locations where seawater samples are analysed. The information is based on data reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.

Dataset represent urban land use (urban areas) around Baltic Sea coast. The resolution of the data is 250 m x 250 m. The dataset is constructed from CORINE Land Cover (CLC) 2006 for EU countries and from Open street map (OSM) open source data in Russia. Dataset is based on data collated for the HELCOM Second Holistic Assessment of the Ecosystem health of the Baltic Sea. The dataset covers the whole catchment area of the Baltic sea.

Large shallow inlets bays (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are large, shallow indentations of the coast, sheltered from wave action and where, in contrast to estuaries, the influence of freshwater is generally limited. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Most of the submitted data is based on GIS analysis and modelling, but also field inventories and ground-truthing has been carried out in some areas. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

This dataset contains all heavy metal monitoring station locations, observed matrix, biota matrix and monitored species as reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.

Lagoons are expanses of shallow coastal waters, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sandbanks or shingle, or by rocks. Salinity may vary from brackish water to hypersalinity depending on rainfall, evaporation and addition of fresh seawater from storms, temporary flooding, or tidal exchange. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Most of the submitted data is based on modelling and/or GIS analysis. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

The dataset contains the location of fossil fuel energy production facilities derived from the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). E-PRTR cover all HELCOM Contracting Parties except Russia. Attribute specification and units: See E-PRTR code lists at https://www.eionet.europa.eu/schemas/eprtr/listOfValues In the HELCOM data review process, some facility locations appeared to be spatially slightly misplaced, adding up to uncertainty of data products derived from this dataset.

Broad-scale habitat maps for the Baltic Sea have been produced in the EUSeaMap project in 2016. For German and Estonian marine areas, national (more accurate) datasets were used. German data included both substrate and light information (division into infralittoral/circalittoral). Estonian data included only substrate and the division into light regimes was obtained from the EuSeaMap data. Here, the habitat class “infralittoral mixed substrate” includes classes “mixed sediment” of the original data, in the infralittoral zone. The original polygon maps have been converted to 1 km x 1km grid. The scale of the substrate data used in broad-scale habitat maps varies from 1:250 000 to 1:1M (data from EMODnet Geology). Coarser resolution data has been used in areas, where 1: 250 000 substrate data has not been available. Due to different scales used, the habitat classes may show different sized patterns in different areas.

Location of water course modifications (trenching, culverting, canalisation). The data was made available by HELCOM Contracting Parties in response to data request. The data was received from Estonia, Finland and Poland. Data reported by Finland and Poland as water course modification were interpreted as pipelines and were included in HELCOM HOLAS 2 Pipelines dataset. The activity was declared as not relevant in Germany and Lithuania. From Latvia, Russia and Sweden no data was reported.