It is now easier to monitor water environment measurements

The joint public data collaboration Danmarks Miljøportal has launched new features in the Kemidata platform, which make it easier to find and get an overview of local measurements of substances in the aquatic environment and see the development over time.

Kemidata.miljoeportal.dk is Danmarks Miljøportal's open portal for chemical measurements and measurement results from, among other things, watercourses, lakes, marine areas, wastewater treatment plants and bathing water.

With the update, users can now search directly at a location or a measuring station and see the results as graphs over time. This makes it easier to get an overview without first having to know the name of a particular substance or download large data tables, as you had to before.

Help for curious landowners

According to the Danish Agency for Green Area Conversion and Aquatic Environment (SGAV), the new functions in Kemidata are an extension of the work to make environmental data publicly available in line with the Aarhus Convention. At the same time, the functions make it easier to follow local measurements of, among other things, nutrients that are included in the work with the aquatic environment and Green Tripartite.

"In practice, it's about making data more accessible to all interested parties. If a landowner knows that there is a measuring station on his or her land, he can now find the station on Kemidata and see what is being measured and how the levels have developed over time," says Rasmus Savange Ringgaard, special consultant at SGAV.

SGAV's data collectors regularly visit measuring stations in many places in the country, often on private land. Therefore, the new features can also make the dialogue with landowners easier.

"Landowners naturally become curious about what we measure when we arrive on their land. Now we can more easily refer them to Kemidata, where they can follow them themselves. This can help strengthen confidence in environmental monitoring," says Rasmus Savange Ringgaard.

Faster overview for municipalities and their citizens

In Varde Municipality, Flemming Sørensen, environmental technician and project manager for watercourses and aquatic environment, believes that the new view can also make it easier to answer questions from citizens.

"Citizens regularly ask us what has been measured out at them. Now we can more easily point them in the direction of where they can find data. For us in the municipality, the graphs are also useful because they provide a quick overview in the initial screening before we go deeper into the data in a specific case processing," says Flemming Sørensen.

Data must be easier to use

At Danmarks Miljøportal, Andreas Brøndum, system manager for Kemidata, points out that the update will make complex data more usable.

"Environmental data is most valuable when it is easy to find and understand. With the new features in Kemidata, more users can get a quick visual overview of measurements and development over time. This makes data more usable for professionals, landowners and citizens," says Andreas Brøndum.

The new features in Kemidata have been developed in collaboration with the Danmarks Miljøportal's expert group for data sharing, and can be found on kemidata.miljoeportal.dk.