Skylight Knowledge Base

What are the Sources of Skylight's Map?

Owned by Karen Farley
Last updated: Jul 08, 2024 by Namrata Kolla
3 min read

Below are the sources of Skylight’s map. Layers 2-4 can be toggled on and off

  1. Basemap: Mapbox

    • This is the underlying display of land and water before the application of any layers. It includes the coastlines, country boundaries, labels on land (e.g. country and city names), labels on water (e.g. Arafura Sea, Indian Ocean).

    • If you are uploading areas to Skylight, note that the Coordinate Reference System for the basemap is OGC:CRS84.

  2. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Layer: Flanders Marine Institute (2019). Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase: Maritime Boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zones (200NM), version 11. Available online at http://www.marineregions.org/ https://doi.org/10.14284/386 .

  3. 12 Nautical Mile (12 NM) Layer: Flanders Marine Institute (2019). Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase: Territorial Seas (12NM), version 3.

    Available online at https://www.marineregions.org/ https://doi.org/10.14284/387 .

  4. Bathymetry Layer: General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Compilation Group. Version GEBCO_2022 Grid. https://gebco.net/

Does Skylight change the names, labels, or boundaries of map layers?

Skylight strives to utilize current and internationally accepted borders/areas by referencing the sources above. However, the designations employed and the presentation of this information on Skylight do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Skylight or the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Skylight also strives to make minimal changes to the map layers provided by default to all users. These are some of the changes you may see to data imported from the reputable sources mentioned above:

  • Removing “EEZ” or “Exclusive Economic Zone” from the label (because it’s implied by the Layer)

  • Simplified boundaries

    • Nations do not necessarily measure their territorial claims from the shoreline, but from what is called the “baseline” which can be further offshore. It simplifies borders by tracing straight lines across bays and between peninsulas. This makes it appear the 12 NM territorial waters do not touch every part of the coastline.

    • Skylight performs light processing that impacts boundaries, specifically simplifying the shapes of the files so the layer loads quickly in Skylight. Without the simplification there would be lag in the map loading, especially for areas with low internet bandwidth. The results of this shape simplification are most obvious nearshore where you’ll see the area does not following the coastline:

What should I do if I disagree with the map layers being displayed?

  • See if creating a Custom Area resolves your needs. Any areas created via this method will show under “My Areas” in the layer menu and can be toggled on and off.

  • See if your issue is already known by Marineregions and slated to be addressed in the future

  • We can put you in contact with the organizations that currently manage these data sources to advocate for changes to their maps (Mapbox, MarineRegions).

 

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