Citation:

PANGAEA.988433 (dataset in review)

Name: Munition pile inventory in the German Baltic Sea, 2017 to 2024
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Keywords: maritime hazards; MBES; Multibeam Echosounder; munitions; photomosaics; unexploded ordnance; UXO

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Abstract:

The dataset is a spreadsheet of munition piles, their properties (e.g., number of objects, variability, burial state), and the parameters characterizing their environmental (e.g., munition compound concentrations and current velocity) and maritime (e.g., distance to various maritime uses and traffic density) surroundings in the German Baltic Sea. Data were collected over numerous cruises from 2017 to 2024. All munition piles in the dataset are located at Kolberger Heide (close to Kiel Fjord) or in the Lübeck Bay. The purpose of data acquisition was to understand the distribution and properties of dumped munitions in German waters as well as the hazards and risks they pose to maritime uses. Munition piles were annotated in multibeam echosounder data, assessed in detail in photomosaics, and analyzed using an array of geospatial analysis methods.

Keyword(s):

maritime hazards; MBES; Multibeam Echosounder; munitions; photomosaics; unexploded ordnance; UXO

Related to:

Greinert, Jens (2021): Mine Monitoring in the German Baltic Sea 2020; Dumped munition monitoring AL548, 03rd - 16th November 2020, Kiel (Germany) - Kiel (Germany) „MineMoni-II 2020“. ed. by Kampmeier, Mareike, Greinert, Jens , Beck, Aaron J. , Diller, Nikolaj, Seidel, Marc und Frey, Torsten; ALKOR-Reports, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, AL548, 39 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL548

Greinert, Jens (2023): Mine Monitoring in the German Baltic Sea 2022; AL583, 18th - 31st October 2022, Kiel (Germany) - Kiel (Germany) "MineMoni-IV 2022". ed. by Greinert, Jens; Kampmeier, Mareike; Beck, Aaron J.; Diller, Nikolaj; Seidel, Marc; von See, Tim-Benedikt; Raupers, Björn und Arinaitwe, Kenneth; ALKOR-Reports, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, AL583, 34 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL583

Greinert, Jens; Kampmeier, Mareike; Barradas, Felipe J; Beck, Aaron; Diller, Nikolaj; Seidel, Marc; von See, Tim-Benedikt (2023): Mine Monitoring in the German Baltic Sea 2021; Dumped munition monitoring - AL567, 17th - 31st October 2021, Kiel (Germany) - Kiel (Germany), „MineMoni-III 2021. Alkor Berichte, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, AL567, 54 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL567

Kampmeier, Mareike (2020): RV LITTORINA L13-20 Cruise Report 04.-11.07.2020 BASTA. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany, 15 pp, http://oceanrep.geomar.de/50170/

Kampmeier, Mareike; Greinert, Jens; Beck, Aaron; Arinaitwe, Kenneth; Diller, Nikolaj; Nolte, Gabriel; Schöntag, Patricia; Weiß, Tim (2024): Monitoring ecological consequences of marine munition in the Baltic Sea 2023, Cruise No. AL603, 3rd – 16th October 2023, Kiel (Germany) – Kiel (Germany), "MecoMM-BS - II". Alkor-Berichte, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany, AL603, 34 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL603

Kampmeier, Mareike; Greinert, Jens; Beck, Aaron; Arinaitwe, Kenneth; Mohrmann, Jochen; Krüger, Marcus; Schmaljohann, Holger; Nolte, Gabriel; Weiß, Tim (2023): AL590 Cruise Report - Monitoring ecological consequences of marine munition in the Baltic Sea 2023; 17th – 31st March 2023, Kiel (Germany) – Kiel (Germany), "MecoMM-BS - I". Alkor-Berichte, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, AL590, 39 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL590

Kampmeier, Mareike; Greinert, Jens; Strehse, Jennifer; Beck, Aaron; Wichert, Uwe; Diller, Nikolaj; Kurbjuhn, Torge; Wenzlaff, Emanuel; Schröder, Jens (2018): RV Poseidon POS530 Cruise Report „MineMoni 2018“ Mine Monitoring in the German Baltic Sea 2018; Environmental baseline study testing UDEMM Best Practices, 01rst - 21rst October 2018, Kiel (Germany) - Kiel (Germany). GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany, 45 pp, https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/47567/

Keller, Mareike; Beck, Aaron; Diller, Nikolaj; Greinert, Jens; Nolte, Gabriel; Schmaljohann, Holger; Weiß, Tim (2025): Monitoring ecological consequences of marine munition in the Baltic Sea 2024 - Cruise No. AL615, 2nd - 12th July 2024, Kiel (Germany) - Kiel (Germany), "MecoMM-BS I - III". Alkor-Berichte, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, AL615, 34 pp, https://doi.org/10.3289/CR_AL615

References:

Frey, Torsten; Pechmann, Alexander; Ensenbach, Samar (2026): The multi-criteria analysis for dumped munition prioritization tool (MCA-DuMP): Handbook and Criterion Descriptions. Deep Sea Monitoring Reports, 0002. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany, https://doi.org/10.3289/DSMR-0002

Related code / software:

Huetten, E; Greinert, Jens (2008): Ocean Floor Observatory Protocol (OFOP) (Version 3.3.9) [software].

Project(s):

DAM sustainMare - CONMAR: CONcepts for conventional MArine Munition Remediation in the German North and Baltic Sea (CONMAR)

Research Mission of the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM): Protection and sustainable use of marine areas (sustainMare)

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), grant/award no. 03F0981A : DAM sustainMare - CONMAR-2, GEOMAR

Coverage:

Median Latitude: 54.089442 * Median Longitude: 10.933802 * South-bound Latitude: 54.030000 * West-bound Longitude: 10.280000 * North-bound Latitude: 54.500000 * East-bound Longitude: 11.000000

Date/Time Start: 1900-01-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2024-07-07T23:18:59

Minimum Elevation: -23.0 m * Maximum Elevation: -9.0 m

Event(s):

AL548_5-1 * Latitude Start: 54.470000 * Longitude Start: 10.310000 * Latitude End: 54.470000 * Longitude End: 10.320000 * Date/Time Start: 2020-11-03T19:24:34 * Date/Time End: 2020-11-04T06:26:15 * Elevation Start: -18.0 m * Elevation End: -16.0 m * Location: Kolberger Heide * Campaign: (GPF 20-1_055) * Basis: * Method/Device: (MB) * Comment: Mapping start and end

AL548_81-1 * Latitude Start: 54.050000 * Longitude Start: 10.820000 * Latitude End: 54.050000 * Longitude End: 10.830000 * Date/Time Start: 2020-11-08T18:23:36 * Date/Time End: 2020-11-09T07:03:21 * Elevation Start: -18.0 m * Elevation End: -9.0 m * Campaign: (GPF 20-1_055) * Basis: * Method/Device: (MB) * Comment: Mapping start and end

AL548_96-1 * Latitude Start: 54.070000 * Longitude Start: 10.920000 * Latitude End: 54.060000 * Longitude End: 10.930000 * Date/Time Start: 2020-11-10T17:43:53 * Date/Time End: 2020-11-11T06:28:34 * Elevation Start: -22.0 m * Elevation End: -23.0 m * Campaign: (GPF 20-1_055) * Basis: * Method/Device: (MB) * Comment: Mapping start and end

Parameter(s):

#	Name	Short Name	Unit	Principal Investigator	Method/Device	Comment
1	Event label	Event		Keller, Mareike
2	LATITUDE	Latitude		Keller, Mareike		Geocode – rounded to two decimal degrees
3	LONGITUDE	Longitude		Keller, Mareike		Geocode – rounded to two decimal degrees
4	DATE/TIME	Date/Time		Keller, Mareike		Geocode
5	Identification	ID		Keller, Mareike		Continuous Numbering [QGIS]
6	Photomosaic, annotated	Photomosaic annot		Frey, Torsten	AUV-based photomosaic [OFOP v3.3.9]
7	Identification remarks	Ident remark		Keller, Mareike		Identification: AUV-based photomosaic, Video-CTD, BlueROV Video [see respective cruise reports]
8	Identification remarks	Ident remark		Keller, Mareike		Identification (detail): AUV-based photomosaic, Video-CTD, BlueROV Video [see respective cruise reports]
9	Pile, area	Pile a	m²	Keller, Mareike	Annotation on MBES data according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS]
10	Layering of objects on pile	Layering obj pile		Frey, Torsten	Visual assessment on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
11	State of fuze	State fuze		Frey, Torsten	Visual assessment on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
12	State of corrosion of casing	State corr cas		Frey, Torsten	Visual assessment on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
13	Objects, size, maximum	Obj size max	m	Frey, Torsten	Annotation on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
14	Objects, size, median	Obj size med	m	Frey, Torsten	Annotation on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
15	Burial depth	Burial depth		Frey, Torsten	Visual assessment on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
16	Number of objects on pile	No obj pile		Frey, Torsten	Annotation on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]	linear extrapolation []
17	Number of objects on pile	No obj pile		Frey, Torsten	Annotation on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]	log-log regression adjusted []
18	Pile, variability	Pile var		Frey, Torsten	Visual assessment on photomosaics according to Frey et al. (2026) [OFOP v3.3.9]
19	Current velocity, mean	Cur vel mean	m/s	Gräwe, Ulf	Sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
20	Wave height, mean	Wave h mean	m	Gräwe, Ulf	Sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
21	Sediment type	Sediment		Frey, Torsten	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
22	Environmental vulnerability	Env vuln		Frey, Torsten	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
23	Distance to bathing sites	Dist bathing sites	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
24	Distance to protected areas	Dist protected areas	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
25	Distance to shipping lanes	Dist shipping lanes	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
26	Distance to cables	Dist cables	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
27	Distance to fish sampling stations	Dist fish sampl stat	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
28	Distance to mussel sampling stations	Dist mussel sampl stat	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
29	Distance to contaminated area centroids	Dist contam areas	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
30	Distance to military areas	Dist military areas	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
31	Distance to sediment deposits	Dist sed deposits	m	Frey, Torsten	Shortest line between features according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
32	Traffic density cluster ID	Traffic dens clust ID		Frey, Torsten	DBSCAN clustering [QGIS v3.30]
33	Traffic density, all vessels	Traffic dens all vess	#	Frey, Torsten	Buffer and zonal statistics according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Cumulative Buffered All Vessels (500 m) [Number of Vessels]
34	Traffic density, passenger vessels	Traffic dens pass vess	#	Frey, Torsten	Buffer and zonal statistics according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Cumulative Buffered Passenger Vessels (5000 m) [Number of Vessels]
35	Traffic density, non-passenger vessels	Traffic dens non-pass vess	#	Frey, Torsten	Buffer and zonal statistics according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Cumulative Buffered Non-Passenger Vessels (5000 m) [Number of Vessels]
36	Traffic density, cargo vessels	Traffic dens carg vess	#	Frey, Torsten	Buffer and zonal statistics according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Cumulative Buffered Cargo Vessels (5000 m) [Number of Vessels]
37	Traffic density, non-cargo vessels	Traffic dens non-carg vess	#	Frey, Torsten	Buffer and zonal statistics according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Cumulative Buffered Non-Cargo Vessels (5000 m) [Number of Vessels]
38	Traffic density, all vessels	Traffic dens all vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing All Vessels [Number of Vessels]
39	Traffic density, passenger vessels	Traffic dens pass vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing Passenger Vessels [Number of Vessels]
40	Traffic density, non-passenger vessels	Traffic dens non-pass vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing Non-Passenger Vessels [Number of Vessels]
41	Traffic density, cargo vessels	Traffic dens carg vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing Cargo Vessels [Number of Vessels]
42	Traffic density, non-cargo vessels	Traffic dens non-carg vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing Non-Cargo Vessels [Number of Vessels]
43	Traffic density, non-passenger/non-cargo vessels	Traffic dens non-pass/-carg vess	#	Mohrmann, Jochen	Gaussian Kernal smoothing and sample raster values according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	Traffic Density Gaussian Kernal Smoothing Non-Passenger/Non-Cargo Vessels [Number of Vessels]
44	Fishing intensity	Fishing int		Frey, Torsten	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	[fhr]
45	Fishing effort	Fishing eff		Frey, Torsten	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	[kWfhr]
46	Fishing intensity	Fishing int		Frey, Torsten	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]	(value)
47	Explosive compounds in fish	Expl comp fish	ng/ml	Scharsack, Jörn Peter	Join attributes by nearest according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
48	Explosive compounds in mussels, per dry mass	Expl comp muss dm	ng/g	Bünning, Lillian Tabea Hannah	Join attributes by nearest according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]
49	Explosive compounds in water	Expl comp water	ng/l	Beck, Aaron	Join attributes by location according to Frey et al. (2026) [QGIS v3.30]

License:

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)

Status:

Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)

Size:

17964 data points

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