91 research outputs found

    Discovery and integration of Web 2.0 content into geospatial information infrastructures: a use case in wild fire monitoring

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    Efficient environment monitoring has become a major concern for society to guarantee sustainable development. For instance, forest fire detection and analysis is important to provide early warning systems and identify impact. In this environmental context, availability of up-to-date information is very important for reducing damages caused. Environmental applications are deployed on top of GeospatialInformation Infrastructures (GIIs) to manage information pertaining to our environment. Suchinfrastructures are traditionally top-down infrastructures that do not consider user participation. This provokes a bottleneck in content publication and therefore a lack of content availability. On the contrary mainstream IT systems and in particular the emerging Web 2.0 Services allow active user participation that is becoming a massive source of dynamic geospatial resources. In this paper, we present a webservice, that implements a standard interface, offers a unique entry point for spatial data discovery, both in GII services and web 2.0 services. We introduce a prototype as proof of concept in a forest fire scenario, where we illustrate how to leverage scientific data and web 2.0 conten

    Developing an open data portal for the ESA climate change initiative

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    We introduce the rationale for, and architecture of, the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Open Data Portal (http://cci.esa.int/data/). The Open Data Portal hosts a set of richly diverse datasets – 13 “Essential Climate Variables” – from the CCI programme in a consistent and harmonised form and to provides a single point of access for the (>100 TB) data for broad dissemination to an international user community. These data have been produced by a range of different institutions and vary across both scientific and spatio-temporal characteristics. This heterogeneity of the data together with the range of services to be supported presented significant technical challenges. An iterative development methodology was key to tackling these challenges: the system developed exploits a workflow which takes data that conforms to the CCI data specification, ingests it into a managed archive and uses both manual and automatically generated metadata to support data discovery, browse, and delivery services. It utilises both Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) data nodes and the Open Geospatial Consortium Catalogue Service for the Web (OGC-CSW) interface, serving data into both the ESGF and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). A key part of the system is a new vocabulary server, populated with CCI specific terms and relationships which integrates OGC-CSW and ESGF search services together, developed as part of a dialogue between domain scientists and linked data specialists. These services have enabled the development of a unified user interface for graphical search and visualisation – the CCI Open Data Portal Web Presence

    Interoperable Search Mechanisms for Web 2.0 Resources

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    We are currently witnessing ordinary citizens willing to share geospatial information using friendly and easy-to use tools provided by Web 2.0 platforms. These platforms act as social networks describing events with large social impacts. Social networks are filled with volunteered information before, during, and after events that occur near human settlements and urban areas. The amount of this geolocated information is increasing due to the increase of location-aware devices that allow users in the field to share knowledge about an event’s evolution and impact. In order to retrieve this information one interacts with the different search mechanisms provided by various Web 2.0 services. This paper explores how to improve the interoperability of these various Web 2.0 platforms by providing a single service as a unique entry. This paper demonstrates the utility of the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Open Search Geospatial and Time specification as an interface for a service that searches, retrieves and aggregates information available in different Web 2.0 services. We present how this information is useful in complementing other official and scientific information sources by providing an alternative, contemporary source of information. We demonstrate this with a proof of concept presented in a forest fire scenario. The intrinsic interoperability of the system is reflected in the collaborations shown with different information systems such as those at the biodiversity and forestry units in the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at the Joint Research Centre

    Open Source Based Deployment of Environmental Data into Geospatial Information Infrastructures

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    Today, scientists use local and closed geospatial solutions to run their models and store their results. This may limit their ability to share their models, and results with other interested colleagues. This scenario is changing with the advent of new factors such as the rapid growth and rise of open source projects, or new paradigms promoted by government organizations to manage environmental data, such as Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) directive, or the massive use of Web 2.0 techniques where users are looking for applications with a high degree of collaboration, interactiveness, and multimedia effects. Many authors address the versatility of Spatial Data Infrastructures where resources are shared and accessed via standard service according to complex specifications. In this context, the authors point out the need to merge the traditional building and maintenance of these infrastructures, driven by official providers, with these more participative methodologies where users can participate in creating and integrating information. It seems necessary to develop new geospatial tools which integrate these new trends. This paper proposes a unified solution offering to the scientific field an open development framework, based on standards and philosophies focused on new technologies and scientific needs

    Interoperable Search Mechanisms for Web 2.0 Resources

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    We are currently witnessing ordinary citizens willing to share geospatial information using friendly and easy-to use tools provided by Web 2.0 platforms. These platforms act as social networks describing events with large social impacts. Social networks are filled with volunteered information before, during, and after events that occur near human settlements and urban areas. The amount of this geolocated information is increasing due to the increase of location-aware devices that allow users in the field to share knowledge about an event’s evolution and impact. In order to retrieve this information one interacts with the different search mechanisms provided by various Web 2.0 services. This paper explores how to improve the interoperability of these various Web 2.0 platforms by providing a single service as a unique entry. This paper demonstrates the utility of the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Open Search Geospatial and Time specification as an interface for a service that searches, retrieves and aggregates information available in different Web 2.0 services. We present how this information is useful in complementing other official and scientific information sources by providing an alternative, contemporary source of information. We demonstrate this with a proof of concept presented in a forest fire scenario. The intrinsic interoperability of the system is reflected in the collaborations shown with different information systems such as those at the biodiversity and forestry units in the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at the Joint Research Centre

    Enhancing integrated environmental modelling by designing resource-oriented interfaces

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    Integrated environmental modelling is gaining momentum for addressing grand scientific challenges such as monitoring the environment for change detection and forecasting environmental conditions along with the consequences for society. Such challenges can only be addressed by a multi-disciplinary approach, in which socio-economic, geospatial, and environmental information becomes inter-connected. However, existing solutions cannot be seamlessly integrated and current interaction paradigms prevent mainstream usage of the existing technology. In particular, it is still difficult to access and join harmonized data and processing algorithms that are provided by different environmental information infrastructures. In this paper we take a novel approach for integrated environmental modelling based on the notion of inter-linked resources on the Web. We present design practices for creating resource-oriented interfaces, driven by an interaction protocol built on the combination of valid linkages to enhance resource integration, accompanied by associated recommendations for implementation. The suggested resource-oriented approach provides a solution to the problems identified above, but still requires intense prototyping and experimentation. We discuss the central open issues and present a roadmap for future research

    Semantic Search and Discovery for Earth Observation Products using Ontology Services

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    Η πρόσβαση σε δεδομένα που έχουν προέλθει από την παρατήρηση της Γης παραμένει δύσκολη για τους περισσότερους απλούς χρήστες μέχρι και σήμερα. Οι υπάρχουσες μηχανές αναζήτησης απευθύνονται σε ειδικούς του πεδίου παρατήρησης της Γης, αδυνατώντας να καλύψουν τις ανάγκες επιστημονικών κοινοτήτων από άλλα πεδία, καθώς και απλών χρηστών που δεν είναι εξοικειωμένοι με τα δεδομένα παρατήρησης της Γης. Στα πλαίσια αυτής της διπλωματικής αναπτύχθηκαν σημασιολογικές τεχνολογίες οι οποίες ενσωματώθηκαν σε μια πλατφόρμα αναζήτησης ΕΟ-netCDF δεδομένων. Οι τεχνολογίες αυτές με τη χρήση οντολογιών επιτρέπουν την εύκολη αναζήτηση και πρόσβαση σε δεδομένα που έχουν προέλθει από την παρατήρηση της Γης.Access to Earth Observation products remains difficult for end-users in most domains. Although various search engines have been developed, these are targeted for advanced Earth Observation users, and fail to support scientific communities from other domains, as well as casual users not familiar with the concepts of Earth Observation.In the context of this thesis, we developed semantic technologies that were used to semantically enhance a search engine for EO-netCDF product. We present how these technologies utilize ontology services to substantially improve the ability of end-users to explore, understand and exploit the vast amount of Earth Observation data that is available nowadays

    Citizen-based sensing of crisis events: sensor web enablement for volunteered geographic information

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    Thanks to recent convergence of greater access to broadband connections, the availability of Global Positioning Systems in small packages at affordable prices and more participative forms of interaction on the Web (Web 2.0), vast numbers of individuals became able to create and share Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). The potential of up to six billion persons to monitor the state of the environment, validate global models with local knowledge, contribute to crisis situations awareness, and provide information that only humans can capture is vast and has yet to be fully exploited. Integrating VGI into Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) is a major challenge, as it is often regarded as insufficiently structured, documented, or validated according to scientific standards. Early instances of SDIs used to have limited ability to manage and process geosensor-based data (beyond remotely sensed imagery), which tend to arrive in continuous streams of real-time information. The current works on standards for Sensor Web Enablement fill this gap. This paper shows how such standards can be applied to VGI, thus converting it in a timely, cost-effective and valuable source of information for SDIs. By doing so, we extend previous efforts describing a workflow for VGI integration into SDI and further advance an initial set of VGI Sensing and event detection techniques. Examples of how such VGI Sensing techniques can support crisis information system are provided. The presented approach serves central building blocks for a Digital Earth’s nervous system, which is required to develop the next generation of (geospatial) information infrastructures

    Web service-based exploration of Earth Observation time-series data for analyzing environmental changes

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    The increasing amount of Earth observation (EO) data requires a tremendous change, in order to property handle the number of observations and storage size thereof. Due to open data strategies and the increasing size of data archives, a new market has been developed to provide analysis and application-ready data, services, and platforms. It is not only scientists and geospatial processing specialists who work with EO data; stakeholders, thematic experts, and software developers do too. There is thus a great demand for improving the discovery, access, and analysis of EO data in line with new possibilities of web-based infrastructures. With the aim of bridging the gap between users and EO data archives, various topics have been researched: 1) user requirements and their relation to web services and output formats; 2) technical requirements for the discovery and access of multi-source EO time-series data, and 3) management of EO time-series data focusing on application-ready data. Web services for EO data discovery and access, time-series data processing, and EO platforms have been reviewed and related to the requirements of users. The diversity of data providers and web services requires specific knowledge of systems and specifications. Although service specifications for the discovery of EO data exist, improvements are still necessary to meet the requirements of different user personas. For the processing of EO time-series data, various data formats and processing steps need to be handled. Still, there remains a gap between EO time-series data access and analysis tools, which needs to be addressed to simplify work with such data. Within this thesis, web services for the discovery, access, and analysis of EO time-series data have been described and evaluated based on different user requirements. Standardized web services specifications, output and data formats are proposed, introduced and described to meet the needs of the different user personas
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