Building bridges: experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of INSPIRE and e-reporting of air quality data in Europe

The collection, exchange and use of air quality data require diverse monitoring, processing and dissemination systems to work together. They should supply data, which can afterwards be used in different contexts such as planning, population exposure and environmental impact assessment. As air quality is not dependant on national borders this would only be feasible on an international level. This manuscript reports on the lessons learned from using the world’s largest data harmonization effort for environmental information infrastructure - INSPIRE as a backbone of a European wide spatial data reporting system which involves an unprecedented number of actors and volumes of data. It is important in the context of Digital Earth, and the establishment of a global SDI through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), as the quality of ambient air is among the pressing environmental problems of today. We summarize our findings from the perspective of national public authorities, obliged by law to transmit spatio-temporal data in order to streamline reporting and facilitate the use of information, while keeping public expenditure at minimum. To identify what works in this type of reporting we established a cross-border case study, looking at the process of harmonization and exchange of data in Belgium and the Netherlands based on interoperable standards. Our results cover the legal, semantic, technological and organizational aspects of reporting. They are relevant to a cross-thematic audience, having to undergo similar processes of reporting, such as climate change, but also environmental noise, marine, biodiversity, and water management.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat

An Architecture for Integrated Intelligence in Urban Management using Cloud Computing

With the emergence of new methodologies and technologies it has now become possible to manage large amounts of environmental sensing data and apply new integrated computing models to acquire information intelligence. This paper advocates the application of cloud capacity to support the information, communication and decision making needs of a wide variety of stakeholders in the complex business of the management of urban and regional development. The complexity lies in the interactions and impacts embodied in the concept of the urban-ecosystem at various governance levels. This highlights the need for more effective integrated environmental management systems. This paper offers a user-orientated approach based on requirements for an effective management of the urban-ecosystem and the potential contributions that can be supported by the cloud computing community. Furthermore, the commonality of the influence of the drivers of change at the urban level offers the opportunity for the cloud computing community to develop generic solutions that can serve the needs of hundreds of cities from Europe and indeed globally.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

UK utility data integration: overcoming schematic heterogeneity

In this paper we discuss syntactic, semantic and schematic issues which inhibit the integration of utility data in the UK. We then focus on the techniques employed within the VISTA project to overcome schematic heterogeneity. A Global Schema based architecture is employed. Although automated approaches to Global Schema definition were attempted the heterogeneities of the sector were too great. A manual approach to Global Schema definition was employed. The techniques used to define and subsequently map source utility data models to this schema are discussed in detail. In order to ensure a coherent integrated model, sub and cross domain validation issues are then highlighted. Finally the proposed framework and data flow for schematic integration is introduced

Põllumassiivide identifitseerimissüsteemi kontseptuaalne mudel: geoinfo huvigruppi kontseptuaalse mudeli loomine

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Käesolevas doktoritöös käsitletakse Põllumassiivide identifitseerimissüsteemi (Land Parcel Identification System, LPIS) Kontseptuaalse Mudeli (LPIS Conceptual Model, LCM) loomist ja selle kasutamist ruumiandmete standardiseerimisel, kvaliteedi hindamisel ja koostoimimisel teiste valdkondade ruumiandmetega. Mudelis käsitletud ruumiandmeid kasutatakse põllumajandustoetuste haldamise ja kontrolli eesmärgil ELi Ühise Põllumajanduspoliitika (ÜPP) raames. ÜPP raames makstavate toetuste haldamiseks on igas EL liikmesriigis asutatud Ühtne haldus-ja kontrollisüsteem (Eestis Põllumajandusregistrite amet, PRIA), mille ruumiandmeid haldav komponent on põllumassiivide register ehk identifitseerimissüsteem. Nõue kaardistada ja registreerida toetuskõlbulik maa on viinud olukorrani, kus põllumajandussektoris on tekkinud suur hulk ruumiandmeid. Viimase aastakümne jooksul on kasvanud ÜPP-ga seotud geoinformaatika sektor Euroopas. ÜPP-ga seotud geoinfo huvigrupp (Spatial Data Interest Community) hõlmab nii andmete tootjaid, haldajaid ja kasutajaid, kui ka IT rakenduste arendajaid ning kaugseire andmete tarnijaid. Vajadus hinnata registrite kvaliteeti ja selle vastavust EL määrustele ning tagada koostalitlusvõime keskkonnaalaseid nõudeid toetavate ruumiandmete ja süsteemidega, kutsus esile LCM-i loomise. Töö eesmärgiks oli edendada kontseptuaalmodelleerimist põlluregistrite ruumiandmete kvaliteedi hindamisel ja teiste geoinfo (eelkõige keskkonnakaitse) valdkondadega koostalitlusvõime arendamisel. LCM väljatöötamise metodoloogia aluseks oli ISO19100 seeria rahvusvaheliste standardite metoodika, mida samuti rakendavad ja laiendavad INSPIRE direktiivi printsiibid ja millele keskendutakse uurimistöö teoreetilises osas. Mudeli peamiseks sisendiks said ÜPP-d reguleeritavates määrustes sätestatud kontseptsioonide põhjalik käsitlus ja olemasolevate töötavate süsteemide analüüs, mis põhineb LPIS küsitluste tulemustel (Milenov ja Kay, 2006; Zieliński ja Sagris, 2008 ja 2009) ja hõlmab erinevate liikmesriikide põlluregistreid. Väitekirjas on keskendutud ÜPP otsetoetuste ärimudeli analüüsile ehk ÜPP toetustesüsteemi põhikontseptsioonidele, tehtud kokkuvõtted ja järeldused 2006. ja 2008. aasta küsimustikust. Küsimustikust saadut info laiendati EL põlluregistrite kvaliteedi hindamise programmi raames. LCM esimese versiooni keskmes on kaks klassi: ReferenceParcel ehk põllumassiiv ja AgriculturalParcel ehk toetustaotluses deklareeritud põld. ReferenceParcel-i klassi ülesandeks on toetuskõlbliku põllumaa identifitseerimine, lokaliseerimine ja pindala määramine. ReferenceParcel täidab „konteineri“ rolli deklareeritavate maatükkide suhtes. Kuid käsitletud põllumassiiviklassi alamtüüpe ning analüüsitud erinevaid põllumajanduslikke maakatte klassifitseerimise ja kaardistamise lähenemisviise EL liikmesriikides. Töö teisel etapil on otsitud võimalusi kahe mudeli – LCM ja Maakatastri infosüsteemi mudeli (Land Administration Domain Model, LADM, ISO 19152) – lõimiseks. Kaks mudelit on omavahel integreeritud uue ruumilise klassi SubCadParsel abil – katastriüksuse sees eristuvad maakatte tüübi alamüksused. Käsitletakse ka mõlema mudeli semantiliselt sarnaseid haldusklasse ja tehakse kindlaks uued seosed kahe mudeliklassi vahel. Ära on toodud põhjalik analüüs, millistes reaalse elu tingimustes võiks toimida kahe mudeli integreerimine. LCM viimane versioon keskendub kahele aspektile: (i) nende klasside modelleerimisele, mis toetavad vastavust keskkonna, tervise ja loomade heaolu majandamisnõuetele ning mis toetavad maa heade põllumajandus- ja keskkonnatingimuste kontrolli; (ii) mudeli kasutamisele põlluregistrite loogilise õigsuse (ehk EL määruste nõuetele vastavuse) testimiseks. Selleks on välja töötatud ISO19105 standardil põhinev testide kogum (Abstract Tests Suite, ATS), mis võimaldab kaardistada olemasolevaid LPIS registreid vastavalt LCM skeemile. ATS töötati välja ja testiti koostöös mitmete EL liikmesriikidega ja selle metodoloogia on osa Euroopa komisjoni poolt kehtestatud LPIS kvaliteedi tagamise raamprogrammist alates 2010. aastast. LCM-i kasutati ka LPIS testimise portaali prototüübi loomisel, mis koondas enda alla OGC ühilduvaid veebiteenuseid. Nende eesmärgiks on võimaldada andmevahetust rahvuslike põlluregistrite ja auditeerijatega Euroopa komisjonist. Eelvalitud põllumassiivide geograafiliste kihtide temaatilist ja positsioonilist õigsust kontrolliti liikmesriikide ekspertide poolt kõrge resolutsiooniga kaugseire andmete taustal. Selleks et võimaldata auditeerijate juurdepääsu kvaliteedikontrolli tulemustele, loodi kolm prototüüp-veebiteenust, kus kasutati LCM-i originaalandmete transformeerimiseks. Edasised uuringud kontsentreeruvad erinevate Euroopa põllumajandussüsteemide kajastamisele põlluregistite andmetes ja nende andmete kasutamise võimalustele põllumajanduspoliitika keskkonnamõju hindamisel. LPIS/IACS põhikontseptsioonid vaadatakse uuesti läbi, nüüd juba mõjuhindamise ja indikaatorite väljatöötamise kontekstis. Teoreetilist arutlust illustreerib kõrge loodusväärtusega põllumajandusmaa (KLV) indikaatorite väljatöötamise näide Jõgevamaal – põlluregistrist saadud detailiderohked andmed lubavad arvutada nii maastiku meetrika kui ka põllumajandusintensiivsuse indikaatoreid, seejuures tüpiseerides põllumajandussüsteemide erinevaid aspekte. Seega, LCM toetab geograafiliste andmete harmoniseerimist ja koostalitusvõimet mitmel moel: (i) pakkudes valdkonna siseselt andmete ühiselt mõistetavat tehnilist lugemist, nii mudeli vastavusetesti (ATS) kui ka veebiteenuste kaudu transformeerimisel; (ii) võimaldades semantilise vastavuse leidmist ja andmete/süsteemide integreerimist erinevate geoinfo valdkondade vahel. Loodud ja arendatud esialgselt Euroopa komisjoni LPIS kvaliteedisüsteemi vajadusi silmas pidades, võimaldab LCM erinevate liikmesriikide põllumajandusregistrite andmete ühiselt mõistetavat lugemist ka teistes valdkondades. LCM on lisatud kasutusjuhtumina rahvusvahelise standardi ISO 19152 ’Land Administration Domain Model’ lisasse H ja INSPIRE DS2.8 Land Cover rakenduseeskirja lisasse B2.This dissertation presents the development of the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) Conceptual Model (LCM) for the administration and control of agricultural subsidies of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The subsidies which European farmers receive in the frame of the CAP are administered through the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) that are established and run by the EU member states. IACS includes a Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) as its spatial component. The requirement to map and record land eligible for payments has led to the situation where the agricultural sector has acquired a large amount of geographic data; the geospatial community of data producers, custodians and users has grown during the last decades. The need to assess the quality and consistency of the LPIS towards the EU regulators as well as to ensure systems’ interoperability as it is required for compliance with environmental legislation, call for harmonisation efforts. In the view of this, an LPIS Conceptual Model (LCM) was developed. The objective of the study was to introduce the modeling framework of ISO 19100 series for advance of quality of geospatial data in the LPIS domain and of interoperability with other geospatial domains. The LCM was generated by means of both (i) methodological approaches of International Standards of ISO 19100 series, further extended by the INSPIRE principles, and (ii) reverse engineering of existing operational LPIS systems. The latter is based on the results of two LPIS surveys covering different national implementations. Business analysis of the relevant EU regulations and the LPIS surveys led to the first-cut LCM. Model’s core classes – reference and agricultural parcels – cover process of land registration for administration of agricultural subsidies, agri-environmental measures of rural development and environmental restriction. Agricultural and reference parcels of the model build the framework for recording land cover and land use. Further model refinement addressed the quality aspects of the geographical databases: the LCM became naturally a part of the LPIS Quality Assurance programme between the European Commission and EU countries. The LCM was used (i) for conformance assessment of national systems and (ii) for implementation of the LPIS Test Bed portal: set of OGC compliant Web services allowing for agricultural data transformation from national data schemas to the common model as well as transferring, checking and storing spatial and non-spatial observations from the quality inspection. The study case for interoperability with cadastral domain looked for possibilities of the collaboration of two models – the LCM and the Land Administration Domain Model (became ISO19152 LADM). Owner’s rights, restrictions and responsibilities arising from land ownership in the cadastral domain have many similarities, but also differences with agricultural practice. The collaboration model established via newly introduced spatial class, also the semantic similarity of administrative classes of both models were analysed in details. Further studies include a representation of different European agricultural systems in LPIS and potentials of using LPIS data in the environmental impact assessment of the agricultural policy. Different types of land parcel proposed by the thesis and ways of integration with data from environmental domain viewed in context of the development of agri-environmental indicators. Developed firstly for the needs of LPIS Quality Assurance Framework of the European Commission, the LCM also became a part of the International Standard ISO19152 – Land Administration Domain Model (Annex H: use case in agriculture) and INSPIRE DS2.8 Land Cover specification (Annex B2: use case in agriculture)

An approach towards a harmonized framework for hydrographic features domain

We describe an ontology in the hydrographic domain, hydrOntology, which can be used to overcome the semantic heterogeneity of different databases and other information sources that deal with geographic information. We show that ontologies are richer than other means commonly used to represent geographic information, such as feature catalogues and thesauri, and how ontologies could be used to overcome some of the problems associated with them

Towards Interactive Geodata Analysis through a Combination of Domain-Specific Languages and 3D Geo Applications in a Web Portal Environment

Urban planning processes affect a wide range of stakeholders including decision makers, urban planners, business companies as well as citizens. ICT-enabled tools supporting urban planning are considered key to successful and sustainable urban management. Based on previous work in the areas of web-based participation tools for urban planning, rule-based geospatial processing as well as 3D virtual reality applications we present a tool that supports experts from municipalities in planning and decision making but also provides a way for the public to engage in urban planning processes. The main contribution of this work is in the combination of 3D visualization and interaction components with a new ontology-driven rule editor based on domain-specific languages. The 3D visualization, on the one hand, enables stakeholders to present and discuss urban plans. On the other hand, the rule editor particularly targets expert users who need to perform spatial analyses on urban data or want to configure the 3D scene according to custom rules. Compared to previous approaches we propose a portable and interactive solution. Our tool is web-based and uses HTML5 technology making it accessible by a broad audience

SEEING THE UNSEEN: DELIVERING INTEGRATED UNDERGROUND UTILITY DATA IN THE UK

In earlier work we proposed a framework to integrate heterogeneous geospatial utility data in the UK. This paper provides an update on the techniques used to resolve semantic and schematic heterogeneities in the UK utility domain. Approaches for data delivery are discussed, including descriptions of three pilot projects and domain specific visualization issues are considered. A number of practical considerations are discussed that will impact on how any implementation architecture is derived from the integration framework. Considerations of stability, security, currency, operational impact and response time can reveal a number of conflicting constraints. The impacts of these constraints are discussed in respect of either a virtual or materialised delivery system. 1