59 research outputs found
Design of the shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) and development of a web-based GIS interface
Chapter 5The Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) is a collaborative initiative of
the European Commission (EC) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) aimed to
establish an integrated and shared EU-wide environmental information system together
with the Member States.
SEIS presents the European vision on environmental information interoperability. It is
a set of high-level principles & workflow-processes that organize the collection, exchange,
and use of environmental data & information aimed to:
⢠Modernise the way in which information required by environmental legislation is
made available to member states or EC instruments;
⢠Streamline reporting processes and repeal overlaps or obsolete reporting obligations;
⢠Stimulate similar developments at international conventions;
⢠Standardise according to INSPIRE when possible; and
⢠Introduce the SDI (spatial database infrastructure) principle EU-wide.
SEIS is a system and workflow of operations that offers technical capabilities geared to
meet concept expectations. In that respect, SEIS shows the way and sets up the workflow
effectively in a standardise way (e.g, INSPIRE) to:
⢠Collect Data from Spatial Databases, in situ sensors, statistical databases, earth
observation readings (e.g., EOS, GMES), marine observation using standard data
transfer protocols (ODBC, SOS, ft p, etc).
⢠Harmonise collected data (including data check/data integrity) according to best
practices proven to perform well, according to the INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC
(1) Annexes I: II: III: plus INSPIRE Implementation Rules for data not specified in
above mentioned Annexes.
⢠Harmonise collected data according to WISE (Water Information System from
Europe) or Ozone-web.
⢠Process, aggregate harmonise data so to extract information in a format understandable
by wider audiences (e.g., Eurostat, enviro-indicators).
⢠Document information to fulfi l national reporting obligations towards EU bodies
(e.g., the JRC, EEA, DGENV, Eurostat)
⢠Store and publish information for authorised end-users (e.g., citizens, institutions).
This paper presents the development and integration of the SEIS-Malta Geoportal.
The first section outlines EU Regulations on INSPIRE and Aarhus Directives. The second
covers the architecture and the implementation of SEIS-Malta Geoportal. The third
discusses the results and successful implementation of the Geoportal.peer-reviewe
Emergent realities for social wellbeing : environmental, spatial and social pathways
As the emergency management paradigm shifted from response to prevention in the 1980s (Auf Der Heide, 1989), risk assessment progressively turned into a key requirement for civil protection authorities (Schwab, Eschelbach, and Brower, 2007). The European Commission Directorate-General launched the Risk Assessment and Mapping Guidelines for Disaster Management in 2010, whilst the European Parliament and Council Decision 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism requires Member-States to develop risk assessments at national or appropriate sub-national level by 2015 (FIAU, 2013). In parallel, the development of national risk assessments (NRA) became an ex ante conditionality (Baubion, 2013) of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020.peer-reviewe
Pathways to spatial cognition : a multi-domain approach SpatialTrain I
âOpening a window into the future is not an easy task. Attempting to open one in a generation after the initial launching step might seemed either idealistic, naĂŻve or with hindsight plain drivenâ (Formosa, 2017, p35). The drive to introduce Spatial Information integration across the Maltese Islands was an ideal, one that brought in technology, methodologies and results. However, as in the classic GIS evolution through the decades pointers on what constitutes a spatial information system were the subject of extensive debate Initially this was driven by the Push â Pull factor where entities using the primitive systems were being pushed by the availability of a mapping system and provision of base maps and hence creating data to fit the system. Initiated in the 1960s through military use, porting the processes to the physical and urban domains in the 1980s and 1990s, further takeup was made in the environmental domains in the 1990s to 2000s and eventually to the social domain in the 2000 to 2010s. Jumping through the decades, the global explosion of GIS and Spatial awareness as well as software, methods and integrative constructs morphed GIS into an availability that made it all possible, particularly through online and web-enabled GIS. This Pull â Push factor caused entities and private organisations to finally break through by creating their own data and then going for the mapping systems that fit their needs, systems that have evolved beyond recognition, both in the proprietary and open-source/open-access arenas. [Excerpt from the Introduction by Prof. Saviour Formosa]peer-reviewe
The water-land-food-energy-climate nexus for a resource efficient Europe.
Î novel methodology for addressing policy
inconsistencies and knowledge gaps that hinder the
transition to a greater resource efficiency Europe is
proposed. We focus on the integration of all different
sectors that interact and influence each other, namely the
âwater- energy- food- land use- climate nexusâ and we
develop tools for identifying and quantifying their complex
interlinkages under the influence of climate change. In
order to achieve this, we employ a series of sophisticated
models (referred to as âthematic modelsâ), each of which
addresses a different nexus dimension, or a combination of
a few, while none addresses all nexus dimensions in an
integrative manner. We use dynamic systems modeling
and other complexity science techniques in order to
âmergeâ different thematic model outputs in a single
coherent result, which is presented to the user in an easyto-comprehend
Serious Game environment. This way, the
effect of policies that are designed to affect one field
(nexus dimension) on others can be quantified and
simulated, thus informing policy-makers for the
unintended consequences of their policies, reducing
uncertainties, covering knowledge gaps and leading to a
resource efficient Europe faste
Use of the INSPIRE EF data specifications to develop the SEIS-Malta geodatabase for the air quality data management
SEIS-Malta system (Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) and web-based GIS interface) forms part of a global project on environmental monitoring funded under the 2007- 2013 Structural Funds Programme for Malta. ⢠The project âDeveloping national environmental infrastructure and capacityâ, is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which provides 85% of the projectâs funding and the Government of Malta, which finances the rest under Maltaâs Operational Programme I - Cohesion Policy 2007- 2013 âInvesting in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Lifeâ.peer-reviewe
SEIS-MALTA Geoportal: Maltaâs Shared Enviromental INSPIRE GeoInformation System
The SEIS Geodatabase includes INSPIRE elements for which a correspondence with the source data has-been found as well as additional elements not existing in the INSPIRE data model but present in the source data. The article covers INSPIRE elements not existing in the source data and all elements existing in the EEA reporting schemas.peer-reviewe
- âŚ