CONEIXEMENT I SOCIETAT 05 NOTES
SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INFRA- STRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC)
Jordi Guimet*
This report presents the Catalan Spatial Data Infrastructure project (IDEC, Infraestructura de Dades Espacials de Catalunya). IDEC is driven by the Catalan government and is an applicable example of inter-operativity between systems in distributed geographic information, which enables data from different sources and environments to be combined and for several web services to be made available concurrently for processing purposes. These technologies are applied in spatial data infrastructures that have created a new paradigm within the context of geospatial information. The IDEC project is being used to prepare the way for further developments within this new dimension of interconnected information.
Table of contents
1. The IDEC project. 2. The characteristics of geospatial information. 3. Spatial data infrastructures (SDI): the distribution of geospatial information. 4. Web servers, the base elements of SDI: WRS, WMS, WFS, WCS, WMC, WSE, LBS, etc. 5. The next stage: a semantic web within the domain of spatial information. 6. The IDEC project as an example of SDI application and research in Catalonia.
* Jordi Guimet has a PhD in industrial engineering and is the director of the IDEC project (Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Societat de la Informació, and the Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya). e-mail address: [email protected]
122 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INTRASTRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC)
1. The IDEC project stimulate the sector and disseminate the use of geographic information. The Catalan Spatial Data Infrastructure project (IDEC) is an initiative by the Secretaria de Teleco- This kind of information, which is provided by differ- municacions i Societat de la Informació (STSI, ent public and private entities, is highly useful for en- Secretariat for Telecommunications and the In- terprises, the general public and all levels of govern- formation Society) of the Catalan Government’s ment although it has been difficult to find in the past Departament d’Universitats, Recerca i Societat due to its disperse nature. The IDEC project enables de la Informació (DURSI, Ministry of Universities, users to know what information exists, how to find it, Research and the Information Society) and falls who the owner is, how the information can be ac- within the framework of the Third Research Plan cessed and what its characteristics are, in addition for Catalonia 2001-2004 and the Catalan Strate- to being able to see it, combine information from dif- gic Plan for the Information Society (Catalunya ferent suppliers and, where appropriate, download it en xarxa). using nothing more than an Internet browser.
The IDEC project is an important contribution to Access to non-administrative information can be the development of the information society in Ca- extremely important for decisions by enterprises. talonia in that it seeks to achieve social and eco- One example is financial and geographic statistical nomic gains through the use of geospatial informa- information, which can be determinant for busi- tion to develop existing and potential assets and to ness strategies and investment. make certain products and services based on geo- graphic and geo-referenced data available so that The IDEC project will also provide the universities this information can be better understood by citi- and research centres with an important potential zens and public administration. for developing studies and projects on land use, environment, habitat, etc. given that information The Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya is responsible generated by others can easily be found, under- for developing the project, pursuant to the agree- stood and shared. This will turn be an aid for them ments between the Departament d’Universitats, in developing their activities. Recerca i Societat de la Informació (Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Societat de la Informació) and Furthermore, it will give public administration an in- the Autonomous Government of Catalonia’s De- strument to construct corporate information sys- partament de Política Territorial i Obres Públiques. tems based on the connecting up of different dis- It is actively supported and driven by the Catalan tributed systems and it will be able to share data section of the Associación Española de Sistemas and services, thereby facilitating the development de Información Geografica (AESIG). Its function is of transversal projects and activities. to provide the platform and most highly innovative technology to encourage contact between users As laid down in the agreement between the De- and suppliers of geographic information in order to partament d’Universitats, Recerca i Societat de
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la Informació (DURSI) and the Autonomous Gov- of important new innovations within the context of ernment of Catalonia’s Departament de Política the information society. Territorial i Obres Públiques (DPTOP), the project received approximately 900,000 euros in funding from the Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Soci- 2. The characteristics of geospatial etat de la Informació during the first two years information (2002-2003).1 This support, which is being con- tinued during 2004, covered investments in Geographic or geospatial information is informa- equipment, software and developments, meta- tion that refers to geography and objects with a ge- data generation, information preparation, human ographic position. This can be either geographic resources (four technical staff, who are all direct- information represented in maps, photos and ima- ly involved) and other activities. The Institut Car- ges as geo-referenced information and which can togràfic de Catalunya (ICC) also provides sup- be associated with a geographic position using a port in the form of technological infrastructure for co-ordinate or indirectly using other geographic systems, communications, etc. It is anticipated referencing systems, such as postal addresses that the current structure with personnel and and place names, which can be converted into ge- available equipment will be sufficient to assure ographic co-ordinates. the normal functioning of the project’s activities in the future. The characteristics that define geographic infor- mation from a data model perspective are locali- sation (co-ordinates), geometric shape (point, line, surface), the attributes of the object (textual The IDEC project was created with the idea information) and the relationships between the objects (topology). Differences are established of it becoming a formal and sustainable en- between these characteristics and any textual in- tity in the future, which will be made up of formation that are translated by computer into the different agents in the geographic infor- characteristic data models for this type of infor- mation and specific analytical and spatial man- mation sector. agement processes.
Graphical imagery is used for geographic repre- sentation as this is more universal than text, with The IDEC project was created with the idea of it each feature being linked to a position designated becoming a formal and sustainable entity in the fu- by geographic co-ordinates on the graphical im- ture, the formula for which is still to be determined. age (a more universal representation than text); This entity will be made up of the different agents in the shape of an object in space, which can be the geographic information sector and will continue represented by a point, line or polygon, does not and extend the work of the project through the use any need translation nor interpretation. This
1 50% of the project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the INNOVC@T-SI innovative actions pro- gramme.
124 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INTRASTRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC)
means that geographic information can be used to combine and share information without the directly and also combined with different sources user being involved, can be applied more easily of information (several different layers of maps within this environment. where each layer holds data about a particular kind of feature) because they all use the common alphabet of the co-ordinates as reference. The 3. Spatial data infrastructures concept of inter-operativity, or the capacity of in- (SDI): the distribution of geospatial formation systems to understand each other and information
The capability of information systems to interoper- Glossary ate gives rise over the Internet to what are called STSI Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Societat spatial data infrastructures (SDI), which are the rel- de la Informació evant base collection of technologies, policies and GIS Geographic information systems institutional arrangements that facilitate the avail- IG Geographic information ability of and access to spatial data. This repre- OGC OpenGIS Consortium sents an enormous step in the domain of geospa- ISO International Organisation for Standardisa- tial information because it is now possible to link tion (service chaining) different applications regardless IDEC Catalan Spatial Data Infrastructure of proprietary software used at the source togeth- SDI Spatial data infrastructure er so that several web services are available con- ICC Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya currently. WMS Web Map Service WFS Web Feature Service WCS Web Coverage Service Currently available software technology enables WRS Web Registry Service SDI to be implemented at national, regional and lo- WMC Web Map Context cal levels, especially through the progressive WSE Web Sensor Enabled worldwide implementation of the ISO 191** stan- LBS Location Based Services dards and OGC specifications2 in GIS software OLS Open Location Services products. SLD Styled Layer Descriptor CPS Coverage Portrayal Service Important applications of data infrastructures in- WTS Web Terrain Service clude the following: SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol WDSL Web Services Description Language – Civil infrastructure protection UDDI Universal Description, Discovery and Inte- gration – Order and control CREAF Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions – One Stop geoportals Forestals – Sustainable development – Sensor webs
2 The OGC (Open GIS Consortium) is an international consortium of businesses, governments and universities that has the main mission of drawing up of recommendations and geoprocessing specifications that support interoperable solutions for systems irrespective of data formats and proprietary sys- tems.
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– Intelligence, vigilance, land survey Table 1 – Global change (temperature and climate) Web servers complying with OGC specifications – Emergencies and disasters. Response and ma- Web services Applications nagement Catalog Services Data publishing and discovery, geospatial – National and international cartography services and access. – Environmental management (air and water) Web Mapping Dynamic access to geospatial information, and Services (WMS) integration and display of this information. – Weather forecasting and early warning Geospatial Fusion Discovery, geocoding and application of spatial – Fast detection of risks to public health Services (GFS) text information and other non-cartographic – Evaluation and secure management of natural sources hazards Sensor Web Access and integrated data from sensors and Services network sensors. Web Exploitation Dynamic application of geospatial information Services between collaborating organisations. Open Location Specifications standard for applications in mobile Services (OLS) devices in known networks.conegudes. Technology already allows a multitude of servers with geospatial information to con- nect up and share information amongst Web servers that comply with these specifications many users. and that are implemented in many software appli- cations appear in table 1.
The names and description of the specifications of Web Mapping Services (WMS) are given in 4. Web servers, the base elements table 2. of SDI: WRS,3 WMS,4 WFS,5 WCS,6 WMC,7 WSE,8 LBS9, etc. The names and description of the specifications of Open Location Services (OLS) are given in These specifications already offer a wide range of table 3. services that are listed briefly below and are the re- sult of agreement and consensus within the Open GIS Consortium (OGC), an international consortium 5. The next stage: a semantic web of businesses, governments and universities that within the domain of geospatial develops publicly available geo-processing specifi- information cations. The source of these specifications, made in consultation with ISO standards, means that they Technology already allows a multitude of servers can be applied rapidly in software applications. with geospatial information to connect up and
3 Web Registry Service 4 Web Map Service. 5 Web Feature Service. 6 Web Coverage Service. 7 Web Map Context. 8 Web Sensor Enabled. 9 Location Based Services.
126 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INTRASTRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC)
Table 2 an urban area codified? How is a highway repre- Name and description of Web Mapping Services (WMS) sented at large scale? What is the hierarchy of Specification Description public thoroughfares? name Web Map Provides four protocols (GetCapabilities, Many communities have responded in their own Service (WMS) GetMap, GetFeatureInfo and DescribeLayer) for Interface creating and displaying recorded and different way to these questions, which has re- Specification superimposed cartography from various distant sulted in different «languages» to describe identi- v1.1.1 and heterogeneous sources. cal objects. The globalisation of information Style Layer Enables the user to extend the server Descriptor (SLD) specifications and to define object symbolism. means going beyond the user being involved in Web Feature Describes data manipulation operations on the interpretation and understanding of some- Service (WFS) OpenGIS® Simple Features such that the server thing originating in another field. The goal is Interface and client can communicate at the feature level. Specification thereby for different systems to understand each Web Coverage Extends the Web Map Server to allow access to other, which requires establishing some kind of Service (WCS) geospatial «coverages» that represent values or formal semantic representation and the ability to properties of geographic locations, rather than WMS generated maps (imagery). codify this. Coverage Proposes a standard interface to produce Portrayal Service pictures from data coverages. For example, a Bases are needed in order to build ontologies (on- (CPS) CPS would need to process data from the WCS in order to allow the client to view it. tology being the theory of objects and their rela- Gazetteer Picks up co-ordinates for one or more objects, tionships), together with ontological models to de- given the identifiers associated with the object fine consensus on the interpretation of terms (text sequences). The identifiers are any word or term used to describe the objects, which are within each information community and as a basis known by the gazetteer, as in a place name or for conversion and translation. This is needed in signal system. different domains of geospatial information and for Web Terrain Produces perspective views of geo-referenced Service (WTS) data, normally with 3D coverage. these models to be linked to existing sources of information. Ontology domains are being con- structed in sectors like transportation, agriculture share information amongst many users. This infor- and the environment. The Web Ontology Lan- mation, however, contains meanings, symbols and guage (WOL), developed by W3C,10 can be used other characteristics that may belong and be ex- for this purpose. clusive to whoever has produced them and it may be difficult or impossible for them to be understood by anyone else unless an explanation is given of 6. The IDEC project as an example the information supplied and the data model of SDI application and research in (meaning of the objects and symbols, relationships Catalonia between the objects, etc.). The IDEC project activities began at the begin- The challenge is for all geospatial information pro- ning of 2002 and its services are currently avail- ducers and users to understand each other. How is able to users at: ( 10 The World Wide Web Consortium was set up in October 1994 to develop standards for interoperable technologies and other activities that ensure the delivery of geospatial information on-line. 127 CONEIXEMENT I SOCIETAT 05 NOTES Table 3 are being created, especially in the area of co- Name and description of Open Location Services (OLS) ordinate conversion and data geocoding, which Specification are also based on the standards outlined in the Description name web server environment (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, Director Service A Yellow Pages used “to find the nearest” or a etc.), and support is being given to the prepar- specific product or supplier. ing and publishing of data models in different Gateway Service The interface between the GeoMobility Server and the Location Server by which the OpenLS domains. server fetches the position of data from mobile devices from the network. This interface is modelled after the MLP specified in the LIF 1.1 The number of entries in the metadata catalogue and LIF 2.0 for Standard Location Immediate server is currently more than seventeen thousand, Service. which means that there is a total number of ap- Location Utility A geocoder for establishing a geographic Service position from a name, a street address or postal proximately fifty-one thousand entries including the code. Reverse geocoding also transforms a (Geocoder / Spanish and English versions. given position into a description of a feature Reverse location. Geocoder) The number of producers at the end of 2003 was Presentation Draws a map and gives geographic information Service that can be displayed on mobile devices. thirty, twenty-seven of which were public bodies Route Determines a route for a subscriber. and three private ones. Five departments of the Determination Autonomous Government of Catalonia and various Service municipal councils figured among the public bod- ies. The number of suppliers publishing metadata in the IDEC catalogue increased every month, and idec.net>). The basic elements are the metadata there was an annual increase of approximately catalogue server and geoinformation display three thousand entries. viewer (WMS Client). Both are based on OGC specifications for catalogue servers (WCS) and 48% of the data is vectorial and 52% raster.11 47% map servers (WMS, WFS). New services based is free data and 51% prepaid.12 According to scale, on new specifications are being developed, such 6% is large scale (1:1,000 and 1:2,000); 81% at a as Web Map Context, Web Coverage Server scale of 1:5.000; 9% at 1:25,000; 3% at 1:50,000, (WCS), with Web Sensor Enabled (WSE) in the fu- and 1% at 1:100,000 and smaller scales. In terms ture. The preparation and application of new of subject matter, 45% is topographical maps, 3% services based on other OGC specifications is were environmental thematic maps and 58% aerial also envisaged. pictures (photos and ortophotos). Developments in the technology of the above- The Web Map Server client, or so-called geoin- mentioned specifications and others being pub- formation viewer, was connected during this peri- lished are overseen, web server applications od to a dozen servers of different bodies and 11 A raster map, or bitmap, is a series of data distributed in cells and structured in rows and columns. There is no information on co-ordinates, surface area, etc. and the value of each cell represents the attribute of the element. These maps are used as a background for digitalising. Vectorial data is infor- mation represented using all boundary co-ordinates, positions, sizes, etc. 12 The remaining 2% corresponds to data for which there is no information. 128 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INTRASTRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC) Table 4 servers with information that can be integrated Servers that can be connected via the IDEC information viewer (30.12.2003) into the specialised domain of each SDI. Instead of selecting the required servers, the end user Server for the Departament de Medi Ambient goes to the sectorial SDI catalogue, chooses the – Environmental cartography most appropriate one as required and obtains se- Server for the Centre de Recerques Ecològiques i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF) ries of pre-selected data in the corresponding – Environmental cartography servers. Servers for the Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya (ICC) – Topographic maps 1:5.000, 1:50.000 and 1:250.000 – Land registry (rural and urban) This solution currently apparently offers better – Ortophotos, 1:5.000, in b/w and colour, 1:25.000 in colour and and more comfortable services to users although IRC – Street names (eight municipalities) an open model whereby the server connection is – Local and municipal databases left to the criterion of the user may be introduced – Urban planning 1:5.000 – Specialised maps in the near future. – Cartographic catalogues – Road maps Servidors municipals – Ajuntament de Tossa de Mar – Ajuntament del Prat de Llobregat The IDEC project uses a strategy based on – Ajuntament de l’Hospitalet de Llobregat – Ajuntament de Roses creating sectorial or specialised SDI, that is – Ajuntament de Sant Boi de Llobregat – Ajuntament de Badalona it creates end products by combining map Localret server servers – Centres of interest Server for the Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i Societat de la Informació (STSI) – Telecentres A coast management SDI (SDI COSTES) has been developed under the European Eurosion project in line with this; various demo products suppliers (ArcIMS, Geomedia WM, MapServer for a record and real estate SDI have been set Minnesota, Autodesk, Miramon) that together up; support has been given for the setting up of give access to more than one hundred and twen- an inter-university SDI (SDI UNIVERS); the first ty-five layers of geoinformation, and for these to SDI of a provincial council (diputació) was pre- be combined: sented at the end of 2003; and there has been collaboration in the setting up of the European Instead of a totally open architecture where the geoportal INSPIRE, linked to the European In- user can select required map servers and set up spire initiative, according to which a European a distributed consultation system, the IDEC proj- spatial data infrastructure is being established ect uses a strategy based on creating sectorial or and promoted. specialised SDI that, as to building up a server catalogue which is still at an early stage, creates The IDEC project is a pioneer initiative in its field in end products (sectorial SDIs) by combining map Spain and is already being followed by similar initia- 129 CONEIXEMENT I SOCIETAT 05 NOTES tives at the autonomous regional level while at the changes in the way that geospatial information European level this is currently one of the most operates and is used and managed and will in turn consolidated and advanced spatial data infrastruc- contribute further to the diffusion of the use of new ture projects. The IDEC project sees the ushering technologies within the context of the new informa- in of a new, more productive stage which will see tion society. 130 SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES, A NEW PARADIGM WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CATALAN SPATIAL DATA INTRASTRUCTURE PROJECT (IDEC) References On-line references KOONTZ, Linda D. Geographic Information Systems: Challenges to Effective Data Sharing. United States General Accounting Office, 2003. Available at: MCKEE, Lance and Günther PICHLER (eds.). Registries and e-Services: Final Report. GINIE, 2003. Available at: OPEN GIS CONSORTIUM. OpenGIS Reference Model. Open GIS Consortium, 2002. Available at: IDEC PROJECT. Dossiers de presentació v.1 (2002) i v.2 (2003) Geoportal IDEC, 2002. Available at: Websites of interest GINIE (Geographic Information Network in Europe): 131