"Risk Habitat Megacity"

Contact Internet: www.risk-habitat-megacity.ufz.de Coordination: Dr. Dirk Heinrichs [[email protected]] Dr. Kerstin Krellenberg [[email protected]] Data management: Christian Gadge [[email protected]] The Risk Habitat Megacity Research Initiative is supported by the Networking and Initiative Fund of the Helmholtz Association. GeoNetwork opensource The software is available at the GeoNetwork opensource Community website http://geonetwork-opensource.org/. Risk Habitat Megacity The software is also distributed through the SourceForge. net Website at http://sourceforge.net/projects/geonetwork. A Helmholtz Research Initiative 2007-2013 Sharing experience on project data management with GeoNetwork opensource Imprint Publisher: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Permoserstraße 15 04317 Leipzig, Germany Editorial: Christian Gadge Dirk Heinrichs Kerstin Krellenberg Layout: Christian Gadge Leipzig, April 2010 | 2 REFELCTION ON THE EXPERIENCE 15 | Refl ection on the experience The almost two years of experience with data man- The non-technical side of ‘designing the system’ agement in Risk Habitat Megacity provide some les- and getting all involved participants to use the sys- sons that may be of use to other initiatives intending tem takes much more effort and must not be under- to set up their data system. estimated. As the benefi ts are very often not fully appreciated and exchange of data via other more As far as the technology is concerned, the imple- simple means is faster, users are often reluctant mentation of a standards-based Geographic Data systematically use the data management system. and Information system based on GeoNetwork Therefore a strict and binding data policy at the on- opensource is generally straightforward. A platform set of a project is useful. Major aspects that need to independent installer permits quick installation and be addressed at an early stage are willingness to confi guration of a customized spatial data manage- share data, forms of communication, benefi ts and This document shares the experience on data management with GeoNetwork opensource in the Risk Habitat ment system on a personal computer as well as a services, author rights and data publication. Megacity Research Initiative. It is directed at people who manage large volumes of data and facilitate access more complex server installation. This includes a re- to geospatial data for Decision Makers, GIS Experts and Spatial Analysts enhancing the spatial information lational database as the basis for a metadata cata- Given the potential for long-term availability of logue and system functionality and a map server to project information, an agreement by all involved exchange and sharing between organizations and their audience. provide geospatial information. The application can collaborators on options for further use of data after also be integrated into an existing IT-infrastructure project termination is advisable at the beginning. connecting to different databases and web mapping applications. The customization of the user interface, e.g. adapting your institutions corporate design, or adapting the structure of the open source software requires experience and expert knowledge in XML and Java programming. Some tutorials at the GeoNetwork opensource homepage, user and developer mailing lists provide help and support. | 14 POTENTIAL TO EXPAND THE FUNCTIONALITY OF METACITY 3 | Potential to expand the functionality of MetaCity Expanding the accessibility of spatial information Geospatial information is a powerful means for ana- Enhancing spatial information exchange lysing and visualizing problems as well as suggest- For the research area – the Metropolitan Region ing and communicating possible measures. The of Santiago de Chile – the available data com- implementation of a map server guarantees the use prise raster data like satellite imagery and land- of available large volumes of geospatial data and use classifi cation data, as well as vector data like newly information generated by the research initia- administrative boundaries at regional and local tive for GIS and modelling applications or the crea- levels, street networks, hydrography and popula- tion of customized maps. tion statistics. Table of contents These data can be managed by a database management system (DBMS) or stored fi le based and are provided via Geo Web Services. Collaborating • Data management in Risk Habitat Megacity 4 organizations can implement own map server ap- Enhancing the exchange of data and in- • Why GeoNetwork opensource? 6 plications like ESRI ArcIMS, GeoServer or UMN formation MapServer integrated in their specifi c IT infrastructure to deliver geospatial information for decentral- Furthermore, the software implements a number of • MetaCity - the Risk Habitat Megacity data portal 7 ized use. catalogue interfaces to discover, browse and query • Use of geospatial information 12 The query, visualisation and analysis of geodata metadata and services from distributed metadata can be managed by various WebMapping applica- repositories. • Potential to expand the functionality of MetaCity 14 tions that operate as a client. Those clients are ex- The harvesting functionality is a mechanism of data • Refl ection on the experience 15 ternal Desktop GIS or WebGIS applications or the collection in accordance with rights to data access integrated WebMapClient Intermap. and data ownership protection. Through this func- In this way results of the various research studies tionality it is possible to collect public information based on geospatial data are processed and can be from different GeoNetwork nodes or other metadata published in the form of digital and interactive maps repositories and to copy and store these information using GeoNetwork opensource web mapping tools locally in the database. instead of hardcopies or simple fi gures. This offers This feature enables the exchange of information an opportunity for future exchange of (geo-) informa- with other research centres and building up a net- tion with other organizations and initiatives. Original work including partnerships with governments, non- data with restricted access remain in possession of governmental organizations and local, national and the respective distributor to ensure actuality of data regional organizations. and its protection from unauthorized use. To activate this potential requires that collaborating organizations are running software applications which implement those catalogue interfaces and fa- cilitates the use of standards. | 4 DATA MANAGEMENT IN RISK HABITAT MEGACITY USE OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION 13 | Data management in Risk Habitat Megacity The Risk Habitat Megacity research initiative is an The principle goals of data management in the ini- interdisciplinary project that investigates sustain- tiative are: Fig. 9: Creating interactive maps able futures of ‘urban’ Latin America. It refl ects the >> To guarantee best possible (universal) access joint work of a network of natural and social scien- to project data for all collaborators including tists and engineers from more than ten universities rights management; FFeatureseatures and research centres from Latin American countries • Add, arrange, remove and the Helmholtz Association in Germany in a >> To distribute documented data and provide soft- layers close working relationship with the Economic Com- ware to retrieve available data sets; • View metadata mission for Latin America and the Caribbean of the >>To enable exchange of and communication • View and select styles United Nations and local stakeholders. The initiative about existing data and the current state of • Show legend focuses on the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de work between all participants; • Add individual markers Chile and includes other metropolitan areas in Latin >> To permit access for other interested partners to • Export map as PDF America as reference cases. certain information and data. • Send, up-/download a context Requirements for the data management In particular the effi cient use of geospatial data as The availability of project data for joint use and the a common information resource implies that docu- exchange of information play a major role in the mented geospatial data are centrally available and close collaboration of research partners and for can be certainly combined. Thus, decentralized ac- Add individual markers sharing information with others. [see Fig. 1] cess to geospatial data and information must be The interdisciplinary and international nature of possible for all collaborators of the initiative. the initiative presents various challenges that data To meets these requirements the development of a management has to face: accessibility from literally data infrastructure as a collection of technologies, anywhere in the world, use of a range of languag- policies and institutional arrangements that facilitate es, the necessity to incorporate a wide variety of Add thematic layers the availability of and access to data. [see Fig. 2] data and data sources and the need for information exchange with other partners from research and practice. Fig. 1: Enhancing spatial information exchange and sharing Satellite Images Working Papers Presentations Regional Partners Tables GIS Data Maps Local Partners | 12 USE OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION DATA MANAGEMENT IN RISK HABITAT MEGACITY 5 | Use of geospatial Information GeoNetwork opensource connects different parts of Creating interactive maps Implementation of a Data Infrastructure

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