GIS Best Practices

Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)

September 2010
Table of Contents

What Is GIS? 1

What Is SDI? 3

Economic Growth Strategy Transformed Through a

Spatial Data Infrastructure 5

Collaboration Through GIS and a Regional SDI 11

Abu Dhabi SDI Supports Wide-Ranging E-government

Programs Using GIS 17

Austria's Geographic Data Conforms to INSPIRE 23

Building INSPIRE: The Spatial Data Infrastructure for Europe 29

Mukund Rao Steers Data and GIS for Global Spatial

Data Infrastructure 43

Remote Communities Prevail with GIS 47

Governance of the NSDI 55

A Geospatial Foundation 65

The Next Step 73

Improving Regional Water Quality Assessment 77

i
Table of Contents
Keeping Nature and Man in Balance 83

Organizing a Century of Data 89

GEOSS GEO Portal 95

ii
 What Is GIS?
Making decisions based on geography is basic to human thinking. Where shall we go, what will it be
like, and what shall we do when we get there are applied to the simple event of going to the store or
to the major event of launching a bathysphere into the ocean's depths. By understanding geography
and people's relationship to location, we can make informed decisions about the way we live on our
planet. A geographic information system (GIS) is a technological tool for comprehending geography
and making intelligent decisions.

GIS organizes geographic data so that a person reading a map can select data necessary for a
specific project or task. A thematic map has a table of contents that allows the reader to add layers
of information to a basemap of real-world locations. For example, a social analyst might use the
basemap of Eugene, Oregon, and select datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau to add data layers
to a map that shows residents' education levels, ages, and employment status. With an ability to
combine a variety of datasets in an infinite number of ways, GIS is a useful tool for nearly every field
of knowledge from archaeology to zoology.

A good GIS program is able to process geographic data from a variety of sources and integrate
it into a map project. Many countries have an abundance of geographic data for analysis, and
governments often make GIS datasets publicly available. Map file databases often come included
with GIS packages; others can be obtained from both commercial vendors and government
agencies. Some data is gathered in the field by global positioning units that attach a location
coordinate (latitude and longitude) to a feature such as a pump station.

GIS maps are interactive. On the computer screen, map users can scan a GIS map in any direction,
zoom in or out, and change the nature of the information contained in the map. They can choose
whether to see the roads, how many roads to see, and how roads should be depicted. Then
they can select what other items they wish to view alongside these roads such as storm drains,
gas lines, rare plants, or hospitals. Some GIS programs are designed to perform sophisticated
calculations for tracking storms or predicting erosion patterns. GIS applications can be embedded
into common activities such as verifying an address.

From routinely performing work-related tasks to scientifically exploring the complexities of our world,
GIS gives people the geographic advantage to become more productive, more aware, and more
responsive citizens of planet Earth.

GIS Best Practices 1 esri.com

 What Is SDI?
Social challenges, environmental issues, and economic downturns all take cooperation to solve.
Working together to map and document the earth helps create a structure for managing knowledge.
Using GIS solutions from Esri to create a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) ensures that data
and resources are available to the organizations and stakeholders that need them. From large
countries to small nations, everyone benefits from documented public works and utilities, protected
environments and biodiversity, correctly assessed resources, and completed strategic planning.

The term spatial data infrastructure was coined in 1993 by the U.S. National Research Council to
denote a framework of technologies, policies, and institutional arrangements that together facilitate
the creation, exchange, and use of geospatial data and related information resources across an
information-sharing community. Such a framework can be implemented narrowly to enable the
sharing of geospatial information within an organization or more broadly for use at a national,
regional, or global level. In all cases, an SDI will provide an institutionally sanctioned, automated
means for posting, discovering, evaluating, and exchanging geospatial information by participating
information producers and users.

SDI extends a GIS by ensuring that geospatial data and standards are used to create authoritative
datasets and polices that support it.

GIS Best Practices 3 esri.com

 Economic Growth Strategy Transformed Through a
Spatial Data Infrastructure
Croatia Simplifies Landownership Process with a National Geoportal

Highlights

„ The ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension is improving land reform.

„ With ArcGIS Server, ministries quickly access geospatial resources of all types.

„ Croatian GIS users now have access to vast quantities of geospatial data.

The Republic of Croatia, roughly the size of West Virginia, is home

to more than 4.4 million people. Ranked as the 18th most popular
tourist destination in the world, sightseers visit its beautiful national
parks, the high peaks of the Dinaric Alps, and more than 1,000
islands in the temperate Adriatic Sea.

A successor state of the former Yugoslavia, the country declared

its independence in 1991, which the European Union (EU) and the
United Nations recognized in 1992. Building itself up from virtually
A view over the old city walls of
nothing, the country is now governed by a forward-thinking Dubrovnik, Croatia, and its old harbor.
parliamentary republic, which is adopting new laws to promote
economic growth and help its candidacy for EU membership.

Making countrywide geographic data available throughout the nation with a spatial data
infrastructure (SDI) is one way the country continues to grow. An online geoportal created with
GIS technology makes this possible. The geoportal makes it easier for citizens, government,
and private-sector users to find and access vast quantities of geographic information and related
services. The geoportal is the first phase of a Croatian national SDI and has already shown its value
by reducing the time it takes to register land within the country by 90 percent.

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 Enabling Property Ten years ago, a simple land title transaction took an average of 400 days to carry out. Most
Rights in Croatia information was stored and managed in paper-based files, making it difficult to share. Agencies,
such as the State Geodetic Administration (SGA) in charge of the country's official maps and
cadastre, and the Ministry of Justice, responsible for land registers issued at municipal courts,
could not easily exchange data.

In 2000, the Croatian Parliament adopted a State Survey and Real Property Cadastre Program
to transform the existing registers into digital format. This involved topographic surveys as well
as resurveying 5 percent of the existing cadastre focusing on areas of special interest, such as
towns, coastlines, islands, nonregulated state agricultural land, and infrastructure corridors.

As the first step toward an SDI, the cadastral data managed by SGA is now available for browsing,
searching, and purchasing via an online data catalog found at www.geo-portal.hr/Portal.

September 2010 6 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The datasets were cofinanced by federal institutions and interested local governing bodies.
For example, orthophoto production was completed through 30 different agreements between
local and state governments. Over a 10-year period, 21 counties produced topographic data
and resurveyed each cadastre. By the end of 2010, 56,000 cadastral maps will be digitized and
verified.

Once created, the data is gathered and housed in the Real Property Registration and Cadastre
Joint Information System (JIS). The JIS unites the cadastral data managed by SGA and legal
information from the Ministry of Justice. Having consistent and shareable data across the
country via the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension is improving the processes of implementing
land reform because documents can be issued from both cadastre and land registers. The
average time for processing changes to land titles has dropped from a 400-day average to less
than 37 days.

Online Data Access As the first step toward an SDI, the cadastral data managed by SGA is now available for
Through Geoportal browsing, searching, and purchasing via an online data catalog found at www.geo-portal.
hr/Portal. To develop the geoportal, the state selected Esri's distributor in Croatia, GISDATA
d.o.o., and con terra GmbH, the professional services arm of ESRI Deutschland GmbH, Esri's
distributor in Germany and Switzerland. The companies established an action plan to develop a
national SDI. They chose ArcGIS Server and the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension to provide
the platform for the state's ministries to quickly access geospatial resources regardless of
location or type.

Based on the EU's Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) directives for
sharing geographic information across Europe, Croatia's national SDI will provide a more
open, transparent, and efficient use of spatial information, as seen through the improved land
registration.

SGA registers data with the geoportal by using metadata, which follows the ISO standards
required by INSPIRE. Only the metadata is uploaded to the geoportal, while SGA's sensitive
data remains securely housed within its own servers. Through the ArcGIS Server Geoportal
extension, registered data includes digital orthophotos, 1:5,000-scale basemap information,
raster cadastral maps, administrative units through the Central Registry of Spatial Units, and
land survey information from the Registry of Geodetic Points.

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 SGA provides the platform for organizations to quickly access geospatial resources regardless of location or type.

The First Step to a By the end of the year, more agencies within Croatia will register their data with the geoportal,
National SDI using the SGA data as a guide for resolution and standards. The Ministry of Defense; the
Ministry of Culture; and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development will all
provide spatial data.

By creating a comprehensive SDI, Croatia expects to continue to see improvements in the

reduction of time when producing and accessing data. Geospatial data and service producers in
the government will be easily connected to the consumers who need the data. Data integrity will
be maintained, and the users can more easily share the authoritative version of data.

September 2010 8 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Dr. Zeljko Bacic, director general of SGA, says, "Simple access to geospatial data is the key
prerequisite for an efficient and economically prosperous society. A geoportal in operation
means that other governmental organizations can use SGA data but also make their data
accessible. This is the first step to the establishment of a Croatian national geoportal as part
of a national SDI. I am convinced we shall do this soon, as we have a clear direction from the
Croatian government and sufficient knowledge and capacity to do this."

The SGA geoportal has revealed opportunities in local and regional government for GIS users
in nature protection, urban planning, agriculture, public safety, and more. "The SGA geoportal
is the first of its kind in southeastern Europe," says Andrej Loncaric, director of GISDATA in
Croatia and the southeastern region. "Croatian GIS users now have access to vast quantities of
geospatial data that will make their everyday work much easier."

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

GIS Best Practices 9 esri.com

 Collaboration Through GIS and a Regional SDI
GeoSUR Opens Geographic Information for Use Throughout South America

Highlights

„ The GeoSUR Regional Map Service was developed with the support of the EROS Center using
ArcGIS Server.

„ The ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension provides quick access to geospatial resources
throughout the region.

„ GeoSUR offers a cutting-edge, on-the-fly topographic processing service.

Sustainable development means meeting the needs of the present while preserving the
environment for future generations. Creating an economy in a country that is in tune with basic
ecological support systems doesn't stop at country borders. Rivers traverse borders, roads must
connect various cities, and forests transcend country boundaries.

South America, with its bountiful natural resources, will benefit from a collaborative effort to manage
its many precious resources and maintain healthy living conditions for its people. "There is a need
in South America to make important development decisions—decisions that impact the lives of
thousands, sometimes millions of people—using sound and accurate scientific information," says
Eric van Praag, regional coordinator of the GeoSUR Program. "Much of this information can be
expressed geographically and can be put into formats and represented in ways that decision
makers understand and can readily use."

Ensuring that geographic information is readily available is the mission of the GeoSUR Program,
a regional initiative to integrate and disseminate spatial data in South America. GeoSUR was
originally developed under the aegis of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure
in South America (IIRSA), which promotes the development of transportation, energy, and
telecommunications infrastructure from a regional viewpoint. Since the program's inception in 2007,
GeoSUR has grown to serve a large audience interested in development objectives, both regionally
and within individual countries.

GeoSUR has three main components: a geoportal, a network of map services, and a regional
topographic processing service.

GIS Best Practices 11 esri.com

 GeoSUR serves an audience interested in regional
development objectives on the continent of South America.

September 2010 12 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 GeoSUR Portal Makes GeoSUR has developed, with support from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth
Updating and Finding Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, the first regional portal providing access to
Spatial Data Easier geographic data and services from all South American countries (www.geosur.info). Launched in
October 2009, it provides a point of entry to the map services and metadata catalogs operated
by GeoSUR's partner agencies. GeoSUR chose the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension
software to build the portal because it provides an efficient platform to integrate the diverse and
changing geospatial resources located throughout the region.

GeoSUR portal home page.

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 The regional portal provides access to the metadata holdings of all the participating agencies.
It keeps a central metadata database that is periodically updated by an automatic harvesting
mechanism that fetches metadata from the participating agency's catalogs. The portal also
contains a map viewer that allows the user to retrieve, open, and view layers available in partner
map services. The network architecture is decentralized to keep the data updated and close to
its producers. Currently, there are more than 20 map services linked to the portal and more than
3,000 metadata records available on its database.

Network of Regional A great variety of national and regional spatial data is available through GeoSUR, including
and National Map political-administrative divisions, soils, topography, ecosystems, hydrography, biodiversity, water
Services bodies, geology, cities and towns, elevation models, land cover, aerial photos, ecological
regions, satellite imagery, and infrastructure.

This information is available through a decentralized network of map services currently

being created by the GeoSUR participating agencies, with each agency committing to the
development of a Web Map Service (WMS) and a metadata catalog. Once a map service is
developed, the map service administrator creates an ISO 19119 metadata record for it and
registers it on the GeoSUR portal for public viewing.

GeoSUR emphasizes the use of recognized Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC),
and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards and protocols to reach
interoperability of its various geoservices. Participating agencies have the liberty of choosing the
hardware and software platforms for sharing data with the network, provided they use regionally
recognized standards.

Most map services in the network contain geographic data at the national level, but there are
two regional services available today: the GeoSUR Regional Map Service and the Condor
Service.

The GeoSUR Regional Map Service is geared toward infrastructure developers, offering access
to spatial data on existing IIRSA and Andean Development Bank (CAF) infrastructure projects
and on themes that impact infrastructure development, such as roads, ports, airports, railroads,
oil pipes, rivers, protected areas, land use and land cover, and topographic relief. The service
was developed with the support of the EROS Center using ArcGIS Server. All regional data in
the service is available for download at no cost.

September 2010 14 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The Condor Service allows visitors to view environmental data of the Andean countries useful
for planning infrastructure projects. The service includes an early assessment tool focused on
identifying environmental risks and opportunities for projects in the planning phase. The Condor
map viewer is available at esriurl.com/c3.

On-the-Fly Topographic GeoSUR offers a Topographic Processing Service (TPS), the first of its kind in the developing
Processing Service world that provides access to digital elevation model (DEM)-derivative products that can be
generated on the fly for any location in South America. Users can run the service models using
an assorted set of DEMs at different resolutions, including 1 kilometer, 90 meters, and
30 meters. The available TPS models include elevation profile, slope classification, dynamic
watershed delineation, hillshade, elevation classification, aspect, and raindrop trace. The
service is part of the GeoSUR Regional Map Service, available at the GeoSUR portal
(www.geosur.info). All TPS-derived data can be downloaded free of cost.

Before launching the service, the USGS EROS Center filled the voids in the Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission (SRTM) 30-meter dataset for South America with Advanced Spaceborne
Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) GDEM and GTOPO30 data and created
a set of seamless derived datasets that include hillshade, shaded relief, slope, and aspect for
the region.

Advanced users can directly access these models from ArcGIS Desktop by accessing the TPS
GIS geoprocessing service. From within ArcMap, local data can be used with this service to
more precisely extract the derivative products and simply integrate them into the application. To
further streamline the TPS service, users can integrate them in local ModelBuilder applications
and Python scripts.

"Important development decisions are often taken without the proper use of geographic
information and modeling techniques that are now becoming widely available," says Santiago
Borrero, secretary general of the Panamerican Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH).

GeoSUR: An Eye on GeoSUR is coordinated by CAF and PAIGH, with technical assistance from the USGS EROS
Spatial Data for South Center and the national mapping agencies of Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador. Participating
America agencies include, but are not limited to, national geographic institutes and national
environmental agencies from the region. In total, more than 22 national agencies have agreed
to participate in the GeoSUR Program, with more expected to join.

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 GeoSUR provides training and technical assistance to all partner agencies as they develop the
map services and metadata catalogs to be linked to the GeoSUR Geoportal and the Regional
Map Service. GeoSUR specialists are on call to offer technical assistance that agencies may
need, both remotely and on-site. GeoSUR also sponsors peer-to-peer communications among
participating specialists.

More Information For more information, visit www.geosur.info.

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

September 2010 16 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Abu Dhabi SDI Supports Wide-Ranging E-government
Programs Using GIS
Highlights

„ The operations team uses GIS for data processing, data review and assessment, and
publication of map services.

„ ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Mobile solutions aid in developing the AD-SDI clearinghouse and
associated metadata catalog.

„ The AD-SDI geoportal provides access to the data clearinghouse from which more than
300 map layers are being made available to the community.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), lies on a T-shaped island jutting into
the Persian Gulf. Today, Abu Dhabi houses key sustainable energy, economic, and environmental
initiatives leveraging leading technology. As such, the timely collection, preservation, and
distribution of relevant geospatial data are critical to maintain its spatial data infrastructure and
ensure the smooth running of the emirate's many governmental and commercial activities.

The Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) is an initiative administered within the Abu
Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC) to facilitate the sharing of geospatial data among
government agencies and other stakeholders. As part of Abu Dhabi's ambitious e-government
program, AD-SDI is empowering government and society with convenient, open access to high-
quality and up-to-date geographic information and spatially enabled e-government services.

In Abu Dhabi, government entities have invested heavily in GIS technology and geospatial data to
meet their own organizational needs. The emirate is now in an excellent position to leverage that
investment by establishing the necessary institutional capabilities that are needed to support more
effective sharing and utilization of geospatial information. AD-SDI was conceived to provide that
framework.

GIS Best Practices 17 esri.com

 A satellite image of Yas Island (IKONOS 2009 one-meter
imagery courtesy of Space Reconnaissance Center).

September 2010 18 Spatial Data Infrastructure

Establishing the AD-SDI In June 2007, ADSIC launched the AD-SDI initiative to provide a framework of standards,
Initiative policies, data, procedures, technology, and capable staff to facilitate and support the effective
use and sharing of geospatial information in Abu Dhabi. Incorporated into AD-SDI are a data
clearinghouse, geospatial portal, and Web site, as well as an extensive program for community
engagement, organization, coordination, and establishment of formal agreements for data
provision and sharing.

The operations team at the Spatial Data Center (SDC) is utilizing the ArcGIS suite of software
for data processing, data review and assessment, publication of map services, and GIS analysis
and cartography for special projects. Esri technology has also been used in developing the
AD-SDI clearinghouse and associated metadata catalog and the supporting services based
on ArcGIS Server technology and the REST and SOAP interfaces, in addition to mobile GIS
applications based on the ArcGIS Mobile solution. Other map viewers were built using Flex and
Java APIs.

A dedicated AD-SDI staff is in place to facilitate, promote, coordinate, and support the AD-
SDI initiative with the various member entities. Venues for such cooperation and collaboration
with entities include facilitating the AD-SDI Technical Committee meetings and discussions;
developing and implementing agreed-upon standards for geospatial data maintenance and
update; and mobilizing working groups and special interest groups in key areas of common
interest, such as environment, utilities, and public safety and security.

Now in the third stage of a three-stage process, the initiative has almost 40 government
and quasi-government entities involved, with more expected to join this year. As part of the
community development, ADSIC is in the process of developing service-level agreements and
licensing arrangements with each entity that spell out what data will be provided, the timing of
periodic updates, and access and use restrictions for the data each is providing. In addition, a
geolegal policy has been mobilized to work on strengthening aspects of the legal framework to
address issues that have special relevance to geospatial matters, such as security, privacy, and
intellectual property rights.

Standardization Standards including the appropriate data, technology, and procedures are essential to ensure
Essential in AD-SDI interoperability across the AD-SDI community.
Development

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 Abu Dhabi large-scale basemap (courtesy of Department of Municipal Affairs-Abu Dhabi Municipality).

Integrating existing GIS data and procedures across the AD-SDI community is a matter of
proactive stakeholder engagement and consultation to avoid redundant and often inconsistent
spatial datasets. Today, the emirate's fundamental geospatial datasets (FGDS), such as
cadastral data, orthoimagery, elevation data, transportation, land use, soils, and utility networks,
are maintained by the relevant government organizations. The entities are streamlining their
workflow to update the spatial data they are responsible for by recording changes on the ground
as they occur as part of their business processes. This approach of transaction-based data
maintenance ensures that spatial data is updated and delivered to the AD-SDI community in a
timely manner.

September 2010 20 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 A geospatial metadata catalog is another significant factor in maintaining standardization in
AD-SDI, as it provides a master inventory of the fundamental data and geospatial services
available. All the layers in the data clearinghouse have some level of metadata that is
accessible through the geoportal. The metadata catalog was originally compiled by the ADSIC
team, but responsibility for maintenance of this information is being transferred to the custodian
agencies as a condition within the service-level agreements. Organizations using Esri products
can maintain their data through ArcGIS Desktop. Others can update their information through
the geoportal, once authorized to do so, or through any ISO standards-based metadata
maintenance tool.

Geoportal Key to AD- The ultimate goal of the AD-SDI initiative is to create a seamless network of interoperable
SDI Success nodes—geospatial portals—that will provide easy access to all geospatial information in the
emirate. Currently, both secure government and publicly accessible geoportals have been set
up, and the information available is being expanded and updated on an ongoing basis.

The AD-SDI geoportal provides access to the data clearinghouse from which more than
300 map layers are being made available to the community. Data is now being kept current,
as the custodian entities periodically submit updates to the ADSIC team, which runs the data
through procedures to ensure that the new information is consistent with the agreed-upon
standards. The geoportal is being used as a common reference for viewing existing data, and a
few users are now employing thick-client access to map services.

Many organizations in the AD-SDI community have implemented or are planning to implement
their own geoportal nodes. The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi has been operating its node
for over two years, and other entities, such as the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority,
Department of Municipal Affairs, and Urban Planning Council, have instituted or are planning to
institute their own Web-based mapping services for internal and public use.

AD-SDI Garners Wide The essential value of AD-SDI is widely recognized across the community, and huge cost
Support and Boosts savings are already being realized in several ways:
Potential Savings
„ All spatial data maintained by organizations for their own business purposes is now
standardized according to the broader needs of the community, leading to improved and
newer usages of the data, thereby leveraging the value of the data investment many times
over.

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 „ Previously, spatial data projects could be launched by individual government entities.
Now, the AD-SDI Technical Committee is included in the procedure, which leads to better
alignment of the projects for the common needs of the community and avoids costly and
redundant data acquisition.

„ The top leadership is now being provided with access to accurate and up-to-date information
in a reliable and timely manner, empowering it to make informed decisions.

The implementation of these portals will lead to a greater sharing and utilization of spatial data
in Abu Dhabi. The participating organizations are now routinely adding new users as more
people become aware of what is available and how it can be used in their work.

More Information For more information, contact the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative (e-mail:
info.sdi@adsic.abudhabi.ae) or visit www.sdi.abudhabi.ae.

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

September 2010 22 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Austria's Geographic Data Conforms to INSPIRE
By Mariana Belgiu, Research Assistant, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Geographic
Information Science

Highlights

„ ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension supports customized metadata profiles.

„ Geographic information custodians can publish metadata that conforms to the Austrian
Metadata Profile.

„ Information sharing helps private- and public-sector agencies reap the benefits of working
together.

Austria encompasses much of the mountainous territory of the eastern Alps, which contains many
snowfields, glaciers, and snowcapped peaks. Nestled in valleys near idyllic farms and hidden
among the forests and woodlands that cover almost half the land lie glistening palaces and gabled
houses.

To protect the beauty and splendor of its natural resources, Austria has used GIS for the past
25 years. The Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying maintains geoinformation on a national
level. However, Austria consists of nine independent federal states, each with its own provincial
government, which has led to the creation and management of geographic resources being
scattered across many organizations. Having disparate data sources makes it difficult to use the
information to make more informed decisions on social and environmental issues. To solve this
problem, it is necessary to develop a coordinated spatial information system capable of data
sharing and reuse on national, regional, and cross-sector scales.

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 Visualizing biomass potential in Austria with Web map services.

The system is a geoportal based on ArcGIS Server and the Geoportal extension. The
geoportal gives the states and regions a collaborative approach to developing a coordinated,
comprehensive, and sustained information system. The Austrian umbrella organization for
geographic information, AGEO, strongly supported the development of the geoportal, as it
clearly demonstrates the practical use and value of a metadata management system.

Coordination Across AGEO was formed in 1998 to make it easier to access geographic data throughout the country.
Austria The organization brings together national and municipal administrations, universities, and many
different professional associations, representing the interests of the Austrian geographic
information community at both the national and international levels.

September 2010 24 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 In the last few years, this umbrella organization has focused its activities on supporting and
promoting the development of a national spatial data infrastructure within the framework of a
European geographic information-sharing community. "The AGEO organization is concentrating
its activity not only on public administration of geographic data but also on business; academic;
and, of course, general public interests," says Prof. Dr. Josef Strobl, the current chair of AGEO.

At the European level, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the
European Parliament set up the legal framework for developing the Infrastructure for Spatial
Information in Europe, the INSPIRE Directive. This directive (Directive 2007/2/EC) came into
force in May 2007 and aims to integrate islands of geographic information of varying standards
and quality throughout Europe. Austria incorporated the INSPIRE Directive into its national
legislation, taking a first step toward implementing the requirements of the directive in the
country. The next step involves the creation of communication mechanisms between producers
and users of the geographic information.

Metadata Makes One of the main difficulties with sharing data in Austria is that the available spatial datasets and
Sharing Geographic services lack comprehensible documentation. This can be solved by accompanying the spatial
Information Easier data with metadata, which is structured information that describes the datasets. Unfortunately,
many data producers do not understand the benefits of creating metadata and treat the task as
boring, time consuming, and therefore unnecessary.

GIS Best Practices 25 esri.com

 To address this problem, Austria prepared a national metadata profile combining specifications
of international standards, INSPIRE's Metadata Implementing Rule, and existing regulations
in the country. This profile, the Austrian Metadata Profile (profil.AT), ensures a consistent
approach to geographic information throughout the country. It specifies the metadata elements
needed to increase the lifetime and value of spatial data and services. These elements include
identification information; use restrictions; spatial and temporal extent; geographic resource
maintenance information; spatial representation and reference; quality; and the distribution of
geographic resources, such as access policies.

The Geoportal extension provides data publishers with an online metadata editor that makes it
easy for them to publish metadata about geographic resources in conformance with the Austrian
Metadata Profile. The Geoportal extension was chosen because it provides the technological
keys for sharing and reusing resources across applications, enterprises, and community
boundaries and facilitates development of a metadata editor that conforms to a specific
metadata profile. The Geoportal extension also includes a metadata editor tool, discovery tools,
a data visualization application, and metadata harvesting tool that enable automated acquisition
of metadata from other repositories.

Bridging Data The geoportal represents the bridge between data producers and users. The producers create
Producers and Users data and services for their own business needs and publish corresponding metadata to the
geoportal. Users formulate queries and evaluate the returned metadata records to decide
whether the discovered data accomplishes their requirements.

The geoportal's metadata editor makes geographic resources discoverable in a straightforward

manner. The publisher logs in to the geoportal and chooses either the spatial datasets or spatial
services schema that conforms to the specifications of the Austrian Metadata Profile. Then,
using the metadata editor, the user fills in information about the data or services to create its
metadata. If the user needs assistance, hints provide more information about what values
should be input in each field. The generated metadata is then added to a metadata repository
that is comparable to a library catalog. Users can search and find information about the
availability of a particular dataset or service, which includes information about content, author,
year of publication, and more.

September 2010 26 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Geoportal search for biomass potential.

The available geoportal and the online customized metadata editor represent an important step
toward shaping a national spatial data infrastructure and a milestone toward achieving the goals
of the INSPIRE Directive.

About the Author Mariana Belgiu is research assistant at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for
Geographic Information Science, Salzburg, Austria. She received her M.Sc. degree in GIS at
the University of Salzburg, Austria (2009), and she is now in the initial stages of her Ph.D. work
with a focus on ontologies within the spatial data infrastructure framework.

More Information For more information, visit the Web site (www.oeaw-giscience.org).

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

GIS Best Practices 27 esri.com

 Building INSPIRE: The Spatial Data Infrastructure for
Europe
By Max Craglia, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author's alone and do not necessarily
represent those of the Joint Research Centre or the European Commission.

This article is about the European spatial data infrastructure (SDI), which is
called, formally, Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe, or INSPIRE.
Many readers of ArcNews will be familiar with the concept of an SDI, as
efforts in the United States to develop a National SDI (NSDI) have been
under way since the mid-1990s (see also "Governance of the NSDI" by Will
Craig in the Fall 2009 issue of ArcNews), and many other countries in the
world are very active in developing their own. For the readers who are not so
familiar with the concept of an SDI, it is easier to think of it as an extension
of a desktop GIS. Whilst in a "normal" GIS most of the data we geospatial
professionals use for analysis is our own or collected by the agency we work
for, an SDI is an Internet-based platform that will make it easier for us to search and find data that
may be relevant for our work and that may be collected, stored, or published by other organizations
and often other countries. The key components of an SDI are, therefore, catalogues of available
resources, documented in a structured way through metadata; agreed-upon access policies and
standards; and a set of services to access and download the data to our GIS. In many countries,
some key datasets have been identified that are perceived to be of general usefulness to many (the
so-called "framework" data in the United States). Priority has therefore been given to documenting
them and making them available. Once we have found and downloaded the data we need, we
analyze it in our GIS, and finally, we contribute (often but not often enough) to the international pool
of knowledge by publishing the results of our analysis so that others can use them.

This, of course, is a rather simplistic perspective. SDIs are children of the Internet, without which
they would not exist. They are also the response to an increased recognition that the environmental
and social phenomena we are called to understand and govern are very complex, and that no

GIS Best Practices 29 esri.com

 single organization has the know-how and the data to do the job alone Hence, we need to share
knowledge and data across multiple organizations in both public and private sectors, and SDIs
support this effort.

INSPIRE The INSPIRE Directive is a legal act

(Directive 2007/2/EC) of the Council of the
European Union and the European
Parliament setting up an Infrastructure for
Spatial Information in Europe based on
infrastructures for spatial information
established and operated by the 27 Member
States of the European Union (EU). For the
readers not familiar with the institutional
setup of the European Union, it is worth
pointing out that the EU is not a federal
state but a union of 27 sovereign Member
States that agree through a series of
international treaties (the latest being the
Lisbon Treaty of 2009) to the policy areas in
which they wish to share responsibilities
and resources (e.g., agricultural,
environmental, and regional policies) and
those that remain instead the exclusive
domain of the national governments (e.g., defense and immigration).

The key decision-making bodies are, therefore, the national governments—represented in

the Council with a number of votes proportional to the size of the country—and the European
Parliament that is elected by universal suffrage every five years. The European Commission is
the civil service body of the EU and has the power of proposing legislation (to the Council and
European Parliament) and monitoring its implementation once approved. Not being a federal
state also means that there is no equivalent to the U.S. federal agencies in respect to the
collection of topographic or demographic data like the United States Geological Survey and the
Bureau of the Census. All data comes via the responsible organizations in the Member States.
As a result, setting up an EU-wide SDI can only be done in a decentralized way, building on the
SDIs and related activities established and maintained by the Member States.

September 2010 30 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The purpose of INSPIRE is to support environmental policy and overcome major barriers still
affecting the availability and accessibility of relevant data. These barriers include

„ Inconsistencies in spatial data collection, where spatial data is often missing or incomplete
or, alternatively, the same data is collected twice by different organizations

„ Lack or incomplete documentation of available spatial data

„ Lack of compatibility among spatial datasets that cannot, therefore, be combined with others

„ Incompatible SDI initiatives within a Member State that often function only in isolation

„ Cultural, institutional, financial, and legal barriers preventing or delaying the sharing of
existing spatial data

The key elements of the INSPIRE Directive to overcome these barriers include

„ Metadata to describe existing information resources so data can be more easily found and
accessed

„ Harmonization of key spatial data themes needed to support environmental policies in the
European Union

„ Agreements on network services and technologies to allow discovery, viewing, and

downloading of information resources and access to related services

„ Policy agreements on sharing and access, including licensing and charging

„ Coordination and monitoring mechanisms

INSPIRE addresses 34 key spatial data themes organized in three groups (or Annexes to
the Directive) reflecting different levels of harmonization expected and a staged phasing (see
table 1).

The legal framework of INSPIRE has two main levels. At the first, there is the INSPIRE Directive
itself, which sets the objectives to be achieved and asks the Member States to pass their
own national legislation establishing their SDIs. This mechanism of European plus national
legislation allows each country to define its own way to achieve the objectives agreed upon,
taking into account its own institutional characteristics and history of development. As an

GIS Best Practices 31 esri.com

 example, Germany does not have a single SDI but a coordinated framework with 17 SDIs, one
for each of its states (Länder) and one at the federal level (which also means that 17 different
legal acts had to be passed to implement INSPIRE). Similarly, Belgium will have probably three
SDIs, one for each of its regions (Wallonia and Flanders) and one for
Brussels. The INSPIRE Directive also requires the establishment of
an EU geoportal operated by the European Commission to which the
infrastructures of the Member States have to connect.

The drawback of having 27 different "flavours" of INSPIRE is that

making the system work is undoubtedly more difficult. For this reason,
the Directive envisages a second level of legislation, more stringent
because it has to be implemented as is and does not require follow-
up national legislation. In European terminology, this is called a
regulation. Therefore, INSPIRE envisages technical implementing
rules in the form of regulations for metadata, harmonization of
spatial data and services, network services, data and service sharing
policies, and monitoring and reporting indicators to evaluate the
extent of the Directive's implementation and to assess its impact.
Each of these regulations needs the approval of the Member States
and the European Parliament. As of January 2010, the regulations for
metadata, network services (discovery and view), and monitoring and
reporting have already been approved. Those for data- and service-
sharing policy, network services (transformation and download), and
the first set of specifications for the harmonization of data have been
approved by the representatives of the Member States and are now
under the scrutiny of the European Parliament.

INSPIRE has some characteristics that make it particularly

challenging. The most obvious is that it is an infrastructure built
by 27 different countries using more than 23 languages. The
requirements for multilingual services and interoperability among very
different information systems and professional and cultural practices
are, therefore, very demanding. This means, for example, that existing
standards have to be tested in real distributed and multilingual
settings. In the best scenario, all works well, but for a European-wide Table 1: Key data themes
addressed by INSPIRE.
implementation, there is a need to translate the standards and related

September 2010 32 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 guidelines into the relevant languages (International Organization for Standardization [ISO];
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. [OGC]; and other relevant standards are typically in English
only). In other instances, testing has demonstrated that the standards are not mature enough, or
leave too much room for different interpretations, and thus require further definition or individual
bridges to make different systems interoperate. This can be seen with tests on distributed
queries in catalogues all using the same specifications (OGC Catalog Service for the Web 2.0).
The tests identified a number of shortcomings that required the development of an adaptor
for each catalogue, which in a European-wide system with thousands of catalogues would
obviously not scale.

These shortcomings have been put forward to the OGC for consideration (for further details,
see inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/DistributedCatalogueServices_Report.pdf). In harder cases
still, there are no standards available, and, therefore, they have to be created. This applies,
for example, to "invoke" services that are needed for service chaining and to the specifications
required for the interoperability of spatial datasets and services, which is a central feature of
INSPIRE. To understand the context, it is worth reminding readers that each country in Europe
has its own heritage and traditions, which include different ways and methods for collecting
environmental and geographic data and different traditions on how to analyze and visualize
the data, including different coordinate reference systems (sometimes more than one in each
country), projections, and vertical reference systems. These different traditions mean that it
is not enough for an SDI in Europe to help users find and access data. It is also necessary to
understand the meaning of what we are accessing to make appropriate use of it.

This means, in turn, that we need to develop not only translation tools to help overcome
the language barriers but also agree on reference frameworks, classification systems and
ontologies, data models, and schemas for each of the data themes shown in table 1 against
which the national data can be transformed or mapped. This is necessary because we cannot
ask the Member States and their national and local organizations to reengineer all their
databases. Thus, the approach adopted is to develop agreed-upon European models and
systems of transformation (on the fly or batch) so that the level of interoperability necessary for
key European applications can be achieved. The approach sounds simple, but putting it into
practice is very complex, as it has already required three years of work to develop an agreed-
upon methodology (the Generic Conceptual Model) and tools; mobilize hundreds of experts
in different domains; and deliver and test the first round of specifications for the Annex I data
themes, with Annexes II and III to follow in the coming years. A visit to the INSPIRE Web site

GIS Best Practices 33 esri.com

 (inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm) in the data specifications sections demonstrates the huge
amount of work involved.

The Organizational The organizational model put in place to develop INSPIRE is one of its more interesting
Model features, drawing significant attention from outside Europe. In essence, it is a huge exercise in
public participation, the like of which is most unusual in policy making, at least in Europe. From
the outset, it was recognized that for INSPIRE to be successful and overcome the barriers to
data access and use identified earlier, it was necessary for the legislators, implementers, and
practitioners in the Member States to come together and agree on a shared understanding of
the problem and possible solutions. Therefore, an expert group with official representatives from
all the Member States was established at the beginning of the process in 2001, together with
working groups of experts in the fields of environmental policy and geographic information to
formulate options and forge consensus.

The INSPIRE proposal was subject to an extended impact assessment

(inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/fds_report.pdf and inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/
inspire_extended_impact_assessment.pdf) to identify potential costs and benefits before
opening for public consultation. The revised
proposal was then debated by the Council and
European Parliament over a three-year period
before final adoption in 2007. This process in
itself is a good example in democracy, but the
more interesting aspect is the way in which
interested stakeholders are continuing to
participate in all the ongoing activities required
to develop the INSPIRE implementing rules (i.e.,
the follow-up legal acts and detailed technical
guidance documents).

To organize this process, two mechanisms

have been put in place: the first is to engage
the organizations at European national and
subnational levels that already have a formal
legal mandate for the coordination, production,
or use of geographic and environmental
information (called Legally Mandated

September 2010 34 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Organizations, or LMOs). The second mechanism aims to facilitate the self-organization of
stakeholders, including spatial data providers and users from both the public and private
sectors, in Spatial Data Interest Communities (SDICs) by region, societal sector, and thematic
issue. The central roles that SDICs play in the development of implementing rules include the
following:

„ Identify and describe user requirements (to be understood as acting in line with
environmental policy needs, as opposed to "maximum" requirements beyond the scope of
INSPIRE and beyond realistically available resources).

„ Provide expertise to INSPIRE drafting teams.

„ Participate in the review process of the draft implementing rules.

„ Develop, operate, and evaluate the implementation pilots.

„ Develop initiatives for guidance, awareness raising, and training in relation to the INSPIRE
implementation.

LMOs have similar functions but also play a central role in reviewing and testing the draft
implementing rules and in assessing their potential impacts in respect to both costs and
benefits.

An open call was launched on March 11, 2005, for the registration of interest by SDICs and
LMOs that were also asked to put forward experts and reference material to support the
preparation of the implementing rules. The response was immediately very good, with more
than 200 SDICs and LMOs registering within a month, putting forward some 180 experts
(funded by them) from which we have set up drafting teams to help in developing the first batch
of technical documents. At the present time, a second call for experts is open on the INSPIRE
Web site to support the development of Annex II and III specifications, and an Internet forum
(inspire-forum.jrc.ec.europa.eu) has also been set up for Member States to share experiences
and tools to help implement INSPIRE. Table 2 shows the extent of the community directly
involved in shaping the policy and the technical documents.

Three aspects are particularity important in understanding the work and the challenges of the
drafting teams: first, each expert represents a community of interest and, therefore, has the
responsibility to bring to the table the expertise, expectations, and concerns of this community;
secondly, each drafting team has to reach out to all thematic communities that are addressed

GIS Best Practices 35 esri.com

 by INSPIRE. As a matter of comparison, it is worth
recalling that the U.S. NSDI defined only seven
framework themes: geodetic control, orthoimagery,
elevation, transportation, hydrography, governmental
units, and cadastral information, most of which have a
federal agency that is taking the lead in data collection
and management. The implication for the drafting
teams is that they have a much more difficult task
in collecting and summarizing reference material,
seeking common denominators and reference models,
and developing recommendations that satisfy user
requirements without imposing an undue burden on
those organizations that have day-to-day responsibility Table 2: The INSPIRE Community in 2009.
for data collection and management across Europe.
Seeking compromise between different requirements and perspectives is crucial to the work of
each drafting team.

Last, but not least, it is important to note that the drafting teams have ownership of their work.
They make the recommendations and submit them for review to all the registered SDICs and
LMOs and the representatives of the Member States. It is only after they have taken on board
all the comments received that the Commission takes ownership of the draft implementing rules
and submits them for internal consultation. After revision and checking, the draft implementing
rules go through the final round of the democratic process before becoming a new legal act.
This involves qualified majority voting by the representatives of the Member States and the
scrutiny of the European Parliament.

The complexity of this participatory approach is certainly innovative not only in relation to
the developments of SDIs but also more generally to the formulation of public policy at the
European level. The outcome produces both consensus-based policy and the development and
maintenance of a network of stakeholders that make it possible to implement more effectively
this distributed European SDI.

September 2010 36 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The Challenges Although a great deal of work has clearly taken place with the support of many stakeholders,
there are still several organizational and technical challenges (and opportunities) that need to be
addressed.

Organizational: The most immediate challenge is to maintain the momentum and the high
level of commitment of all stakeholders and the experts contributing to the development of
the implementing rules. This is not trivial and requires a notable amount of resources (time,
money, expertise, commitment) to ensure that stakeholders feel ownership of the process,
which then becomes a prerequisite for more effective implementation. Just to give an example
of the scale of the task, the development of the data specifications for Annex I themes involved
addressing more than 7,500 comments received from hundreds of stakeholders and organizing
some 350 meetings (both physical and virtual) over a two-year period. If you consider
that there were 8 themes in Annex I and another 26 to do, in addition to the revisions and
maintenance of all guidance documents already created, then you have a sense of this facet
of the organizational challenge. The INSPIRE forum is one way to address this challenge, but
managing expectations, ensuring real participation, and delivering the benefits are key aspects
we constantly need to focus on.

Another facet, which is even more important, is the organizational challenge in the Member
States to implement INSPIRE. The INSPIRE Directive asks Member States to establish and
maintain their SDIs, nominate an organization as a contact point with the Commission, and
set up appropriate coordinating mechanisms, all of which have given rise to a flurry of activity
across Europe. In many countries, SDIs already exist and work well at national and subnational
levels. So the effort is more focused on agreeing on a division of responsibility than in setting up
new structures. In other countries, INSPIRE offers an opportunity for the organizations that have
been leading SDI developments for years to get their just recognition and acquire new status
and legitimacy.

Of course, the difficult financial climate of this period makes it potentially more challenging to
invest in new infrastructures and ways of working. Hence, the challenges in most countries are
to leverage resources available from different sources (European, national, international) and/
or ensure strong synergy between the investment required by INSPIRE and those committed in
related projects, for example, in the framework of e-government. In this sense, the work needed
is critical not only to align sources of funding but also to ensure that initiatives, standards,
systems, and deployments are well coordinated and that they do not duplicate, or contradict,
each other. Readers of this article who are familiar with large public-sector organizations will
know how challenging this may prove to be.
GIS Best Practices 37 esri.com
 Underpinning this organizational challenge are the key issues of awareness, education, and
training. Although we have involved thousands of people in the development of INSPIRE, and
most national-level organizations in the Member States are aware of this initiative, there is still
much to do. Even in the organizations involved in INSPIRE, sometimes only a few people are
actively participating, and the level of awareness of INSPIRE and its future impacts may be lost
to other parts of the same organization.

Moreover, many public-sector administrations at the subnational level still have limited or no
knowledge of INSPIRE. This is partly due to (1) insufficient dissemination efforts in the Member
States; (2) local and regional authorities only becoming more directly involved when the data
themes they are responsible for, which are mainly in Annexes II and III, are addressed by
INSPIRE; and (3) the complexity of the technical documentation being produced at the present
time, which very few people can understand or use. This brings us to the education and training
issues. Even if we take a very simplified view of an SDI and assume that all it involves is
creating metadata and setting up OGC-compliant services for discovery, view, and access, then
where are the technicians versed in the relevant standards and technologies who will be able to
implement these services across hundreds of datasets in the thousands of organizations across
Europe? Who is training them? Where are the technical colleges and universities forming such
competent technical staff? Where is the training material consistently being designed and
translated across Europe so that everybody implements exactly the same specifications? And,
where are the courses to train professional users (city planners, environmental engineers, social
scientists, etc.) on the added value of the SDI to their work? The answer, of course, is that we
still have to build up this capacity.

There have been notable efforts in respect to the professional users such as the Center for
Spatially Integrated Social Science in the United States (www.csiss.org) and several EU-funded
projects in Europe (e.g., www.vesta-gis.eu), but the demand far outstrips the supply, and
often, the funding to support these projects is limited to a few years, typically three or four. An
interesting effort to overcome this short-term funding problem is represented by the Vespucci
Initiative for the Advancement of Geographic Information (GI) Science (www.vespucci.org), a
not-for-profit, self-funded initiative bringing together leading GI scientists and practitioners in
intensive weeklong courses to foster interaction and exchange of experience along the "training
the trainers" formula. After eight years of operation, some 500 participants have lived the
Vespucci experience, and thousands more will have benefited from the indirect effects of being
trained by the Vespucci alumni.

September 2010 38 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Technical: The main challenge here is to develop and maintain an infrastructure that works
and that delivers added value. As indicated earlier, the suite of international standards and
specifications available is sometimes not mature enough to deliver or is subject to different
interpretations, change, and inconsistencies. To give one small example, at the core of SDIs is
metadata. The international standards for metadata for datasets and services are ISO 19115
and ISO 19119, respectively. The application schema for both is ISO 19139, but these schemas
can be found at two different locations: the ISO repository for official standards and the Open
Geospatial Consortium Schema Repository. Unfortunately, the schemas available at these two
sites differ because of the different versions of Geography Markup Language (GML) they use.

This is now being addressed, but it is just one example of the many problems one has to face in
practice. The devil is always in the details, and in the case of INSPIRE, we took the view that it
was not feasible to include all the very detailed specifications down to rules for encoding into a
legal act, as any change in standards, technologies, or good practice would then require lengthy
procedures to amend the legislation. As a result, the INSPIRE implementing rules are short and
only say what functionalities are required, leaving the detailed implementation to nonbinding
guidelines documents. This has its drawbacks, as we cannot guarantee that everyone will
use the guidelines and that interoperability will be achieved immediately. On the other hand,
experience has shown that we are still making small adjustments to the guidelines for metadata
two years after their approval. Had they been set in tablets of stone (i.e., legally binding), there
is no way that we could be able to make any change fast enough.

So, in practice, we adopted a more pragmatic approach, setting up an Initial Operating

Capability Task Force with representatives from the agencies in charge in every country
to implement INSPIRE. With them we can discuss in detail how they are implementing
their services, what seems to work, and what does not; make the necessary changes and
adjustments; and disseminate good practice, as well as share tools (and reduce costs).
INSPIRE is a process, not just an artifact!

A second challenge is to facilitate the transition from a spatial data infrastructure perspective,
that is, the "extended GIS metaphor" used in the introduction, which only addresses relatively
few technical experts, toward a spatial information infrastructure, a service providing information
products and analyses that are of wider use to nonexperts. This requires turning many of the
functionalities and analytic processes encoded in GIS software and usable by few trained
geospatial professionals into geoprocessing services that can operate in established workflows

GIS Best Practices 39 esri.com

 over the datasets available on the Web and provide answers to questions posed by the many
who are not experts.

The research issues here are many and include eliciting and formalizing processes and models
from experts; turning them into geoprocesses, which can be understood and used across
disciplines (including explanation of the theoretical underpinning of models so that they can be
used appropriately); and selecting the appropriate service to go with the appropriate data to
contribute to addressing a question in ways that are methodologically robust. Some of these
challenges were addressed, for example, by the ORCHESTRA project (www.eu-orchestra.org/
overview.shtml), but in that instance, all the geoservices had to be chained manually, which
would not scale up in a global setting with thousands of datasets and services available. So we
need automatic or semiautomatic means of making the right choices and links.

To add spice to these challenges, there are also always new ideas and technologies to
understand and harness. So as we were settling in to implement service-oriented architectures
(SOA) for SDIs with the corollary of ISO metadata, OGC discovery services, etc. (i.e.,
following the paradigm of the library that separates the resources from their metadata), along
came Linked Data (linkeddata.org) with Resource Description Framework (RDF) to provide
semantically rich descriptions of resources and their linkages. Of course, Linked Data and SOA
are not necessarily at odds. However, this is a good example of the way one needs to build the
infrastructure for today with a view to where we should be going tomorrow.

Toward the Next- To help sharpen our vision of the future, the Vespucci Initiative brought together in 2008 a
Generation Digital Earth number of environmental and geographic information scientists from academia, government,
and the private sector to consider the changes that have taken place since the 1998 Digital
Earth speech by U.S. Vice President Al Gore (www.isde5.org/al_gore_speech.htm). The
meeting was an opportunity to consider the major technological developments that have made
it possible to bring the experience of Digital Earth to hundreds of millions of people in their
homes and desktops. It also reviewed the many public-sector-led initiatives aimed at organizing
geographic information (SDIs and INSPIRE, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems
initiative [earthobservations.org], the International Society for Digital Earth [www.digitalearth-
isde.org], etc.) and the major private-sector developments aimed at organizing world information
geographically. These have made it possible for citizens to contribute and share geographic
information easily and interact with each other in what is labeled as Web 2.0.

September 2010 40 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Overall, the emerging view was that there is a need to bring together these seemingly parallel
worlds: top-down official information and bottom-up citizen-provided information. On this basis,
we articulated a revised vision of Digital Earth to help guide our effort. This vision recognizes
the need to integrate scientific and public- and private-sector data to help us understand the
complex interactions between natural, man-made, and social environments over time and
across space—a framework to help us realize what has changed or is likely to happen, when,
and why. To support this vision, we also identified key research topics on which to focus our
energies, including improved methods for the spatiotemporal modeling of heterogeneous and
dynamic data (citizen provided, sensors, official), the visualization of abstract concepts in space
(e.g., risk, vulnerability, perceived quality of life), and ways to assess and model reliability and
trust in information coming from many different sources (for more details, see
ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/ijsdir/article/view/119/99).

The INSPIRE geoportal (www.inspire-geoportal.eu).

GIS Best Practices 41 esri.com

 You could argue that with all the work we still have to do to develop and implement INSPIRE in
Europe, we can ill afford to look for new organizational and technical challenges and research
topics. Yet we should never lose sight of why we are building these infrastructures and investing
significant public resources to do so. They are not ends in themselves but a means to improve
our understanding and stewardship of the environment and develop our knowledge-based
society. Without a clear view of where we want to go and what is needed to get there, we will
not be able to guide the process effectively and address the grand challenges of today and
tomorrow. The Next-Generation Digital Earth paper provides an initial contribution in shaping the
longer-term view, and we welcome your feedback and contributions on inspire-forum.jrc
.ec.europa.eu/pg/groups/ 98/next-generation-digital-earth.

About the Author Max Craglia works in the Spatial Data Infrastructures Unit of the Joint Research Centre
of the European Commission. This unit is responsible for the technical coordination of
INSPIRE, working closely with other Commission colleagues in the Directorate General for
the Environment and EUROSTAT. Craglia edits the International Journal of Spatial Data
Infrastructures Research (ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu) and is one of the founders of the Vespucci
Initiative for the Advancement of Geographic Information Science (www.vespucci.org).

(Reprinted from the Spring 2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

September 2010 42 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Mukund Rao Steers Data and GIS for Global Spatial Data
Infrastructure
A geologist by education, Dr. Mukund Rao understands how studying the earth can
uncover solutions to problems that affect people all over the world. His passion for
understanding the earth and its activities led Rao to a rich career furthering earth
observation, GIS, and spatial data infrastructure (SDI) applications at both the
national and international levels.

To honor this exemplary work record for the past three decades, Rao has been bestowed two
honors, the 2008 National Geospatial Award for Excellence from the Indian Society of Remote
Sensing and the Exemplary Service Medal from the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI)
Association. The Indian Society of Remote Sensing recognized Rao's outstanding contributions in
promoting geospatial science and technology and applications in India through longtime association
and involvement in GIS technology, including his current position as president and chief operating
officer of NIIT GIS Limited (ESRI India). The GSDI Association recognized Rao for his role in
building and developing GSDI in its formative years and steering its activities as its first president
from 2004 to 2006. Rao served as president at the GSDI-7/8 conferences in Bangalore, India/Cairo,
Egypt, and has been involved in directing and furthering the technology and application of SDI
throughout the world.

"To me, these awards are a humble reminder of the opportunity

I've had to work with GIS right from the beginning," says Rao. He
was introduced to GIS in 1984 while working at the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO) to create the first prototype of the
Natural Resources Information System (NRIS), a solution for handling
images, making thematic maps, and supporting decision making in
natural resources management. Rao conceptualized and performed
an initial study for the Mineral Exploration Information System (MEIS),
which was an integration of images with geophysical and geochemical
data that allowed analysts to find mineral indicators. Rao discovered
GIS through a course introducing the fundamental concepts of GIS in
Mumbai, India, led by one of the early originators of GIS, Dr. Duane
Marble, professor emeritus of geography at the Ohio State University.
Mukund Rao is a GIS Hero.

GIS Best Practices 43 esri.com

 Later, in 1987, Rao was exposed to an excellent training suite in GIS at the Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT).

In 1985, Rao was involved in the process of selecting the best-suited GIS package for the
support of India's remote-sensing applications and the NRIS program (finally, ISRO selected
PC ARC/INFO, then the later versions of ArcInfo). "The innovative methods of handling maps,
building spatial models, and creating different spatial perspectives captivated me right away—I
could easily perceive their importance and relevance due to my background in geology, where
maps and visualization are the key," adds Rao. He went on to apply GIS to urban and regional
planning and wasteland management in many cities in India. Ultimately, he became the lead
in the NRIS program of ISRO and was instrumental in developing the comprehensive NRIS
Standards for GIS in India and, more recently, the National Natural Resources Management
System (NNRMS) Standards, the national standards for EO and GIS.

During the late 1990s, Rao realized that SDI was the path for both the NRIS and ISRO imaging
programs, conceptualizing India's NSDI program and transforming it into an intergovernmental
mechanism. Rao was the key person in authoring the NSDI Strategy and Action Plan and
prepared the NSDI Metadata Standards. To demonstrate the first GIS portal for NNRMS, Rao
developed a prototype that was officially launched and hosted on ISRO's Web site in early
2000. Soon after, he steered the concept of agency SDI portals through the National Urban
Information, NNRMS, and a number of state-level portals of SDI, bringing about an integrated
system for India's NSDI. This system is now becoming the foundation of NSDI in India. He is
currently working on concepts for SDI Applications Portal services and enabling a cross-linking
network of application visualization for SDI.

This activity launched Rao into the GSDI movement, and he was elected as the first president
of the GSDI Association. During this time, GSDI was incorporated and its activities defined,
including a coordinated approach furthering SDI throughout the world through cookbooks, Esri
grant projects, conferences, and committee activities.

In 2005, Rao took over as CEO of Navayuga Spatial Technologies, an Indian startup company
located in Bangalore, and headed up many successful projects, including the establishment
of an ArcGIS software-based enterprise solution for the Ras-Al Khaimah emirate in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) and the largest enterprise solution project in India, the creation of an SDI
in Delhi.

September 2010 44 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Since joining ESRI India in 2008, Rao has been involved in furthering GIS throughout India
by promoting efficient and successful business models. With a deep understanding of earth
observation and GIS, Esri India now operates and helps many successful GIS projects in India
and other parts of the world, focusing on urban, power, utilities, disaster, and imagery sectors.

Rao is quick to point out that his associations with other leaders in the field have helped
him achieve his successes in spearheading the movement of GIS and remote sensing to
assist in solving the challenges faced in the world. Jack Dangermond, president of Esri, and
Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, the former chairman of ISRO and chairman of the Planning
Commission of India, are two such leaders. Rao also credits a large number of professionals
that he has worked with in India and abroad for his GIS accomplishments, learning from their
capabilities and expertise in undertaking GIS activities in a better and meaningful way.

Rao is a strong believer that GIS representation will be a key factor in most human activities
and a benefit to society and humanity, providing the key technology necessary for information
processing and visualization. "While, on one hand," says Rao, "GIS will become easier and
simpler to use—thus making it usable by the common man—it will also become integrative and
overarching to bring together various technologies of surveying, imaging, and mapping for GIS
content; databases and warehousing for GIS storage; and seamless data fusion and merging
for GIS applications. Finally, it will provide a tremendous way of visualizing information in a
spatial domain. No longer are maps the only output from a GIS."

(Reprinted from the Winter 2009/2010 issue of ArcNews magazine)

GIS Best Practices 45 esri.com

 Remote Communities Prevail with GIS
Small Island SDI Is a Huge Success

Highlights

„ GIS managers feel a sense of community even on small islands in the middle of the ocean.

„ The islands use ArcGIS as the backbone for spatial data sharing.

„ Benefits are derived from land being carefully mapped and documented with GIS.

GIS for spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is used throughout the world to instill cooperation and
collaboration in sharing spatial data to better address social, economic, and environmental issues.
It seems logical that large countries like the United States have invested in SDI, such as the
Geospatial One-Stop, and national unions, such as the European Union, have come together
to share data and resources via the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE).
Does SDI make sense for smaller countries and communities? Arguably, even smaller nations
benefit from land being carefully mapped, public works and utilities documented, environments and
biodiversity protected, and resources assessed and strategic planning completed.

Thanks to special funding through the

joint United Kingdom Foreign Office/
Department for International Development
Environment Programme, a group of UK
overseas territories and the member states
of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States are able to rely on GIS for SDI, using
the solution for data quality and control,
information sharing, and delivering finished
products for use between governmental
agencies and private organizations. Calling
themselves "tiny SDI," these small islands
use ArcGIS as the backbone for spatial data
sharing.
A few thousand of the half million wide-awake (sooty) terns
on Ascension Island (photo credit: Alan Mills).

GIS Best Practices 47 esri.com

 Most islands were using Esri GIS software products in some form or fashion before SDI was
implemented. As Alan Mills, principal with Alan Mills Consulting, Ltd., and one of the thinkers
behind using SDI to help manage smaller islands, explains it, "We realized there was synergy
in sharing the same add-on applications developed with GIS across the islands. Along with
the backup support from other islands doing the same functions, the GIS managers on these
remote places would feel a sense of community and have a place to go when they needed help.
This is important when you live on a small island in the middle of the ocean three days' boat
ride from the nearest airport, and you have to be the expert in GPS, databases, cartography,
digitizing, and changing the ink in the plotter. Many of these projects produce baby steps in
making SDI, but these smaller islands should not be excluded from making best use of GIS for
their own special purposes."

Ascension Island One island that has many unique needs housed in a small space is UK overseas territory
Discovers Data Sharing Ascension Island, situated in the sea halfway between Africa and Brazil. Only 34 square miles
in area (approximately 88 square kilometers), the island is inhabited by about 1,000 people.
Because the island is a relatively recent volcanic emergence close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,
there is little natural vegetation except for a few species of ferns and spurge, a plant that exudes
a bitter milky juice. The island became a refuge for a wide variety of marine species and is the
second largest Atlantic nesting site for green turtles.

Humans discovered the island in the 1500s, and since that time, the island's ecology has
changed significantly: invasive plant species have run rampant over parts of the island and
rats and cats have decimated the bird populations. Bird and turtle populations have oceanwide
impact on biodiversity, and the Conservation Department established by the small Ascension
Island government is mandated to protect and enhance the crucial nesting sites, as well as
conserve the local plants, crabs, and invertebrates.

Since 2005, GIS has been used to synthesize disparate databases and datasets and create
new maps and images for environmental management. GIS also assists with other applications,
including the Environmental Health Department's rat control mapping, and documenting of an
eclectic set of historical sites, such as the guns of the sunken HMS Hood, Dampier's Drip (the
original freshwater source for the island), and concrete water catchments in the mountainside
that collect scarce cloud water for the island's predesalination plant.

Using ArcView, a component of ArcGIS Desktop, the system works well. Says Dr. Edsel
Daniel, professor, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, a codeveloper of the SDIs for
Ascension and St. Helena, and a colleague of Mills, "The software is easy enough to be handled

September 2010 48 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 by nonexperts. We are able to use a flexible framework that accepts new monitoring data and
can integrate datasets from a wide variety of sources and types."

ArcView integrates all the data necessary for the government to make informed planning
decisions to balance environmental, amenity, and infrastructural priorities. Clear protocols and
procedures have been determined to pass data from the field to the end user.

"The key to this system to function in such a small area so economically with great benefit is the
fact that data gathered for one purpose can be shared in many applications," asserts Mills.

St. Helena Finds St. Helena, about 750 miles (1,207 kilometers) southeast of Ascension, cannot be reached by
Cooperation Is the Key air. Instead, a visitor must take the RMS St. Helena, which plows between Cape Town, South
Africa; St. Helena; and Ascension each month. Approximately 3,500 hardy settlers live on
the island, many above the precipitous cliffs or in a narrow canyon where the well-preserved
Georgian capital of Jamestown nestles, near landscapes of rocky desert, rolling pastures, and
eucalyptus and pine plantations. Near the coast, humpback whale mothers and calves shelter
themselves, and thousands of seabirds cling to cliff edges and stacks.

This map shows endemic tree ferns, trees, and threatening

weeds on St. Helen's Diana's Peak (as of 2007).

GIS Best Practices 49 esri.com

 At first, GIS was used to determine the best locations to place freshwater boreholes. In
2004, other projects began, the largest being building the island's cadastre. The St. Helena
Agriculture and Natural Resources Department (ANRD), along with the St. Helena National
Trust, implemented ArcView and a Microsoft Access database to monitor clearance of invasive
flax and other plants and manage the growth of endemic cabbage trees and tree ferns. Len
Coleman, GIS manager, St. Helena, says, "The emergence of a map showing the recolonization
of endemics over a 10-year period gave other departments the idea to link their monitoring data
with the mapping being accomplished."

A single system was then designed to minimize duplication of effort and share the burden of
data collection and management. The St. Helena Legal, Lands, and Planning Department
was keen on expanding its new cadastral GIS and database, and working with ANRD meant
environmental concerns were known by the planning unit for both strategic plans and the
development control process. Sharing resources also makes it easier for training sessions
to be organized and held for occasional users of GIS. Data is not duplicated, and there is
better quality control and attribution when it is used for multiple applications. Visiting scientists
and consultants can search the data catalog and have a recognizable way of contributing
information back to the system in a structured manner once their project is completed.

GIS Keeps People and In the eastern Caribbean Sea, Montserrat is another UK overseas territory, approximately
Mountain Chickens Safe 12 miles (20 kilometers) west of Antigua. After a volcanic eruption in 1997, the population
on Montserrat dwindled from 11,000 to 3,500 and is now settled in only one-third of the island. These few
people on the island are in need of GIS to assist them in mapping safe zones and planning
for permanent homes and services away from the dangerous area around the volcano. GIS is
also used to map endangered species in the Center Hills area, including the curiously named
mountain chicken, a frog that is a local delicacy and has been unfortunately decimated by a
fungal disease. Work by the Department of Environment in Montserrat—supported by the likes
of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust; the UK Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; and
the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew—is helping protect endangered species like the mountain
chicken.

September 2010 50 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 A map defining trends of the mountain chicken habitat of Montserrat.

Led by GIS manager Lavern Rogers-Ryan, who works in the Montserrat Physical Planning
Department, the GIS team uses ArcGIS to cover the requests of clients on the island, including
updating the land cadastre and mapping for natural disasters and environmental protection.
Comments Rogers-Ryan, "Assisting the Department of Environment in mapping its data opened
our eyes to the spatial comparisons across the island."

Mills assisted in developing a database and training field staff in how to make simple maps.
Rogers-Ryan emphasizes, "This assistance helped me better structure my data to provide wider
services to several government departments without being overwhelmed by the work."

GIS Used to Evaluate St. Kitts (also called St. Christopher) is part of an independent, twin-island federal state with the
Land Resources for island of Nevis. Both islands have a total population of 39,000 and achieved their independence
St. Kitts in a Postsugar in 1983 when the British made them the smallest independent state in the Western Hemisphere.
Era St. Kitts has a land area of 65 square miles (168 square kilometers) with extremely fertile soils
used primarily for sugar production for the past 350 years.

GIS Best Practices 51 esri.com

 Fluctuating commodity prices and reduced European Union trade preferences have made
the island's reliance on single-crop agriculture an economic vulnerability. To address such
vulnerabilities, in 2005 the government of St. Kitts and Nevis (GoSKN) made the decision to
close the sugar industry and vigorously pursue its economic diversification by placing emphasis
on more viable alternatives, such as tourism and nonsugar agriculture, including field crops and
livestock. One of the major challenges of this effort is adopting careful planning to ensure that
the island's land resources previously utilized by the sugar cane crops are optimized for the
long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the country.

St. Kitts' land suitability map for vegetables.

September 2010 52 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 After the closing of the sugar industry, the GoSKN Physical Planning Department (PPD) and
Department of Agriculture spearheaded the planning for the agricultural transition. A land
resource analysis study was conducted using ArcGIS (ArcView) to identify the most suitable
lands for six nonsugar agricultural activities: vegetable crops (e.g., tomatoes, peppers),
pineapples, fruit tree crops (e.g., sugar apples, guava), field crops (e.g., cassava, sweet potato),
livestock production, and pasture/grass (e.g., guinea grass for feeding livestock). "While specific
areas have been quantified based on suitability," says Daniel (former PPD staff member
and lead researcher on the study), "an added benefit of this study was the ability to identify,
compare, and quantify areas for uses beyond agriculture. We were able to evaluate future
land use, such as housing for tourism, industrial, and residential, along with suitable lands for
nonsugar agricultural activities. Using GIS, we were able to see the bigger picture of how to
develop areas for the benefit of the community."

Mapping Resources Rodrigues is a partly autonomous island found approximately 400 miles (650 kilometers) east of
on Rodrigues Island to its sister island, Mauritius. Third largest of the Mascarene Islands, Rodrigues has 40,000 people
Sustain Human Activity who live off reef and subsistence farming and has few support services and only a fledgling
tourism industry.

Shoals Rodrigues, a nongovernmental organization working closely with the island's

government, the Regional Assembly, conducts marine research, education, and training
about the extensive reef area, which extends over twice the size of the land itself. One major
activity is assessing the extent and health of the marine resources, including the corals, sea
grasses, and mangroves. With the support of the Universities of Newcastle and Bangor in the
United Kingdom, Shoals Rodrigues created a map of the basic reef structure using supervised
classification of Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper data, with an eye to using QuickBird
satellite imagery and ArcView in the near future for the more detailed map of the resources, as
well as in educational work and governmental planning.

(Reprinted from the Fall 2009 issue of ArcNews magazine)

GIS Best Practices 53 esri.com

 Governance of the NSDI
By Will Craig, President of the National States Geographic Information Council

The concept of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) has been around
since the early 1990s, and the name has been in existence since 1994, when
President Bill Clinton used it to label his executive order creating it. The name
sounded strange when I first heard it; why infrastructure? Then I realized that
data is infrastructure. Everybody else got it too. It was the first time the United
States began to see data as infrastructure—equivalent to concrete roadways
and metal pipes. This was the new information age, and data was the basis for
economic growth and environmental integrity.

It was a wonderful concept—liberating and energizing—but we have gotten much less than I was
hoping for over the past 15 years. There are only a few success stories. As I see the problem, we
simply have not organized ourselves very effectively. This article describes the current geospatial
governance structure in the United States, discusses current problems, looks at state models for
success, and makes recommendations for doing things differently at the national level.

Through a directive from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we have put significant
effort into identifying key data elements in that infrastructure and assigning responsibilities to
develop and maintain that data. The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is charged with
coordinating those efforts but does not have the power to make or enforce rules. Federal agencies
continue to create "stovepipes of excellence" and cooperate only when desirable to themselves,
very rarely because of outside pressure. Equally important, the NSDI has a federal focus and often
does not meet the needs of state or local government—let alone the private sector or public.

State governments have done a better job of coordinating their state spatial data infrastructures.
Ironically, they have gotten funding from FGDC to develop the strategic and business plans
necessary to make the transition. Many states have geographic information officers (GIOs) to
coordinate state-level activities and advisory councils composed of other stakeholders to help
coordinate the activities of municipal, county, and tribal governments. A similar approach should be
used at the federal and national level to create the governance structure that will allow us to finally
reach the full potential of the NSDI.

GIS Best Practices 55 esri.com

 Cracks in the system are becoming apparent to Congress. In June 2009, the Congressional
Research Service published a report called Geospatial Information and Geographic Information
Systems (GIS): Current Issues and Future Challenges. The report tries to address the
questions of "how effectively [is] the FGDC . . . fulfilling its mission" and "how well is the federal
government coordinating with the state and local entities" (see www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/
R40625.pdf).

On July 23, 2009, the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee of the House Natural
Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on federal geospatial data management.
Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland quoted a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report
from his briefing material saying that only 4 of the 17 [sic] FGDC member agencies were
in compliance. A video of that hearing and written testimony of witnesses is online at
resourcescommittee.house.gov/ index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=27&extmode=view&ex
tid=278. Most of the discussion in the hearing was about eliminating redundant data collection.
Not much was about filling gaps.

OMB, FGDC, and NSDI The current federal geographic governance structure has a long history. In 1953, the federal
executive OMB issued Circular A-16. Originally aimed at federal surveying and mapping
activities, that circular has been revised several times and is now titled Coordination of
Geographic Information and Related Spatial Data Activities. Circular A-16 is the basis for
all federal geospatial data coordination efforts. OMB is a cabinet-level office, monitoring the
performance of the various federal agencies that report to the president, guiding them when
they stray, and making recommendations for future presidential budgets. This is a powerful
office, but it has tended to delegate geospatial data coordination to FGDC.

FGDC was created in the 1990 revision to OMB Circular A-16. This is when the circular began
looking at spatial data use and coordination across federal agencies. The committee consists
of leaders from 30 federal agencies—up from 18 listed in the 2002 revision of Circular A-16. It
is chaired by the secretary of the interior. The strength of the committee is determined by the
strength of personalities running it, and that strength has varied over the years. Not all member
agencies are fully committed, as indicated at the oversight hearing.

When the NSDI was created in 1994 by President Clinton's Executive Order 12906, its
purpose was to "support public and private applications of geospatial data in such areas as
transportation, community development, agriculture, emergency response, environmental

September 2010 56 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 management, and information technology." Responsibility for implementation was given to
FGDC. With minor modifications to provide a special role for the new Department of Homeland
Security, President George W. Bush continued the NSDI in his Executive Order 13286 in 2003.

There were weaknesses in all this. One of the things that went wrong fairly early was a fixation
on framework data. These were the seven data layers that were seen as first steps toward
fulfilling the vision of the NSDI: geodetic control, orthoimagery, elevation and bathymetry,
transportation, hydrography, cadastral, and governmental units. Circular A-16 describes these
as the seven "themes of geospatial data that are used by most GIS applications." In fact, I most
frequently use land-use and soil data for my environmental work and socioeconomic data for my
urban planning work. But, these seven were seen both as easy first steps and as a solid frame
to which other data could be referenced. To be sure, Circular A-16 lists some 34 data categories
and assigns each to a federal agency, but few agencies are working on their assignments. Land
use is not in the list of data categories—along with many other elements that we all find useful in
our daily work.

It turned out that framework data was not so easy to complete or coordinate. The National
Academy of Sciences points out that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
needs land surface elevation data that is about 10 times more accurate than data currently
available (2007) for most of the nation. The transportation layer is maintained in various forms
by agencies including the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Transportation, the latter
having several different versions. The cadastral layer effort soon abandoned securing data on
all private landownership and even smaller federal land holdings, leaving only large federal
holdings, like Yellowstone National Park, and Public Land Survey corners.

One of the best success stories is GPS, something that was not seen as part of the NSDI. This
technology was developed by a federal agency (the U.S. military), but kept relatively secret
with only degraded access to it until 2000 when President Clinton opened the door for public
access. Today, GPS is a multibillion-dollar industry with devices on the dashboards of cars, in
cell phones, and even on dog collars. This happened within a single agency and outside our
national data governance structure.

We knew early on that data could not be developed without a partnership between the federal
government on the one hand and state, local, and tribal governments on the other. Those
relationships were required in Clinton's NSDI executive order. They were underscored in a
series of reports from the National Academy of Sciences. The first of these was Toward a
Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation, which predated Clinton's executive order

GIS Best Practices 57 esri.com

 and set the stage for it. Perhaps the most relevant today is the 2003 report, Weaving a National
Map: Review of the U.S. Geological Survey Concept of The National Map, that envisioned
a national quilt of high-resolution local data that could be rewoven into a national blanket of
uniform quality.

Data for the Nation The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) and others are starting to use
the phrase for the nation. Imagery for the Nation (IFTN), Transportation for the Nation (TFTN),
and Elevation for the Nation are examples of this new approach in labeling. To NSGIC, this
term means something quite specific: data is available nationwide, it has sufficient spatial and
topical resolution to meet the needs of all levels of government, and resources are available to
keep the data current. The processes for conceiving, developing, and maintaining such data are
described with 20 discrete criteria on the NSGIC Web site. Only a few data themes exist that
meet these criteria.

There are four ways to produce data that meets the needs of all levels of government. The
traditional way is for federal programs to deliver data at sufficiently fine resolution to meet
everyone's needs. A good example of such a program is the Soil Survey Geographic Database
(SSURGO) county soils maps provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service; these
maps provide sufficient detail for state and local applications, though not for individual farmers
who want to manage their fields intensively. Also, the Census Bureau provides population and
housing data at the block level and above—again, sufficient for all but the most detailed local
needs. The National Wetland Inventory and the National Hydrography Dataset also fall into this
category. Not many other examples exist. I call these "happy accidents." They almost always
involve a federal partnership with state or local government, but those partnerships are matters
of convenience and not the result of our governance structure.

A second way to meet the needs of all levels of government is through federal programs that
allow state and local governments to participate through buy-up options. The IFTN program,
proposed by NSGIC, starts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 1-meter National
Agricultural Imagery Program and allows locals to add sensors (e.g., four-band) and expanded
coverage into nonagricultural areas. IFTN also provides for the business needs of local
government with a higher-resolution 1-foot program that would be administered by the United
States Geological Survey (USGS). This component also has buy-up options that include 6-inch
resolution, true orthophotographs; increased horizontal accuracies; and other features important
to local government. Ideally, states would coordinate the many local requirements and funding,
making it easier for USDA, USGS, and their contractors to meet local needs.

September 2010 58 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 A third way to meet the needs of all levels of government is for local government to collect data
that meets its needs, with state and federal governments rolling this data up to summary levels
sufficient for their more general needs. This is actually fairly rare, but I have a good example
from McLeod County in central Minnesota. The county wanted 1-foot contour data and worked
with several local cities and a watershed district to contract for services. USGS needed only
10-foot resolution for its National Elevation Database, but contributed financially so it could
access the finer data, process it, and publish a 10-foot summary of the original county data.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation also contributed to the effort. This partnership was
recognized in 2008 with a commendation from the governor of the state of Minnesota.

A fourth approach is for the private sector to get involved and create something that has value
to the nation—enough value to support the enterprise. A number of popular Web providers
of maps, travel directions, and aerial photos are doing a great job of delivering this kind of
information to the public; much of the data comes from government sources, but it is delivered
in useful packages by private firms. Ideally, we would base other work on public/private
partnerships, so government has a say in the nature and availability of the final product. We lack
good models on how this should work, but the potential is there.

Parcels and Addresses Parcels and addresses are especially useful pieces of the NSDI from my perspective. They
present a conundrum for federal partnerships. Many federal agencies need such data for their
day-to-day operations or in emergencies. This data is typically created and maintained by local
government, but there is no systematic way for this local data to flow up to state or federal
agencies as described in the third option above for delivering data for the nation. There is no
system for collecting and organizing local data, so federal agencies collect their own data.
Taxpayers foot the bill for multiple versions of the same data. No governing body in Washington
has responsibility for resolving the conundrum—addressing the fragmented landscape.

Data on addresses is the most vexing because it is the closest to being ready for widespread
sharing. The Census Bureau and the U.S. Postal Service have nationwide databases but share
only with each other. A 1982 Supreme Court decision supports the Census Bureau decision to
not share its Master Address File with local government. That decision was based on the court's
understanding of congressional intent in writing Title 13 of the U.S. Code forbidding access to
internal Census Bureau records, not on any intrinsic right of privacy. The past 27 years have
brought significant developments in technology and business databases, making moot decisions
about unknown addresses.

GIS Best Practices 59 esri.com

 Most recently, the Census Bureau has spent millions of dollars hiring out GPS work to add
an x,y coordinate to every front door in America. For some reason, this information is also
held as nonpublic. I could easily see a system where I provide my address to the Census
Bureau and it returns my x,y coordinate. Local governments and 911 authorities would love
to have this information for their business needs but do not have the funds to collect this
data themselves and cannot get it from the Census Bureau. I am not talking about internal
and possibly illegal housing units, just about the front door that anyone could see when
walking by. I am not talking about unknown places in the woods, only those buildings for
which the local authority already has addresses. The x,y coordinates remain an internal,
nonpublic resource at the Census Bureau, paid for with public funds, but not available to
the public or any other government agency. Does this make sense?

Parcels are in a similar situation, but different because no federal agency has responsibility
for maintaining a national parcel dataset. Nearly every domestic agency, save USGS,
has the need for parcel data. USDA needs parcel data to manage its crop insurance
programs. Our national parks and forests need information on parcels to communicate with

September 2010 60 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 neighboring landowners. FEMA needs parcel data for rescue and recovery operations; it wasted
millions of dollars following Hurricane Katrina in aid to people who did not own property in the
damaged area. The Census Bureau could use parcels on the outer edge of cities to update their
governmental unit boundaries. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
could use parcel data to monitor urban decay or renaissance. Some would argue that access
to good parcel data would have allowed us to foresee the recent mortgage crisis and intervene
before things went so horribly wrong.

A 2007 report by the National Academy of Sciences looked at parcel data issues: National
Land Parcel Data: A Vision for the Future. I was on the committee that drafted that report. We
envisioned a Web mapping service that would allow people to see parcel maps, along with a
limited set of attributes, for any place in the country without regard to county or state borders.
States would play an intermediary role, adding their own landownership data and managing
records for those local governments without sufficient internal capacity. This is technically
and economically feasible. Yet the United States cannot do it because we lack the will and
a governance structure to develop and manage such a system. The first recommendation
of our study was to create a panel to identify a national coordinator to begin working on the
governance issue. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has responsibility for the cadastre
under OMB Circular A-16, so the panel would start by determining whether BLM has enough
authority and capacity to do the job. Two years after our report was published, there is still no
panel looking at this issue.

States Are Organized States around the country coordinate GIS activities better than the federal government. They
typically have some kind of statewide council. The most effective councils coordinate activities
at the state level with a strong hand but work gently with local governments. They include
representatives from all stakeholder groups, including federal, state, county, municipal, and
tribal governments; private-sector GIS users and providers; the academic sector; nonprofit
organizations; utilities; and the general public. They have clear vision, supported by a strategic
plan and a business plan.

The Fifty States Initiative was designed by NSGIC and FGDC to help states become effective
coordinators. This initiative is intended to connect with the data resources of the 50 states
and, through them, to the 3,141 counties, over 18,000 municipalities, and more than 370 tribal
governments. To this end, FGDC has funded 46 states in developing strategic and/or business
plans to support the NSDI.

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 NSGIC has developed a scorecard so each state can know how it stands on relevant criteria.
The scorecard has nine criteria starting with a full-time coordinator and sustainable funding.
More powerful criteria include a clearly defined authority for state-level coordination, the ability
to coordinate with local government and other stakeholders, and a formal relationship with the
state chief information officer (CIO).

My own state recently created the Minnesota Geographic Information Office (MnGeo). The
state had been struggling with fragmented operations, and its NSGIC scorecard showed it.
With a grant from FGDC, it hired a private firm to help bring together stakeholders and develop
a governance model that would work (see diagram above). The plan called for the new
MnGeo with two advisory bodies: one for state government coordination and one for statewide
coordination. The state government advisory council is composed entirely of state agency
GIS representatives. The statewide advisory council is composed of representatives of local
government, the private sector, tribal government, nonprofit organizations, and academia. The
GIO participates on both committees—as the chair of the state government council and as a
nonvoting member of the statewide council.

Illustration by Suzanne Davis, Esri

The National Solution The simple solution is to "get organized," along the lines of what the states are doing. There are
no technical problems in developing the NSDI, only organizational ones. Increased governance
is necessary to make things work better. I see four parts to this new model: (1) creation of a
new federal Geographic Information Office, (2) a radical empowerment of FGDC to coordinate
federal GIS activities, (3) the creation of a new body representing nonfederal stakeholders, and
(4) development of a congressional oversight committee to watch and guide overall activities.

September 2010 62 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 At the federal level, we need a structure that supports and demands coordination of geospatial
data development across federal agencies. This should start with the creation of a new
position—a federal GIO. The office should be part of the Office of Management and Budget.
OMB develops and executes a government-wide management agenda and assists the
president in preparing his budget. It already houses the new federal CIO. This is the ideal place
to set federal mandates for agency operations.

One of the first tasks of the new GIO should be to develop an economic argument for the NSDI.
NSGIC has estimated the price of the NSDI at nearly $9 billion, with an annualized cost of
about $2.5 billion. Is it worth it? If so, where are the highest payoffs? The effort should begin
by defining a rigorous methodology that delivers results understandable to both economists
and the educated public, including agency heads and members of Congress. The study should
cover all levels of government, the private sector, and the public. NSGIC has suggested that
the economic study should be delivered within 18 months after the GIO takes office. If the study
shows positive benefits, support for the NSDI will logically follow.

FGDC should continue to coordinate activities at the federal level, but with more muscle behind
its efforts. Duplicative activities should be identified and corrected. Agencies should be held
accountable for fulfilling data assignments. Gaps should be identified, prioritized on economic
return, and assigned to agencies. To operate effectively, FGDC probably needs to be moved
from its current home in the Department of the Interior to OMB, since that organization has the
mandate to review the performance of federal agencies and make budget recommendations
affecting them.

Over time, I have written two contradictory articles about what it takes to make a difference in
the world of sharing data. In 1995, I wrote about institutional inertia and the need for a body
outside the organization, usually the chief executive or legislative body, to set the rules for
organizational mandates and individual rewards. Later, in 2005, I recanted, as I recognized
the value of "white knights" who are motivated to do what is right regardless of the institutional
rules. I think I was right the first time—at least for something as large and complex as the NSDI.
Certainly, large federal agencies need that outside oversight.

A National Spatial Data Council (NSDC) is needed to coordinate nonfederal activities. This idea
has been around for years. I took this name from a 1998 report of the National Academy of
Public Administration, Geographic Information for the 21st Century. The NSDC, or whatever we
decide to call it, should be composed of stakeholder representatives from state, local, and tribal
governments; the private sector; academia; and others. The representation should look much

GIS Best Practices 63 esri.com

 like that of the current National Geospatial Advisory Committee to FGDC, but would have power,
grant-making ability, and access to the GIO. The federal government should be represented by
FGDC as a nonvoting member.

A new congressional oversight committee could do three things: set the expectations for federal
agencies and the new NSDC; monitor performance, asking hard questions; and become the
political champion to support the development and maintenance of the NSDI.

As a nation, we have gone nearly two decades with limited progress on the NSDI. Most of that
progress has been made through the goodwill and volunteer efforts of altruistic people and
organizations. We are in the information age, but we're still building stovepipes. It's time to put
some muscle and money behind the NSDI vision.

About the Author Will Craig is associate director of the Center for Urban & Regional Affairs at the University
of Minnesota. He chaired URISA's Research Agenda Group in the mid-1980s, proposing an
agenda that had a strong focus on institutional research. He is the president of NSGIC and has
been inducted into URISA's GIS Hall of Fame.

(Reprinted from the Fall 2009 issue of ArcNews magazine)

September 2010 64 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 A Geospatial Foundation
Public, private, and military applications flow from SDI

By Miguel Bessa Pacheco, Instituto Hidrografico, Portuguese Navy

The marine spatial data infrastructure (SDI) developed by the Portuguese Instituto Hidrografico
(IHPT) provides information to decision makers and information products for environmental
protection activities, research and development, private industry, military activities, and public
information.

IHPT is the naval organization responsible for producing official nautical paper and electronic
charts as well as conducting studies and research in marine-related disciplines such as physical
oceanography, hydrography, marine geology, chemical oceanography, and navigation safety.

Information products are publicly disseminated and are

available from the public Web site at www.hidrografico.pt.

GIS Best Practices 65 esri.com

 For the last several years, IHPT has been developing an SDI called IDAMAR (an acronym
in Portuguese for spatial data infrastructure for the marine environment) to support the
production of technical and scientific data and information product management. It began as a
departmental GIS named SIGAMAR, but the scope of the GIS was subsequently broadened,
and the IDAMAR SDI now also provides the institute with the ability to respond to ad hoc
requests for information from decision makers.

IDAMAR SDI To conform with military communications security rules, the IDAMAR SDI is actually composed
Architecture of two similar systems: one connected to the Internet and one connected to a private military
network. The public portion, available to all users, includes communications networks,
databases, metadata, software, hardware, specialized human resources, outreach and support,
data policy, internal data management processes, distributable information products, and online
services.

Communications Three communications networks support data transfer and online access to the SDI: an Internet
networks connection, a private unclassified military network, and a private classified military network. The
Internet connection supports data acquisition from several environmental sensors (e.g., wave
buoys, radar stations) and the public dissemination of information products through www
.hidrografico.pt. The private military networks provide access to the full system and support
specific data and information requests. These networks support all internal processes for data
and information product management.

Database and Several databases were developed using either DBMS- or file-based systems. The choice of
data models system was based on the type of data stored and how that data could be most efficiently used.
Data models for DBMS storage were internally developed for information processes except for
chemical lab analysis data. A commercial laboratory information management solution, Thermo
Nautilus LIMS, was acquired and extended so chemical data could be easily integrated with
the entire system. Internally developed data models (when applicable) follow the S-57 standard
for hydrographic data transfer. [S-57 is a digital data format standard.] The most relevant
developed data model supports the hydrographic data warehouse (HDW). This database
stores bathymetric soundings acquired by the IHPT and represents a major improvement in the
cartographic production process because it reduces production time, eliminates procedures
susceptible to human error, and improves the quality of the final product.

September 2010 66 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Data stored includes data about the sea state (e.g., wave height, wave period, wave direction,
and sea temperature) from ocean buoys; tide predictions and observations, horizontal control
points; nautical chart and cell coverage; chemical analysis of seawater and sea bottom
sediments; bathymetric navigation warnings; and medium-resolution satellite imagery. Not all
data was supplied by IHPT—some data is related to activities of the Portuguese Navy.

Data policy A data policy document sets out rules that govern data management and access in the IDAMAR
SDI. This document stipulates policies for data classification, data access (both format and
eligibility), and the associated costs. Some datasets are freely available to the public: near
real-time sea state data; water temperature; sea state predictions for locations in the Atlantic
and near Portugal; tide predictions for all principal and secondary ports in Portugal as well
as locations such as Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique; some maritime
administrative limits; small-scale bathymetric lines; and a small-scale converted Electronic
Navigation Chart (ENC) cell for continental Portugal and the Madeira and Azores archipelagos.

Metadata Metadata fact sheets are essential for inventorying, locating, and assessing the quality of
geospatial data. These documents, which contain information about why, when, and where data
was originally collected, are valuable from both a scientific and economic standpoint because
they enable data reuse. Metadata is produced for all data, products, and services provided
by the IDAMAR SDI. In accordance with the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe
(INSPIRE), metadata complies with the ISO 19115 standard. The metadata search engine was
created to aid public access to the data.

Specialized human Expertise in systems analysis, database systems administration, GIS, and Web programming
resources was required for this project. Most contributors to the project have backgrounds in geography or
earth sciences as well as master's degrees in various information technologies. This staff has
developed the SDI and worked on ad hoc projects.

Outreach Because some geospatial analysis tasks should only be performed by scientists, courses that
range from three to five days were developed to introduce scientists to GIS concepts and
software. These courses are tailored to the needs of scientists and help spread GIS knowledge
throughout the organization's scientific community while also providing tools that enable
scientists to use GIS independently. This has allowed the organization's specialized staff time to
work on both the SDI and advanced information projects.

GIS Best Practices 67 esri.com

 The Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) World Catalog is one of the most relevant data catalogs available.

Software The IDAMAR SDI relies on Microsoft for its operating system, Oracle for DBMS, and Esri's
ArcGIS for its GIS software. Specifically, the IDAMAR SDI makes use of ArcSDE, ArcIMS, and
ArcGIS Server applications as well as single use and floating licenses for ArcView; ArcEditor;
and the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst, ArcGIS 3D Analyst, ArcGIS Publisher, and ArcGIS Geostatistical
Analyst extensions.

September 2010 68 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Hardware The SDI is supported by four servers—two internal and two external. A variety of IHPT devices
(PDAs, laptops, PCs, workstations, printers, plotters, and high-resolution scanners) are used for
some SDI functions.

Internal processes Implementing the SDI reengineered some IHPT production processes and introduced new
ones. Setting up rules and workflows was necessary because making internal production more
efficient was a main objective of the project.

Offline products Generated in response to ad hoc requests for information, offline products are normally
distributed as CDs or DVDs. Although not necessarily related to the internal products generated
by IHPT, the SDI answers specific information needs, and offline operations are advantageous
from a naval security standpoint. In addition, some paper products are still used for a variety
of purposes including thematic cartography. In the last three years, more than 30 ad hoc GIS
projects based on the SDI have been developed.

Online products and Online products and services provide broad access to the SDI. They are the most visible part of
services the public system that includes data catalogs, information products, and data services. Two Web
portals (one internal and one external) allow users to obtain information products and services
and provide the front end for data catalogs, data visualization applications, the metadata search
engine, download services, and data services.

Information Products Some information products are available from one or both of the Web portals, while others are
furnished offline. The scope of products supplied depends on use and encompasses public
services, commercial services, environmental protection, naval missions, and research and
development. The list of products included here is not exhaustive, only representative.

Exploring data with Several data catalogs allow users to explore data in IDAMAR SDI databases. Geographic
online data catalogs, data interfaces assist in visualizing data such as horizontal control points, chart folios coverage,
visualization, and metadata hydrographic surveys coverage, hydrographic soundings, sea bottom sediment samples,
chemical analysis for water and sea bottom samples, tide observations, and sea state buoy
observations.

The ENC World Catalog is one of the most relevant catalogs available. Although not entirely
related to IHPT (because its geographic extent is the world), this catalog helps sea navigators
identify the available cells relevant to their route. The coverage data, collected by the
International Centre for ENCs (IC-ENC), is available at websig.hidrografico.pt/website/icenc and
is updated monthly.

GIS Best Practices 69 esri.com

 Information on the appearance of the coastline as it appears from the sea is very useful for sea
navigation. A compilation of visual aids to the navigation of the Portuguese coastline is available
from a customized ArcGIS Server Web site. This site provides links to photographs of coastline
landmarks that help inexperienced sailors learn to recognize coast features.

As an aid for navigators, photographs of landmarks along the Portuguese coastline are available
from the public Web site. This picture shows the lighthouse at the entrance to the Lisbon harbor.

September 2010 70 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Mission impact diagrams, which display anticipated environmental impacts by military activities,
are important to mission planning. Assessing impacts by using only a table was very time
consuming and could be confusing. Since 2006, IHPT has been supporting the navy and
national military joint staff with geospatially based, color-coded mission impact diagrams. This
product, which is used on a daily basis, provides an exhaustive and efficient interface that
shows factors relevant for a specific point of interest.

Supporting marine research and development is another major objective for the IDAMAR SDI.
Several information products have been developed that help scientists perform integrated
analysis for a variety of marine disciplines, plan fieldwork, and communicate research results
to the public. The Hotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas (HERMES)
project is a perfect example of this type of support. More than 50 European partners are working
on this project in seven different areas of the European shelf. A project GIS has been set up for
each region to share data, coordinate fieldwork, and present results.

Geospatial metadata has long been recognized as critical to the full utilization of SDIs by users
and administrators. Three key aspects of metadata are data inventory, data search, and data
quality. There are other aspects related to metadata that are valuable, but these are the major
ones for the IDAMAR SDI.

For an organization with environmentally based processes, maintaining a geospatial data

inventory is fundamental. Gathering environmental data, especially marine data, can be very
expensive. Performing the same measurement twice is a waste of time, money, and human
resources, to say nothing of the cost of delays in acquiring necessary information. Currently
available sampling methods (e.g., sensors, platforms) do not yet supply data sufficient to
completely learn how the ocean works, so needless redundant sampling is a serious problem.

Geospatial metadata search mechanisms are more complex than traditional, text-based
methods because these methods require dealing with multidimensional (i.e., spatial and
attribute) data. Geospatial fact sheets allow fast and objective searches for data of interest. As
geospatial databases increase to terabytes in size, metadata becomes even more important.

Data quality documentation is necessary to ensure that data can be reused in research and
applications. Documentation prevents the use of data with inappropriate quality parameters that
would adversely affect the quality of output and the decisions based on that output.

GIS Best Practices 71 esri.com

 Accessing data through In addition to traditional geographic interfaces for accessing data, the IDAMAR SDI also
RSS provides access to some technical and scientific data via Really Simple Syndication (RSS).
This protocol is useful for accessing data through low bandwidth connections or devices such
as PDAs or cell phones. Tide predictions for the current date and the next three days, as well
as near real-time data from sea state buoys located off the shore of continental Portugal and
Madeira Island (updated every two hours), are disseminated using RSS. Navigation warnings
are also issued via RSS. All links to this data are compiled at www.hidrografico.pt/rss.php, and
only an RSS reader is required to obtain this data.

Ad hoc independent Many projects developed from the IDAMAR SDI have been distributed via CD and DVD.
projects ArcReader is used to explore the information supplied for these projects. Applications have
been developed that address maritime safety; assist police investigations; support the
numerous activities of the navy; and inform ship sinking crisis management and many other
areas of public, commercial, and environmental protection service. Nearshore drift modeling,
wave energy systems location, aquaculture structures location, and historical cartography are
examples of applications under development.

Future Work The IDAMAR SDI is a valuable asset that supports its main mission objectives: ensuring safe
sea navigation, supporting the navy's activities, protecting the environment, and contributing to
knowledge of the ocean.

Ongoing data acquisition activities include converting historical analog data and products to
digital format and registering this data in the system. A geospatial portal for better visualization
is also being developed. Future enhancements include the implementation of GeoRSS feeds for
the dissemination of technical and scientific data and the development of multicriteria geospatial
analysis for mission impact diagrams that will improve environmental tactical decisions.

(Reprinted from the Spring 2009 issue of ArcUser magazine)

September 2010 72 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The Next Step
The importance of building geospatial infrastructures

Like no other time in recent history, our world is challenged. Disease, environmental deterioration,
disasters, and now the widespread disruption of financial markets test the resourcefulness of
society.

Over the past 40 years, GIS has evolved from a tool for managing projects to a framework for
understanding and responding to problems on scales ranging from the local to the global. The
geographic approach has become an important methodology for integrating data and information
and enabling better decision making. The availability of quality geospatial data, together with
improvements in software and hardware performance, has made these advances possible.

With the move to an object-oriented platform, ArcGIS is better able to abstract and model the world,
representing and integrating information about complex systems and modeling their behaviors. This
is true whether the subject under study is as broad as an ocean or limited to a neighborhood.

The development of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) represents the next logical step in the
expansion of GIS use for data management and decision support. SDIs use accepted data
and metadata standards in the creation of well-documented foundation datasets. Used with
constantly updated operational data, SDIs make data more accessible and useful for specific
tasks and analyses and save time while sharing costs. SDIs, together with GIS software, unlock
the information contained in the terabytes of measurements, images, transactions, and other data
stored in digital form by placing it in a geographic context.

The phenomenal growth of the Internet has multiplied the value of SDIs by enhancing the
dissemination of data and information products. The newest release of Esri software, ArcGIS 9.3.1,
is focused on making information more consumable using the Internet. It supplies tools for
configuring and deploying responsive and informative Web maps that help users accomplish
specific tasks.

GIS Best Practices 73 esri.com

 The Solar Boston Web site uses geospatial data and high-performance, application-focused
Web mapping to encourage the adoption of solar energy in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
Visitors can use tools at the site to calculate the solar potential of building rooftops
and the annual cost savings that could be realized from installing solar panels.

In February 2009, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) awarded a
contract for the development of the technical components of a Web-based GIS. The contract
went to a consortium that based its solution on Esri technology.

These components will comply with the provisions of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information
in Europe (INSPIRE). In establishing INSPIRE, the European Commission recognized
the importance of quality georeferenced information to the understanding of the complex
interactions between human activities and environmental pressures and impacts.

Building geospatial infrastructures to address complex problems provides tangible benefits.

September 2010 74 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Maintaining water quality is essential to the health of the environment. Although water quality
monitoring has been ongoing for decades, this abundance of measurement data cannot be
translated into effective regulation and remediation action if it is not accessible, placed in
geographic context, and amenable to analysis.

The staff of Region 4 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed a geodatabase
that manages current and historical water quality data and allows for rapid and flexible inquiry,
analysis, and dissemination of this data and the information derived from it. This geodatabase,
loaded into an ArcSDE server, uses feature classes, reformatted tables, and relationship
classes. Information can be viewed as layer files generated from query definitions or queried by
feature. This information is available from the desktop or distributed as ArcReader projects.

With new tools in ArcGIS, such as the regression analysis tools, vast data inventories can be placed in a
geographic context and analyzed. This scatterplot matrix diagram is used for exploring data on foreclosures
to discover if there is any relationship between variables preparatory to effectively modeling it.

GIS Best Practices 75 esri.com

 The benefits accrued from a geospatial infrastructure are greatly multiplied at larger scales as
demonstrated by the marine SDI developed by the Portuguese Instituto Hidrografico. The SDI
created by this naval organization integrates an abundance of sea monitoring data, prediction
data, navigation charts, and base data using international data format standards and data
models. A fully stipulated data policy and metadata for all geospatial data ensure data quality
and promote data reuse. A wide range of information products generated for public, private, and
military use are widely disseminated through Web portals. In addition, the SDI provides ad hoc
decision support for the navy.

GIS professionals will play a more important role than ever in helping understand complex
systems. With the development of SDIs, GIS professionals will be better able to apply GIS to
transform data into knowledge. Aided by increasingly powerful tools in GIS, they can gain a
better understanding of the world's complex systems and help develop a more sustainable
future.

(Reprinted from the Spring 2009 issue of ArcUser magazine)

September 2010 76 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Improving Regional Water Quality Assessment
Geodatabase improves data management and analysis capabilities

By Jon Becker, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4

A geodatabase developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 Water
Management Division (WMD) manages georeferenced water quality assessment data from the
region's eight southeastern states for various years far more efficiently than the previous system.

In accordance with the Clean Water Act, each state environmental agency tracks the status of water
quality for water bodies located within its boundaries. Every even-numbered year, an assessment is
made of each water body to determine whether it is meeting its designated uses. Each state agency
tracks the status assessments in a local database and generates GIS datasets that depict the
locations of these water bodies. Each lake, estuary, or river reach is called an assessment unit (AU)
and assigned a unique identifier. While the EPA suggests recommended formats for assessment
data and complementary GIS data, states often deviate somewhat from these formats to meet local
needs.

Eight southeastern states submit assessment data and GIS files to EPA Region 4. These files are
then forwarded on to EPA national headquarters for eventual input into the national Assessment and
TMDL Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS). [The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
program determines the safe level of loading for a pollutant.] The GIS files are addressed by river
reach to the 1:100,000-scale National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and incorporated into EPA's
Watershed Assessment, Tracking and Environmental Results System (WATERS). This system
integrates various EPA water-related databases via reach-addresses of the NHD.

Over the years, the staff of EPA Region 4 have obtained numerous assessment databases and
GIS datasets from its eight southeastern states that were furnished in assorted and incompatible
shapefiles, tables, and Microsoft Access databases. Using these datasets to analyze water body
status for more than one state or year was difficult and time consuming even for experienced GIS
users.

GIS Best Practices 77 esri.com

 Users can use the Identify tool to click on a feature and view records about those features
stored in related tables or activate the hyperlink to the EPA database record for the feature.

In 2007, EPA Region 4 staff explored the possibility of using a geodatabase to better manage
water quality assessment data. Although data is eventually reformatted by contractors at EPA
headquarters into consistent formats for inclusion in ATTAINS and WATERS, the obvious
roadblock in creating a geodatabase for Region 4 was the variety of assessment data formats
and GIS data used by the states.

September 2010 78 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Region 4 contracted with Research Triangle Institute to develop a prototype geodatabase and
populate it with reach-addressed versions of the states' assessment datasets. Region 4 staff
then generated tables detailing the status of each AU from ATTAINS (then called the National
Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking System). Relationship classes were created to relate the
point, line, and polygon AU features to the assessment status tables using the AU identifier field.
This was a one-to-many relationship because the AU is sometimes listed multiple times in the
assessment status table if it has been tracked for several cycles and/or multiple water quality
standard impairments (e.g., failures to meet swimming designated use because of high levels of
pathogens).

Although this geodatabase format functioned fine, Region 4 staff soon realized it might
be advantageous to populate it with the original state of GIS shapefiles rather than reach-
addressed versions. While many states use NHD as the basis for their assessment units, some
have reasons for not doing this.

For example, because Florida has mostly flat topography, and complex, highly modified
hydrography is not well depicted at the NHD 1:100,000 scale, the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection prefers to use its own water body identifiers (WBIDs) that depict small
contributing drainage areas. If Region 4 staff are reviewing assessment data for Florida in a
GIS, it is helpful to be able to view and use WBIDs instead of a reach-addressed approximation
of those features.

However, Region 4 recognizes the value of having all state assessment GIS data in a
consistent NHD-based format and continues encouraging states to adopt the NHD format as
the framework for AUs. Some states, such as Florida, are exploring using a higher-resolution
version of NHD to meet this need.

GIS Best Practices 79 esri.com

 Complex queries may be made in the detailed tables, then the relationships to the point, line,
and polygon feature classes may be activated to display the locations of the results.

Because the region wanted to populate the geodatabase with GIS features from the states, the
tables from each state GIS dataset had to be reformatted to a consistent format. The essential
component for each AU record was an AU identifier because it was used to relate back to the
ATTAINS tables. Features were also dissolved by the AU identifier so that there was only one
feature per AU. Water body name and type fields for the AU were populated if the information
was readily available in the state GIS dataset. A hyperlink field provides a link to the EPA Web
page describing that water body. Length in miles was calculated for linear features and area in
acres for polygon features.

September 2010 80 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 The assessment data feature classes, tables, and relationship classes have been loaded into
the ArcSDE server for Region 4. This provides a stable, fast-drawing platform. Having all state
data and cycles in one feature dataset allows staff at the region to build various layer files
pointing to these feature classes, which are just different definition queries. A layer depicting
locations of approved TMDLs was also developed. Using the Identify button in ArcMap or
ArcReader, a user can click on an impaired water body and see its impairments for all cycles
and see the TMDLs that have been established for it. The built-in relationships give users the
ability to query 303(d) listings or approved TMDLs by certain parameters, such as all pathogen-
impaired waters, and activate the relationship classes to display those features in the GIS. [A
303(d) listing identifies those lakes, wetlands, streams, rivers, and portions of rivers that do not
meet all water quality standards for that state.]

The geodatabase relationships between various assessment unit features and detailed tables
provide WMD GIS staff with powerful and versatile analytic capabilities. By integrating disparate
data formats from different states into a common structure, the geodatabase makes multiyear,
multiple-state spatial analysis much easier than before. Answers to complex management
requests or environmental progress reports can be generated in far less time than when
georeferencing was contained in unmatched shapefiles.

Now new GIS data files are modified to fit the table format and loaded into the appropriate
feature class. The tables from ATTAINS with the water body assessment status are periodically
updated. Serving the data via ArcSDE also gives the region the ability to include these layers in
ArcReader projects or other applications.

Although the Region has made great progress in managing its assessment GIS data, there
is still much work to be done verifying the quality of the data and populating the ATTAINS
database with assessment decisions. New organizational restructuring and procedures should
help address these issues.

Reformatting the historical GIS files into this new consistent tabular framework involved a lot of
work, but the resulting product has proved well worth the effort. GIS users can perform complex
queries in related tables and activate the related features or simply use the Identify tool, click on
AU features, and see the related tabular information. Relationship classes linking the ATTAINS
tables of impaired waters and approved TMDLs have created a much more powerful and
versatile analytic dataset that can generate useful information in a fraction of the time previously
required.

GIS Best Practices 81 esri.com

 About the Author Jon Becker is an environmental protection specialist in the Water Quality Analysis Branch of
U.S. EPA Region 4 in Atlanta, Georgia. He obtained a master's degree in applied geography in
environmental and resource studies from Texas State University.

(Reprinted from the Spring 2009 issue of ArcUser magazine)

September 2010 82 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Keeping Nature and Man in Balance
GIS data portal enables ecosystem-based management

By Katie Budreski, Stone Environmental, and Karen Richardson, Esri

An online atlas and geoportal makes more than 400 datasets available for managing the shoreline
of the North Atlantic Ocean, estuaries, and portions of two of the five Great Lakes that are within the
State of New York.

Visitors seine for fish and crabs in the shallows of the Hudson River, part of the
Esopus Meadows, which has abundant aquatic wildlife and forest ecology.

GIS Best Practices 83 esri.com

 Developed by the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council, the
atlas and geoportal are used for ecosystem-based management (EBM). EBM is the study of
activities within specific geographies with the goal of finding ways for humans and nature to
coexist in a sustainable manner. Used mainly to study terrestrial environments, EBM has gained
recent popularity in marine studies as communities search for solutions to ailing fisheries and
ocean ecologies. Spatial data plays a key role in assisting communities practicing EBM because
this management approach is place based and studies are focused on activities in specific
geographies.

New York State uses EBM for managing the shoreline of the Northern Atlantic Ocean and
its estuaries as well as portions of two of the five Great Lakes. To do this effectively, the
state created The New York Ocean & Great Lakes Atlas (nyoglatlas.org) and geoportal
(portalnyoglecc.nyoglatlas.org). The atlas is used by the general public as well as local,
regional, and state decision makers to view and explore more than 400 datasets about the
region. The GIS Portal Toolkit [now known as the ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension] helps
visitors easily navigate the vast catalog of data accessed via the geoportal. The Geoportal
extension includes a catalog service and a Web application.

An Innovative Way to The New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Council, created in 2006, is charged with
Manage the Marine protecting, restoring, and enhancing New York's ocean and Great Lakes ecosystems while
Environment taking into account sustainable economic development and job creation. The council is chaired
by the commissioner of Environmental Conservation and composed of commissioners from
Agriculture and Markets, Economic Development, and Transportation, as well as the secretary
of state, the president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and
the interim chancellor of the State University of New York.

Stone Environmental, an Esri business partner based in Montpelier, Vermont, helped create
the atlas. When launched in July 2008, the atlas was composed of a Web-based mapping
application and more than 200 datasets. Users could view the datasets, download metadata and
spatial data in multiple formats, and view attributes of the data. While the council had technically
met its mandate, it was clear that an online catalog would be necessary to help navigate the
available datasets.

September 2010 84 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Portal Makes Data After reviewing several technologies, the council implemented the GIS Portal Toolkit because
Searchable it had—out of the box—the functionality that the council required. Sophisticated searching
capabilities, the ability to establish user accounts and data provider access, and flexible
metadata authoring tools were very important and readily available in the software. In addition,
Esri's open software environment aligned with the council's vision for future enhancements
outlined in its five-year strategy document.

The deep-water harbor of Greenport has been a working seaport since the 18th century and
continues to be a vital hub both environmentally and economically for the area.

GIS Best Practices 85 esri.com

 The portal provides a robust way for users to search all the data holdings at the atlas. Users
of the portal can perform metadata searches by keyword, data type, data category, date
modified, and geographic location. Information for specific areas of interest can be easily
found and compared in this manner. Once found, the search results can be saved in several
ways: to a user profile, to a GeoRSS feed, or as an HTML page or HTML fragment that allows
users to embed a defined block of HTML inside documents at key locations. Data can also be
downloaded in various GIS formats, including Esri shapefile format, via an FTP link.

One-Stop Shop for Data When Stone first began looking for relevant data, it discovered this was a huge task. To find
the data included in the atlas, the company employed Web searches, phone calls, e-mails, and
face-to-face conversations with staff from more than 300 organizations. Since the first launch,
more data has been added for a total of nearly 400 searchable datasets.

Data includes administrative boundaries; elevations; cadastre; environment and geoscientific

information, such as geology, groundwater, and soils; marine data, such as fish distribution
and habitat, and invasive species; as well as cultural information including historic sites and
settlement information.

Many datasets are from organizations that had never before distributed geospatial data widely.
For example, the Facility Limit Measurement Violation data from the New York Department
of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC)–Water Division provides information necessary for
the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program that had been
identified as a priority through a data needs workshop. The agency had resource and technical
constraints with sharing the data internally. Providing the data via the atlas—without having to
host the data—allowed this important dataset to be shared.

Facility Limit Measurement Violation data from the New York Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYDEC)–Water Division provides information necessary for the Clean Water
Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program that had been identified as a
priority through a data needs workshop. The agency had resource and technical constraints with
sharing the data internally. Providing the data via the atlas—without having to host the data—
allowed this important dataset to be shared.

September 2010 86 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and
coral reefs. These wetlands located in Wilson, New York, on Lake Ontario are an example of one of
the "biological supermarkets" that can be managed using The New York Ocean & Great Lakes Atlas.

Publishers Control Data When the Atlas Data Portal was first launched, the council published the data and metadata
provided by the data providers. Moving forward, the council will encourage data providers to
publish metadata records directly to the portal and, when possible, host their own data through
subportals. Providing direct access will ensure that data is as current as possible for EBM
planners and communities.

To make it easier, data providers have several avenues for easily publishing data using the
portal. Records can be published by uploading metadata that has been created by a metadata
editor based on Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) standards, like the metadata included within the Geoportal extension.
Metadata can also be created using a Web form. Data providers can establish a data harvesting
relationship with the portal through a subportal or Web-accessible folder. This allows the data
portal to collect desired Web pages and extract necessary data.

GIS Best Practices 87 esri.com

 The Tug Hill Commission GIS Data Portal (24.39.214.21/GPT9/catalog/main/home.page) is an
example of a subportal. Tug Hill is a 2,100-square-mile area in a remote rural region of New
York located between Lake Ontario and the Adirondacks mountain range. Several geospatial
datasets were developed as part of an EBM demonstration project in the Sandy Creeks
watersheds on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. A separate data portal, the subportal, was
developed so the Tug Hill Commission could manage its own geospatial data holdings but still
make the data available to New York Ocean & Great Lakes Atlas users.

Next Steps This year, the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council will work
with Stone Environmental to integrate the Data Portal and Data Viewer, currently two separate
applications, by upgrading to ArcGIS Server. Additional enhancements will include the
incorporation of thesauruses for enhanced searching and the use of Web Map Services (WMS)
and Web Feature Services (WFS) for data dissemination.

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcUser magazine)

September 2010 88 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Organizing a Century of Data
Spatial data infrastructure created by world's leading gold company

By Matthew DeMeritt, Esri Writer

As the largest gold mining company in the world, much of Barrick's stock market value depends
on its reserve base (i.e., gold proven to be minable but not yet mined). With annual gold
production of nearly 8 million ounces, Barrick must add at least that much gold to its reserve
base each year or its stock market value will decline. Consequently, Barrick's geological data
directly affects the company's bottom line.

Search results from a Catalog search. The Layer and MXD buttons
allow streaming from the portal server, or data can be downloaded.

GIS Best Practices 89 esri.com

 Impressive Shelf Life Geologic data has an unusually long life cycle. Because ore-forming processes act over millions
or tens of millions of years, data collected decades ago is still relevant to any mining company.
Barrick has more than a quarter century of self-collected and purchased data as well as more
than 100 years' worth of data inherited from acquired companies. Effectively managing this
rapidly growing collection of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and remotely sensed data is
crucial. To make best use of its impressive data archives, Barrick recently began an initiative
to better organize and serve its data throughout the company, and a spatial data infrastructure
(SDI) was born.

Within a mining company, different departments often have data that other groups can use. At
Barrick, when surveyors collect as-built data for a mine site, that data can be of interest to the
Mine Geology, Security, Health and Safety, and Exploration groups. An SDI simplifies the way
spatial data is disseminated and accessed throughout an organization. "Although our vast store
of exploration data was the catalyst for the initiative, the project grew to include Environment,
Land, Security, and Health and Safety [groups]," said Iain Allen, global spatial data systems
coordinator for Barrick. "Making every group's data available to everyone else eliminates the
likelihood of duplicate data collection and/or purchasing."

The Migraine of Fine The crucial first step in creating an easily searched data catalog is generating metadata for
Grain each dataset. However, as anyone who has created metadata knows, the devil is in the details.
"Everything depends on metadata, but no one likes to do metadata," laughed Allen. "We use a
custom metadata editor, MetaTools 5, by Peter Barrs of Data Arterial in Stanthorpe, Australia,
which runs in ArcMap as well as ArcCatalog." Barrick standardized on 14 mandatory metadata
elements and four optional ones. "We do not have dedicated data managers, so we depend on
the end user for metadata. If it's too tedious, they won't do it. We tried to find a balance between
everything we would like to know about a dataset and what we could realistically expect people
to do."

The Barrick metadata editor uses pick lists for every metadata attribute. The pick lists
automatically sync with a server-based Master Keyword Database every time the editor opens,
ensuring everyone always has the most current set of keywords. Adding new keywords is done
through a Web form, which adds them to the master database. The editor also facilitates the
copying of metadata. Working in ArcMap, where the datasets typically have many common
metadata attributes, can greatly speed metadata creation. The user completes all the common
metadata elements for one dataset, copies them to all the other datasets, then completes the
one or two remaining variable elements individually.

September 2010 90 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 In the first step in publishing data with MXD Publisher, all datasets
are listed and checked for valid and complete metadata.

Publish or Perish Detailed metadata is worthless if the data can't be queried and accessed. To publish the data,
Barrick uses MXD Publisher, created to Barrick specifications by NGIS in Australia. MXD
Publisher, which will not allow data to be published if it does not have complete metadata,
creates a file geodatabase at a specified location on the network, also capturing all the layer
files and creating a copy of the MXD that references the newly created file geodatabase. "This is
our way of overcoming 'C-drive syndrome.' We find that a lot of data exists only on a particular
user's laptop, so no one else even knows it exists," said Allen. "Through the MXD Publisher,
all the datasets used in the published MXD are copied to the network drive. Data previously
available only on their laptop is now also available, with complete metadata, on the network."

GIS Best Practices 91 esri.com

 The final step in the Barrick workflow is SDE Publisher, another custom NGIS tool, that
publishes the file geodatabase on the network to the enterprise geodatabase in ArcGIS Server.
Each night a metadata harvester runs and updates the data catalog with the metadata for any
new datasets (the data catalog uses the Esri GIS Portal Toolkit [now known as the ArcGIS
Server Geoportal extension] for presentation and ArcGIS Server with SQL Server for storage).
Dennis Geasan from GIS Technologies in Anchorage, Alaska, was instrumental in setting up the
back-end processes.

SDE Publisher publishes the file geodatabase from

the MXD Repository to the SDE Repository.

September 2010 92 Spatial Data Infrastructure

 Search results include links to the individual datasets and to the source MXD. The results are
presented with selected metadata, and buttons allow users to either stream the dataset or
complete MXD directly from the server to their desktop client or download the data directly.
FME Server is used for the ETL (extract, transform, and load) function, giving Barrick the ability
to deliver search results in any format desired. This is important because Barrick supports two
desktop GIS packages.

Data Security "People tend to be very protective of their data, so we have two 'data security' related metadata
attributes," Allen said. One controls metadata visibility, the other controls data access. This
gives Barrick the flexibility to let everyone know a dataset exists. When the metadata is
added to the catalog, it will show up in search results. However, it restricts data access to the
group most likely to need it. If others want access, they must contact the persons listed under
the Responsible Party metadata attribute and make their case. For example, Barrick's land
managers want people to know whenever there is land data available for their search area, but
they do not want people to have access to that data without consulting a land professional. This
procedure ensures that anyone using the data is made aware of any confidentiality or area of
interest agreements associated with the land polygon.

Future By tagging its huge store of geologic information with metadata, Barrick has taken a significant
first step in increasing the value of this data. Future work will include incorporating spatial
data stored in other repositories, such as acQuire from acQuire Technology Solutions for
geochemical and drilling data and EQuIS from Esri business partner EarthSoft for environmental
data. Barrick will also serve data from the SDI to other applications. For example, for vehicle
tracking applications, Web services from the SDI data provide context for vehicle movement.

(Reprinted from the Summer 2010 issue of ArcUser magazine)

GIS Best Practices 93 esri.com

 GEOSS GEO Portal
Global Doorway to Understanding the Earth

In 2003, the European Commission, along with 76 other international governments, formed
the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to strengthen global cooperation in developing earth
observation systems. GEO is a voluntary coalition of governments that serves as a task force for
developing new earth observation projects and coordinating strategies and investments to increase
global awareness.

To achieve its task, GEO began constructing a Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS) in 2005. Based on a 10-year implementation plan that will be finalized in 2015, GEOSS
will yield a broad range of "societal benefit areas" that address many major challenges facing our
world. Among these societal benefits, which require precise geospatial awareness to address, are
reducing deaths and loss of property from natural and human-caused disasters, understanding
and improving environmental factors harmful to human health and biodiversity, and improving the
management of energy resources. Of the many goals for GEOSS, one is to eliminate key obstacles
to data access. GEO recognizes the need for full and open exchange of observations, guaranteed
data access and usability, and a solid regulatory framework for earth observations.

Soon after GEOSS was proposed, GEO contracted with Esri Professional Services to build the
GEOSS GEO Portal using Esri's ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension (formerly the GIS Portal
Toolkit). The GEOSS GEO Portal offers a single Internet access point for data, imagery, and
analytic software packages relevant to all parts of the globe. It connects users to existing databases
and portals and provides reliable, up-to-date, and user-friendly information, vital for the work of
decision makers, planners, and emergency managers. The ArcGIS Server Geoportal extension is a
standards-based platform for building geospatial portals, spatial data infrastructures, and metadata
catalogs. It gives GEO partners the capability to organize and publish the locations of geospatial
datasets, applications, and Web resources while providing users with the ability to discover those
resources and facilitating access to them (see "ArcGIS Server Geoportal Extension Manages
Geospatial Resources Enterprise-wide").

GIS Best Practices 95 esri.com

 The GEOSS GEO Portal makes Earth Observation data available to scientists around the globe.

Conclusion Today, the GEOSS GEO Portal provides scientists with easy access to a wealth of earth
observation data and Web mapping services. It is a global doorway to increasing our
understanding of the earth and helping participants move from principles to action.

More Information To learn more about GEO, visit www.earthobservations.org. To use the GEO Portal, visit geoss
.esri.com/geoportal.

(Reprinted from the Summer 2009 issue of ArcNews magazine)

September 2010 96 Spatial Data Infrastructure

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