Spatial data infrastructure explained

A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), also called geospatial data infrastructure,[1] is a data infrastructure implementing a framework of geographic data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Another definition is "the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data".[2] Most commonly, institutions with large repositories of geographic data (especially government agencies) create SDIs to facilitate the sharing of their data with a broader audience.

A further definition is given in Kuhn (2005):[3] "An SDI is a coordinated series of agreements on technology standards, institutional arrangements, and policies that enable the discovery and use of geospatial information by users and for purposes other than those it was created for."

General

Some of the main principles are that data and metadata should not be managed centrally, but by the data originator and/or owner, and that tools and services connect via computer networks to the various sources.[4] A GIS is often the platform for deploying an individual node within an SDI. To achieve these objectives, good coordination between all the actors is necessary and the definition of standards is very important.

The original example of an SDI is the United States National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), first mandated in the OMB Circular A-16 in 1996. In Europe since 2007, INSPIRE is a European Commission initiative to build a European SDI beyond national boundaries; the United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure (UNSDI) plans to do the same for over 30 UN Funds, Programs, Specialized Agencies and member countries.

Software components

An SDI should enable the discovery and delivery of spatial data from a data repository, via a spatial service provider, to a user. As mentioned earlier it is often wished that the data provider is able to update spatial data stored in a repository. Hence, the basic software components of an SDI are:

Besides these software components, a range of (international) technical standards are necessary that allow interaction between the different software components.[5] Among those are geospatial standards defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (e.g., OGC WMS, WFS, GML, etc.) and ISO (e.g., ISO 19115) for the delivery of maps, vector and raster data, but also data format and internet transfer standards by W3C consortium.

National spatial data infrastructures

List by country or administrative zone. It is not complete, is a sample of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) official websites.

Admin. Region NSDI name and ext. link
The United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure (UNSDI)
Spatial Data Infrastructure of Argentinian Republic (IDERA)
Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure and its centre
Bogota Spatial Data Infrastructure
Bolivia Spatial Data Infraestructure (IDE-EPB)
Brazilian Spatial Data Infrastructure (INDE)
Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
Chilean Spatial Data Infrastructure and Blog
Colombian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ICDE)
National Service of Territory Information
U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure
The European INSPIRE initiative
Andorran Spatial Data Infrastructure (IDEAnd)
Estonian National Spatial Data Infrastructure
Finnish National Spatial Data Infrastructure
German National Spatial Data Infrastructure
Hong KongCommon Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI)
Lithuanian geographic information infrastructure
Dutch Geo register
Spanish National Spatial Data Infrastructure (IDEE)
Andalusian Spatial Data Infrastructure
Spatial Data Infrastructure and Portal of the Basque Country. geoEuskadi
Canary Islands Spatial Data Infrastructure (IDECanarias)
Catalonia Spatial Data Infrastructure
Gipuzkoa Spatial Data Infrastructure
Geodata.se
Swiss Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
Abu Dhabi SDI
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
Ina-Geoportal
Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MyGDI)

See also

External links

Journals
Books
Software

Notes and References

  1. Book: Council . N.R. . Studies . D.E.L. . Resources . B.E.S. . Committee . M.S. . National Spatial Data Infrastructure Partnership Programs: Rethinking the Focus . National Academies Press . Compass series . 2001 . 978-0-309-07645-6 . 2022-11-29 . 30.
  2. The White House, Office of Management and Budget (2002) Circular No. A-16 Revised, August 19, 2002
  3. Kuhn, W. (2005) presentation "Introduction to Spatial Data Infrastructures". Presentation held on March 14, 2005.
  4. Steiniger, S., and Hunter, A.J.S. (2012) preprint "Free and open source GIS software for building a spatial data infrastructure". In E. Bocher and M. Neteler (eds): Geospatial Free and Open Source Software in the 21st Century: Proceedings of the first Open-Source Geospatial Research Symposium, 2009, LNG&C, Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 247-261.
  5. Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Organisation - The SDI Cookbook. link to cook book wiki