Geoinformation Metadata in INSPIRE and SDI

7/26/2019 Geoinformation Metadata in INSPIRE and SDI

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Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography

Series Editors: William Cartwright, Georg Gartner, Liqiu Meng,

Michael P. Peterson

For further volumes:

http://www.springer.com/series/7418


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Leszek Litwin l Maciej Rossa

Geoinformation Metadatain INSPIRE and SDI

Understanding. Editing. Publishing


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Leszek LitwinInstitute of Spatial and CadastralSystemsDworcowa 5644-100 Gliwice

[email protected]

Maciej RossaGeneral Directorate for EnvironmentalProtectionWawelska 52/5400-922 Warsaw

[email protected]

ISSN 1863-2246 e-ISSN 1863-2351ISBN 978-3-642-15861-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-15862-9DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-15862-9Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932430

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material isconcerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publicationor parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9,1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violationsare liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply,even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protectivelaws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Cover design:deblik

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)


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Preface

On May 15, 2007, Directive 2007/2/EC by European Parliament and the Councilentered into force on establishment of European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI).

The assumption is that ESDI is to be the sum of National Spatial Data Infrastruc-

tures. One of the first stages of building the ESDI is the establishment by Member

States of metadata for spatial data series, collections and services, in specified and

legally sanctioned terms.

Metadata, defined as data on data, shall serve a number of purposes in the

ESDI, amongst others being the publication of information on spatial data resources

made available under SDI by many institutions, including governmental ones.

Additionally, establishment of metadata allows inventorying of spatial dataresources and related services, and makes them more accessible to citizens of

Member States (as well as Internet users).

Resources of spatial data have a huge value, which is also commercial. Based on

a EU report during the early twenty-first century spatial data constitutes 6080%

base for issuance of administrative decisions. Furthermore spatial data is required in

public safety, spatial administration, planning, transport, business, as well as

military and intelligence sectors.

Although the commercial value of spatial data is estimated in the billions of

Euro, still the access to spatial data is inhibited due to hitherto highly difficult waysof making such data available. Describing spatial data using meta data should then

allow more efficient and cost-effective utilization and management of such

resources.

Creation of metadata also requires familiarization with relevant ISO standards

(series 19100), Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards, and World

Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. It also, or perhaps most of all, requires

understanding of the role and significance of metadata to all persons utilizing

consciously or not the resources of spatial data.

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Our objective was to discuss certain important matters concerning metadata we

hope we have achieved this objective. We hope that information included in this

book shall help you to understand, edit and publish geoinformation metadata.

Gliwice, Poland Leszek LitwinWarsaw, Poland Maciej Rossa

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Acknowledgements

We wish to offer our thanks to all the people who contributed to this book, most ofall the Authors of publications quoted here and persons with whom we had

opportunity to discuss the subject of metadata.

Special thanks are in order to Ms. Urszula Mizia and Mr. Pawe Czepelak.

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Contents

1 Metadata . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 1

What Is Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Definition of Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Metadata in Geoinformation (Geomatics) .. .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. 4

Types of Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Role of Metadata in Geoinformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Spatial Data Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Benefits of the Use of Metadata in Geoinformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Responsibilities of the Creation of Geoinformation Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Metadata in the European Infrastructure for Spatial Information

INSPIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Metadata in the Polish Spatial Data Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Introduction to PSDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Existing National Laws Relating to Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2 Standards and Interoperability . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 39

Why Do We Use Standards? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Standards, Norms, Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Standard and Norm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

To Whom for a Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Standardisation Organisations in the Field of Geoinformation

(Geomatics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

How Geoinformation Standards Are Developed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

OGC Specifications or ISO 19100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

ISO 19100 Series of Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

OGC Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Metadata Standards for Geoinformation .. .. . .. .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. 69

ISO 19115:2003 Geographic Information: Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

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ISO/TS 19139:2007 Geographic Information: Metadata: XML

Schema Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

ISO 19119:2005 Geographic Information: Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

ISO 19135:2005 Geographic Information: Procedures for Item

Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

3 Metadata Profiles Based on ISO 19115 . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . 75

What Is a Metadata Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

The Structure of Metadata Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Types of Metadata Elements and Entities .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . 77

Packages (Sections) of Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Types of Metadata Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Metadata Entities in the ISO 19115 Documented

by Other ISO Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Data Types and Their Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Extensions of Metadata Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Examples of Metadata Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Mandatory Metadata Profile According to ISO 19115 Standard . . . . . . . 87

Base Profile (Core) of ISO Metadata for Spatial Datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

INSPIRE Metadata Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

4 Metadata Description Languages . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 99

What Is the XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99XML Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

XML Schema and Metadata Documents .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. 100

XML Schema and ISO 19139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Other Applications of XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Applications of the XML to Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

GML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

5 Applications for Creating and Publishing Geoinformation

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Metadata Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Requirements for Metadata Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Review and Comparison of Selected Metadata Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Requirements for Metadata Catalogs . .. .. . .. .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . . 122

Examples of Metadata Catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

6 How to Properly Create Metadata . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 127

Principles and Good Practices for Creating Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

What Resources Should Be Described by Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Stages of Metadata Creation Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Types of Metadata Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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Rules for the Use of Special Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

The Principles of Setting Up a Hierarchy Consisting of Series

and Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Structure of Metadata Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Metadata File Format and Application Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Principles of the Construction of Multilingual Versions of Metadata . . . . 133

Naming Principles for Data Sets and Series .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. 133

Specifying Time Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Specifying Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Specifying Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Categorizing Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

The Rules for Creating Metadata Files Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Principles of Specifying Information on Metadata Standard Version . . . . 137

Principles of Specifying General Information Describingthe Data Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Principles of Specifying Restrictions to the Use of Resources . . . . . . . . 138

Principles of Specifying Information on the Maintenance

of a Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Specifying Spatial Coverage of the Data . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. 139

Principles of Specifying Spatial Reference System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Principles of Specifying Information on the Distribution

of the Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Principles of Specifying Quality of the Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Principles of Specifying Information on Geoinformation Services . . . . . . 141

Principles of Specifying Information for Individual Elements

of Metadata About Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Principles of Specifying Information for Metadata Elements

Identifying the Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Principles of Specifying Information for Individual Metadata

Elements Regarding Classification of Spatial Data and Services . . . . . . . . 143


Regarding Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Principles of Specifying Information for Individual Metadata

Elements Regarding Geographic Location .. .. .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . 144


Elements Regarding Temporal References .. .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . . 144

Principles of Specifying Information for Individual Items

of Metadata Regarding Quality and Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145


Elements Regarding Conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145


Regarding Conditions Applying to Access and Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146


Regarding Limitations on Public Access . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. 146

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Regarding Organisations Responsible for the Establishment,

Management, Maintenance and Distribution of Spatial Data Sets

and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Examples of Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

7 Examples of Metadata Documents . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 151

Explanations to the Following Examples . .. . .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . . 151

Name and Name of Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Short Names and Domain Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Descriptors: Mandatory/Conditional/Optional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Mandatory (M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Conditional (C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Optional (O) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Maximum Number of Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Data Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Example 1: Base Profile (Core), ISO 19115 154 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Example 2: INSPIRE Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 165

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

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Chapter 1

Metadata

What Is Metadata

Imagine that we are in a great library filled with thousands of books and we want to

find all the books about, for example, butterflies. These books are of different

authors, issued over considerable span of years, having various titles and are placed

on some shelves of many bookcases, and it just so happens that there is no one

around who could help us (Fig.1.1).

In this situation the only solution is to use the library catalogue (see Fig. 1.2),

which contains brief information on books kept in the library, such as: title, authors

name, year of publication, publisher, keywords, numbers (indexes) and other

information which allow to locate bookcases and shelfs where the books of your

interest can be found.

With these brief descriptions, containing concise information about each book

and its location in the library, we can quickly find, among thousands of books, the

ones that interest us.

These brief descriptions of books in the library are being considered asmetadata

and consequently, library catalogue can be regarded as a classic example of

ametadata set. Therefore, every one of us who had used library catalogue has alreadyused metadata.

Modern catalogues of metadata of libraries take the form of computer databases

that are inter-connected via the Internet. The use of computer nets facilities, search

for data of interest is much easier, faster and give possibility of searching through

libraries located thousands of miles away, such as the Library of Congress (http://

catalog.loc.gov/) (Fig.1.3) without moving from your computer.

L. Litwin and M. Rossa, Geoinformation Metadata in INSPIRE and SDI,

Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography,

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-15862-9_1,# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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Fig. 1.1 Library

Fig. 1.2 Library catalogues

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Definition of Metadata

Metadata are descriptively defined as data about data (information about contents of

data). So, they are data with the prefix meta which comes from Greek and means:

among, between, after, behind or change, while in science it is used with

the meaning above, beyond, of something in a different context.

Metaphysics it is knowledge beyond physics

Metascience means science about science

Metaknowledge knowledge about knowledge

Metadata data (information) about contents of data

Creating and using metadata is indispensable for large data sets, which are stored

in computer files or in analogue form like books in a library.

In the systems of electronic document management, the metadata consist of

specification of documents containing the basic information describing thedocuments. In the case of databases, the metadata consist of, for example,

definitions of tables, views, keys, etc.

Fig. 1.3 Library of Congress online catalogue

Definition of Metadata 3


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Metadata in Geoinformation (Geomatics)

The basis for the functioning of the geoinformation GIS, LIS, SIS, etc. and many

sciences with the prefix geo Geomatics, Geodesy, Geology, Geography arespatial data and related descriptive data (attributes). Spatial data take the form of

computer files in various vector formats (e.g., shape), raster formats (e.g., GeoTIFF)

or descriptive formats (e.g., GML, SWD). Spatial data are gathered mostly in

the databases but can be stored in files directly on your hard disk (or other storage

medium). Gathering data in the databases makes it easier to manage, update, share

or exchange them.

Spatial data that exist in analogue form also may, or rather should be described

by metadata library being a good example again.

Currently, spatial data infrastructures (SDI) are to be created that access to thedata becomes as easy as to the books in the library. Development of SDI should

ensure connection between spatial databases via networks (Internet, Intranet). As

a result, it will be possible (in part already is) to have access to vast resources of

spatial data through a computer. But, there are the questions: how to navigate

through these data? How to find just the data that are needed? Who created the

data and who distributes/sells them? Are they up-to-date? The answer is evident . . .

using metadata.

As classic example of a metadata set for spatial data as the library catalogue for

books, are marginalia, which have been used for centuries. These descriptions of

maps contain information on the emblem and name of the sheet, used symbols

(legend), author, date of issue, etc. (Fig. 1.4).

In practice, metadata take the form of tags or markers, which allow describe and

identify all types of information, including geoinformation. The metadata can

describe each of the hierarchy levels of resources and different degrees of details

they can describe the whole systems and their discrete components the smallest

indivisible components of the system.

In the geoinformation, metadata may relate to the entire project, individual sheet

of a map or aerial photograph, as well as to the class of objects (object type) in

a given set, a concrete instance of an object, or even to the type of attributes or

attribute itself. They can also characterise the functions and procedures, models and

even software or computer hardware [PN-EN ISO 19115:2005]. However, in most

cases, they describe spatial data sets, spatial data set series and related services

(web services, e.g., geoportals). Development of such metadata is required by the

INSPIRE Directive.

At the most basic level, metadata should characterise an element by answering

at least the following questions: What?, Why?, When?, Who?, How?, and in the

case of metadata for geoinformation, additional question is Where?.

What? what it is and what it refers to

Why? to what purpose it was created

When? when it was produced, published and updated

Who? who developed it

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How? how it was produced, is it reliable, how you can get access to this

Where? what area (space) it refers to

It is assumed that a properly prepared metadata describing spatial data set,

should provide information on: the location and type of objects and their

attributes, origin, accuracy, level of detail and timeliness of the data set,

applied standards, property rights and copyright, rates, terms and conditions

of obtaining access to data collection and their use for a specific purpose

(Gazdzicki 2003).

To ensure the functioning of metadata in computer networks (Internet/Intranet) and

to achieve full interoperability between meta-information systems (metadata), it is

necessary that both the metadata and these systems are based on clearly defined

standards for geoinformation.

Fig. 1.4 Marginalia of geological map as an example of metadata

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Types of Metadata

According to the definition proposed by the GSDI (Global Spatial Data Infrastruc-

ture) organisation, three levels of metadata and associated three types of metadatacan be identified (Gazdzicki 2003; The SDI Cookbook 2004).

The primary metadata type is discovery metadata. They are used to select spatial

data sets and/or spatial data services that may be of interest to the user with specific

requirements. This metadata type answers the questions: what?, why?, when? who?,

where?, how?.

In the case of spatial data, discovery metadata provide basic information including:

Name and description of the spatial data set (abstract/summary)

Basic purpose and scope of spatial data

Date of acquisition and update of spatial data Producer, provider and main users of spatial data

Area to which data relate defined by the co-ordinates, geographical names or

administrative subdivisions

Structure of the set and method of access to spatial data

Another type of metadata is exploration metadata. They contain more detailed

information to allow the user to:

Evaluate the properties of the spatial data set

Determine the suitability of the spatial data set in terms of needs Contact the custodian of the spatial data for further information (conditions of

use, etc.)

Exploration metadata answer the following questions:

What is the content of the spatial data resource?

What is their accuracy?

What is the origin of the source data?

What is the frequency of updates?

Another type of metadata is called exploitation metadata. This type defines theset of properties that are needed to read and transfer the data and for data interpre-

tation and practical use by the users software. These metadata gives answers to the

following questions:

What is a co-ordinate system?

What is the format of spatial data?

How to acquire/buy the spatial data?

How to import the data into users application?

These three levels of metadata types and corresponding metadata form thehierarchical structure of choices (decisions) made by users and enabling them to

determine which data sets are within their interests, which fulfil their requirements,

how to access them as well as how to transfer selected spatial data and use them in

an appropriate manner according to their needs (Gazdzicki 2003).

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Currently, a combination ofdiscoveryandexploration metadata is most com-

monly used. However, as practice shows, the most desired information is a phone

number of contact person who can give us comprehensive information about found

data set. This is because the timeliness and completeness of metadata is still

insufficient (Iwaniak 2006).

The Role of Metadata in Geoinformation

Metadata are one of the key elements in the spatial data infrastructures and are of

vital importance to them. Thus, discussing the role of metadata, the concept of

Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) should be defined.

Spatial Data Infrastructure

Spatial data infrastructure (SDI) legal, organisational, economic and technical

means, which provide universal access to geoinformation services regarding

a particular area, contribute to the effective use of geoinformation for sustainable

development of this area and enable the rational management of geoinformation

resources. Depending on the area to be covered by the SDI, it can have different

characteristics:

Global (GSDI Global SDI)

International/European (ESDI INSPIRE)

State/national (NSDI National SDI)

Regional

Local (e.g., municipal or county)

Spatial data infrastructure includes: interconnected, interoperable systems and

spatial databases containing spatial data and metadata of appropriate content and

quality, information and geomatic technologies in accordance with generally

accepted standards, legislation, organisational structures, economic solutions and

human resources as well as users creating geoinformation society.

SDI serves the purpose of searching, evaluation, transfer and use of spatial data

by users at all levels of public administration, business sector, social sector (non

profit) and academia and by citizens in general (Gazdzicki 2003).

Nowadays, spatial data infrastructures are being built in over 30 countries around

the world (Senkler 2006), including Poland. Some of the examples of such systems

are:

NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure) in the USA

NCGI (National Clearinghouse Geoinformatie) in the Netherlands

ASDI (Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure) in Australia (ANSLIC)

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GDI-DE (Geodateninfrastruktur Deutschland), Germany

INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) in the European

Union

Recently, the interest in geoinformation has grown considerably. This area, inaddition to biotechnology, IT and cosmetics, is one of the fastest growing today.

The global rate of revenue increase in this sector is 10% and growing every year

(Iwaniak 2006).

The popularisation of geoinformation on the Internet has significant impact on

this situation, mainly due to the services as Google Maps, Google Earth and others

of the type. Not without significance is also an increasing number of Web locators

(e.g., Zumi.pl) and geo-portals (e.g., geoportal.gov.pl, geoportaltatry.pl). They are

introduced and run by different entities, from big corporations (e.g., zumi.pl), through

government agencies (e.g., geoportal.gov.pl, ikar.pgi.gov.pl), open communities(e.g., http://www.openstreetmap.org) and even by individuals. Development of

geoinformation is also significantly influenced by widely available car navigation

systems and multifunction mobile devices, which become more and more popular.

Significant development of geoinformation is closely linked to a rapid progress,

which takes place in computer science and computer technology. One of the most

important elements in the development of geoinformation is current evolution of

closed, monolithic spatial information systems (Desktop GIS) into network

distributed systems spatial data infrastructures based on standardised interfaces

(Michalak 2003; Senkler 2006). This process is presented schematically in Fig.1.5.

All this results in an increased demand for spatial data. There is a growing

number of producers (creators), distributors and users of geoinformation, or rather

Fig. 1.5 Schematic representation of the evolution of monolithic GIS systems to geoinformation

infrastructures based on standardised interfaces (after: Senkler 2006, amended)

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co-users, since spatial data resources can be shared today by all participants of

spatial information infrastructures (SDIs). Nowadays more and more organisations

(including those outside Earth sciences sector) are able to develop and modify

spatial information, and even more sees the need to use it in their activities. The

result is a substantial increase in the number of collected geoinformation resources.

In this situation it becomes increasingly important that the information (meta-

information) is adequately elaborated and made available, which allows search for

resources and assess them in terms of individual needs, mainly suitability for

specific applications. This requirement is satisfied by the metadata, available

through the special network services, using the so-called catalogue servers. These

services play a similar role in the field of geo-information as Internet search engines

such as Google and allow to search for the desired spatial data (Iwaniak 2006).

It should be emphasised that the standardisation of metadata and services

associated with them is the prerequisite for implementing this type of search.Nowadays, there are thousands of servers on the Internet providing spatial data

from around the world. The importance of these services to a wide range of users

would be much more limited without an effective resources search system based on

metadata (Iwaniak 2006).

Timeline

application | monolithic GIS | internal connection to the DBMS | examples:

Bentley GIS, Arc/Info

Internal data exchange formats

application | hardware and software GIS tools | Traditional DBMS | examples:

ArcSDE, ArcIMS, Oracle Spatial

Standardised interfaces

application | geoinformation services | universal spatial data server | examples:

CSW, WMS, WFS, WCS

The Benefits of the Use of Metadata in Geoinformation

In addition to the basic tasks of metadata, which are: describing the spatial data and

related services as well as enabling the search for adequate resources and their

assessment in terms of individual needs, mainly suitability for specific applications,

metadata perform other functions, giving other benefits. The most frequently

mentioned benefits of using metadata are (after: Gazdzicki 2003) that the metadata:

Facilitate the organisation and management of data sets (geoinformation

resources) within the organisation responsible for the data (resources)

Facilitate the identification and re-use of data

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Facilitate the use of accumulated resources according to current needs, as well

as create opportunities to use them in the future, when they will become

historical (archival) materials

Make it easier to locate, access, evaluate, acquire and use spatial data

Allow optimisation of projects regarding acquisition and revision of data

Enable users to determine whether the spatial data contained in the resource will

be useful for them

Enable expanding the range of users of spatial data

Facilitate providing essential services within the spatial data infrastructures

Help eliminate redundant data give possibility to avoid multiplication of data

sets, which contain information already gathered by other organisations

Facilitate obtaining of information on all data sets (resources) available for the

area of interest

Moreover, the metadata are the key to true and full interoperability in the

geospatial environment. They extend the idea of exchanging data between organi-

sations and users sharing spatial data. Metadata increase the usefulness and value

of spatial data resources (GIS-Nature 2005). The resources that do not have adequa-

tely prepared metadata, have a significantly lower value, and in extreme cases may

become completely useless (Gazdzicki 2003).

Responsibilities of the Creation of Geoinformation Metadata

The obligation to create and distribute metadata describing the spatial data

resources may result from the European law, national laws or internal rules (e.g.,

trade). The details of the requirements for use of geoinformation metadata under

European Union law and Polish national law are presented and discussed below.

Metadata in the European Infrastructure for Spatial

Information INSPIRE

Introduction to INSPIRE

The concept of building a European infrastructure for spatial information has long

tradition in the European Union. Its full implementation has not yet been possible

for many reasons.

The most important reasons, according to the experts, include:

Large variety of models and spatial data formats Incomplete coverage of some areas

Lack of standardised reference systems

Difficulties with access to spatial data and the relatively high cost of acquisition

(purchase)

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Moreover, many of the source data (reference data) is mutually incompatible,

and their levels of details in the same scales are different (Michalak 2003; Inspire

http://inspire.jrc.it). The lack of adequate metadata, compliant with geoinformation

standards, can be also another obstacle.

To overcome these barriers, on 11 April 2002, three Commissioners of the

European Union for environment, science (Joint Research Centre JRC) and finance

(Eurostat), signed a memorandum establishing the initiative to create European

spatial information infrastructure INSPIRE (INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRma-

tion inEurope).

The Basic and Main Objective of INSPIRE Initiative

To make spatial information adequate, harmonised and high quality

and available for formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating ofCommunity policy and for the citizens. . . by establishing integrated spatial

information services, based upon a network of distributed databases linked by

common standards and protocols to ensure compatibility and inter-operability

. . . (Michalak 2003; Inspirehttp://inspire.jrc.it).

Since the establishment of INSPIRE Initiative, the ideas behind it, schedules

(roadmap) and means of delivery, changed several times. Current process of imple-

menting the INSPIRE initiative is relatively complex. It consists of three main

phases:

The Preparatory Phase already completed, implemented in 20052006,

which included among others: development of co-decision procedures, the

development of INSPIRE Directive project and initiating the preparation of

technical guidelines for the Directives, so called INSPIRE Implementing

Rules (IR)

The Transposition Phase, implemented since 2007 in practice, this phase

ended in 2009 which includes among others: coming into force of the INSPIRE

Directive and its transposition into national law, development and adoption of:implementation policy and various technical guidelines INSPIRE Implemen-

tation Rules (IR)

TheImplementation Phase, this phase began in 2009 and is expected to last for

more than 10 years, this phase includes implementation and monitoring of the

implementation of INSPIRE. In fact, for metadata, this phase has already started

in 2008

The most current information on the progress and plans for the implementa-

tion of INSPIRE can be found on the official website presenting a roadmapfor INSPIRE:http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/44.

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One of the major activities undertaken under the INSPIRE Initiative was to

prepare a draft of INSPIRE Directive. Work on this project started even before

the Preparation Phase. On 23 July 2004, the European Commission presented

the first draft of the Directive. Work on this project continued almost until the

adoption of a directive by European Parliament and the Council of Europe on

14 March 2007.

Eventually, INSPIRE Directive was published in the Official Journal of the EU

No. 108 on 25 April 2007 and if in force from 15 May 2007. Brief description of the

legislative process of INSPIRE can be found on INSPIRE web site at: (http://inspire.

jrc.ec.europa.eu/directive.cfm), and detailed information on this subject can be found

on the European Commission website (http://ec.europe.eu/PreLex/detail_dossier_

real.cfm?CLen&DosId191582). The official Polish text of the Directive is

available at: http://eur-lex.europe.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.to?uriOJ:L:2007:

108:0001:0014:EN:PDFIn order to develop appropriate technical guidelines, so called INSPIRE

Implementing Rules (IR), five editorial boards (DT Drafting Teams) were created

for:

Metadata (DT 1;http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/101)

Data specification (DT 2;http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/2)

Network services (DT 3;http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/5)

Data and service sharing (DT 4; http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/

pageid/62)

Monitoring and reporting the implementation of INSPIRE (DT 5;http://inspire.

jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.cfm/pageid/182)

The metadata drafting team (DT 1), has prepared appropriate technical

guidelines and already completed their work (see Metadata in the INSPIRE

Directive).

The data specification drafting team has been extended by a group of thematic

experts and turned into a nine Thematic Working Groups (TWG), corresponding to

the spatial data themes listed in Annex I of INSPIRE. Subsequently, Thematic

Working Groups corresponding to the spatial data themes listed in Annexes II andIII of INSPIRE will be designated.

Thematic Groups aim to prepare and develop a specification containing data

models in the form of abstract diagrams expressed in UML Uniform Modelling

Language and application schemas in GML (Geographical Markup Language) for

individual data themes listed in the Annexes of INSPIRE.

Work on specifications for data themes listed in Annex I of the INSPIRE

Directive has been finalized and the results of the work are available on the

INSPIRE website. However, work on other specifications for data themes listed

in Annexes II and III of INSPIRE and on technical guidelines is at different stagesof development and is still underway in drafting teams DT 3, DT 4 and DT 5.

Detailed information on developed documents can be found on INSPIRE website at

(http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports.cfm).

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As was mentioned earlier, the relevant regulations on the use of metadata in the

INSPIRE have already been developed, approved and published, and therefore,

they are formally in force.

The first is a legal document Commission Regulation No 1205/2008 of 3

December 2008 implementing the INSPIRE Directive regarding the metadata. The

Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU No 326 on 4 December

2008 and it entered into force on 24 December 2008. It should be noted that under

EU law, regulations of this type are directly applicable and do not require a separate

transposition into national law automatically on the date of entry into force, they

become binding in all EU Member States. The text of the regulation is available on

European Union website at (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?

uriCELEX:32008R1205:PL:NOT).

The second document covers the technical guidelines for the implementation of

INSPIRE regarding metadata The INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules:Technical Guidelines based on EN ISO 19115 and EN ISO 19119, published

December 19, 2008. The text of these guidelines can be found on INSPIRE website

at (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/ImplementingRules/metadata/MD_IR_and_

ISO_20081219.pdf).

The methodology and procedure for the completion of the INSPIRE initiative

requires that the draft documents related to Inspire were consulted by community

and tested. These rules concerned both the project of the INSPIRE Directive

and, at present, the INSPIRE Implementation Rules. Consultation and testing are

conducted within the INSPIRE organisations of the following types:

LMO (Legally Mandated Organisation) an organisation that has a legal

mandate to deal with issues of spatial information in the country

SDIC(Spatial Data Interest Community) communities with a special interest

in spatial information: companies, associations, agencies, organisations, etc.,

which have a stake in development of the infrastructure for spatial information

In Poland, the LMO organisation is the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography

(GUGiK), which (on behalf of the Minister of Interior and Administration) is

a government institution responsible for the implementation of INSPIRE in Poland,and also acts as a Polish point of contact for INSPIRE. Moreover, following Polish

organisations were registered as LMOs: Central Statistical Office, Chief Inspector-

ate for Environmental Protection, General Directorate for Environmental Protec-

tion, National Water Management Authority and the Institute of Geodesy and

Cartography, Institute of Spatial Planning and Housing and the Institute for Con-

servation of Nature (in the absence of statutory legislative powers three institutes

should be registered as SDICs).

Polish institutions registered as an independent SDICs are: the Institute of

Geodesy and Cartography (IGiK), Polish Geological Institute (reported as SDICsof two state services: geological and hydro-geological) and the Polish Association

for Spatial Information (PASI). Additionally, Institute of Spatial and Cadastral

Systems SA geoinformation company, dealing with, inter alia, issues of spatial

data and metadata, is the member of Nature GIS SDIC.



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There is also a significant number of Polish institutions, which function as

members of larger SDIC organisations, for example, General Directorate for Envi-

ronmental Protection (GDOS), Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection

(GIOS), National Water Management Authority (KZGW). This group also includes

Polish Geological Institute, which is an independent SDIC, and as a member of

EuroGeoSurveys (Association of European Geological Surveys), belongs to a SDIC

associating European geological surveys.

More complete and detailed information about the issues discussed above can be

found on INSPIRE website (http://inspire.jrc.it).

The European Union Directive is an act of secondary law, by which EU

Member States are obliged to introduce legal regulations to achieve the

desired state of affairs specified in the Directive. The legislation adoptedjointly by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, as

well as the Directives addressed to all Member States are published in the

Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force on specified date,

or on the 20th day after they have been published.

It should be noted that the Directives are of varying importance: the recommended,

binding and temporary. In addition, the Directives leave member states with

considerable margin of freedom in how to achieve the desired result. Even though

the Directive explicitly only requires member states to establish a legal order, inlight of the European Court of Justices (ECJ) decision, if the country fails to

implement Directive, the citizen has the right to directly refer to the Directive

against any national provisions incompatible with the Directive. It is necessary to

note, that according to ECJ decision, the direct application of the Directive can be

invoked only if the provisions of the Directive appear to be unconditional and

sufficiently precise [http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyrektywa_(Unia_Europejska)].

What Is the INSPIRE Directive About?

In force since May 15, 2007, the INSPIRE Directive lays down the infrastructure

for spatial information in Europe (known as INSPIRE) and determines the prin-

ciples for the infrastructure operation regarding metadata, spatial data and services

associated with them. In addition it provides rules for the provision, sharing and use

of resources. It also introduces mechanisms (processes and procedures) for coordi-

nating, monitoring and reporting the implementation of INSPIRE. It also specifies

that INSPIRE will not be treated as a separate infrastructure, but will be composed ofinfrastructures for spatial information, established and operated by the member states

(Chapter 1, Article 1, Section 2). The full text of the INSPIRE Directive is available

on the European Commission website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/

LexUriServ.do?uriOJ:L:2007:108:0001:0014:PL:PDF).

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What Are the Area and the Scope the INSPIRE Directive Refers to?

According to the provisions of the Directive, project INSPIRE, in terms of area,

refers only to the territories of the EU member states and to the areas under their

jurisdiction (Chapter I, Article 4, Paragraph 1, Letter a), while in terms of the subjects,

the INSPIRE is limited to spatial information about environment (Chapter I,

Article 1, Section 1) in particular to the 34 data themes listed in the Annexes to

the Directive:

Annex I includes:

1. Co-ordinate reference systems

2. Geographical grid systems

3. Geographical names

4. Administration units5. Addresses

6. Cadastral parcels

7. Transport networks

8. Hydrography

9. Protected sites

Annex II includes:

1. Elevation

2. Land cover

3. Orthoimagery

4. Geology (including hydro-geology)

Appendix III includes:

1. Statistics units

2. Buildings

3. Soil

4. Land use

5. Human health and safety

6. Utilities and governmental services

7. Environmental monitoring facilities

8. Production and industrial facilities

9. Agricultural and aquaculture facilities

10. Population distribution and demography

11. Land management/restriction/regulation zones and reporting units

12. Natural risk zones

13. Atmospherics conditions

14. Meteorology geographical features

15. Oceanography geographical features16. Sea regions

17. Bio-geographical regions



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18. Habitats, and biotopes

19. Species distribution

20. Energy resources

21. Mineral resources

Who Is Affected by INSPIRE Directive?

INSPIRE Directive applies to virtually all participants in European spatial infor-

mation infrastructure. However, its provisions (Chapter I, Article 3, Paragraph 9)

formally define entities for which it is mandatory:

Any government or other public administration, including public advisory

bodies at national, regional or local levels Any person or legal person performing public administration functions under

national law, including specific duties, activities or services in relation to the

environment

Any person or legal person having public responsibilities or functions or

providing public services in relation to environment and being under the control

of a body or person described above

Metadata in the INSPIRE Directive

Metadata play a crucial role in INSPIRE and are given priority, as reflected in the

provisions of the Directive.

Already in the preamble to the Directive (point 15) we find a reference to the key

role of the metadata. There we read that the loss of time and resources in searching

for existing spatial data or establishing whether they may be used for a particular

purpose is a key obstacle to the full exploitation of the data available. Member

States should therefore provide descriptions of available spatial data sets andservices in the form of metadata.

Moreover, the Directive defines the basic terms associated with spatial informa-

tion infrastructure (Chapter I, Article I, Paragraphs 19), including metadata.

According to the definition used in the Directive, metadata is information describ-

ing spatial data sets and spatial data services and making it possible to discover,

inventory and use them (Chapter I, Article 3, Section 6).

It should be emphasised that the whole Chapter II of the Directive is specifically

dedicated to the metadata. It states that the metadata implementing rules should

be adopted by 15 May 2008 (before all other INSPIRE Implementing Rules)and take account of relevant, existing international standards and user require-

ments, in particular with relation to validation metadata (Chapter II, Article 5,

Paragraph 4).

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What Are the Basic Responsibilities Concerning Metadata

Resulting from the INSPIRE Directive?

The INSPIRE Directive primarily imposes an obligation on Member States

to ensure that metadata are created for the spatial data sets and services

corresponding to the themes listed in Annexes I, II and III, and that those metadata

are kept up to date (Chapter II, Article 5, Paragraph 1). In addition, Member States

are to take the necessary measures to ensure that metadata are complete and of

a quality sufficient to discover, inventory and use spatial data (Chapter II,

Article 5, Paragraph 3).

What Resources Should Have Metadata Recorded According

to the INSPIRE?

The INSPIRE Directive requires the metadata to be developed for those spatial data

sets, series and spatial data services, which (Chapter I, Article 4, points 1):

Relate to an area where a Member State has or exercises jurisdictional rights

Are in electronic form

Are held by or on behalf of public authorities (see Who Is Affected by the

INSPIRE Directive?)

Relate to one or more of the themes listed in Annexes I, II, or IIIIt is worth noting that on the one hand, this Directive does not require the collection

of new spatial data resources (Chapter I, Article 4, Section 4), which means that in

the INSPIRE metadata should be developed only for existing resources. On the

other hand, one must remember that these resources will have to comply with the

guidelines set in the INSPIRE Implementation Rules. So, to achieve full compli-

ance with the guidelines there may be a need to transform the existing spatial data

resources, complement and in some cases to obtain the missing resources. It should

be also added that the Directive sets out the obligation to create the metadata for the

newly emerging resource. Also, from the viewpoint of organising resources,metadata for archival resources should also be created.

What Information Should Be Included in Metadata?

According to the INSPIRE Directive (Chapter II, Article 5, Paragraph 2) geo-

information metadata should include information on the following:

The conformity of spatial data sets with the implementing rules (its the refer-ence to the INSPIRE Directive Implementing Rules)

Conditions for access to spatial data and spatial data services, and conditions of

use of the data

The corresponding data use fees where applicable



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Quality and validity of spatial data sets

Public authorities responsible for the establishment, management, maintenance

and distribution of spatial data sets and services

Restrictions on public access and the reasons for such restrictions. The

restrictions are mostly caused by the following: the adverse impact on interna-

tional relations, public security, national defence, the confidentiality of the

proceedings of public authorities, the course of justice, the confidentiality of

commercial or industrial information including maintaining statistical confi-

dentiality and tax secrecy, intellectual property rights, the confidentiality of

personal data and protection of the environment in terms of information about

locations of rare species. These issues are regulated in detail by Article 13 of the

INSPIRE Directive

What Is the Timeframe for Implementation of INSPIRE

Regarding Metadata?

The INSPIRE Directive provides detailed timetable for the implementation of

metadata (Chapter II, Article 6), under which Member States have to create

metadata:

For spatial data themes listed in Annexes I and II not later than 2 years after the

adoption of implementing rules

For spatial data themes listed in Annex III not later than 5 years from the date of

adoption of implementing rules

The records relate to the INSPIRE Implementation Rules for metadata, which

according to the requirement of the Directive (Chapter II, Article 5, Section 4)

should have been adopted not later than 15 May 2008. However, these principles

were adopted by the Technical Committee INSPIRE at its meeting on 14 May 2008,

Consequently, the principles came into effect only in the second half of December

2008 (see Commission Regulation No 1205/2008 of 3 December 2008implementing the INSPIRE Directive as regards metadata and the document The

INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules: Technical Guidelines based on EN ISO

19115 and EN ISO 19119). This means that under the INSPIRE roadmap,

metadata for spatial data sets corresponding to the themes listed in Annexes I and

II should be developed by 3 December 2010, while in case of spatial data sets

corresponding to the themes listed in Annex III, not later than 3 December 2013.

Since the INSPIRE Implementing Rules (the documents that describe how to

implement metadata for INSPIRE) officially came to effect in December 2008, that is

more than 7 months after the date of approval. This delay would, de facto, reduceimplementation periods given by the Directive for the metadata from 2 years for data

specified by Annex I and II, and from 5 to 4 years and 3 months for data specified in

Annex III. In the first case the period would by shortened by 29%, in the second case

by 12%.

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What Metadata Services Should Operate Within INSPIRE?

Besides the metadata itself, member states are obliged to establish and maintain

a specific network services related to the handling of metadata (Chapter IV,

Article 11, Paragraph 1). In accordance with the INSPIRE Directive, these services

should be:

Discovery servicesthat allow search for spatial data sets services based on the

contents of the corresponding metadata, as well as make it possible to display the

content of the metadata

View services, which allow at least to display, navigate, zoom out, pan, or

overlay spatial data sets and to display legend information and any relevant

information from content metadata

Member States are also obliged to ensure that public authorities are given theappropriate technical measures to link metadata and related services to the network

(Chapter IV, Article 12), referred to in Chapter II, Article 11, Clause 1.

Services are:

Search services Internet services performed by the catalogue servers according

to standard OGC CS-W (Catalogue Service for Web)

View services Internet services for sharing maps, so called WebMapping

implemented by the map servers using the standard OGC WMS (Web Map

Service)

Both services and associated standards are described in more detail in subsequent

chapters.

Rules for the Implementation of INSPIRE

Some of the basic objectives of the functioning of INSPIRE is the possibility of

finding spatial data sets and spatial data services which may be of interest to users

(participants),,, and then to determine under what conditions and for what purpose,to what extent and in what capacity these resources can be used by them. To achieve

these objectives, spatial data sets and services must be described by metadata.

Metadata should be fully compatible and usable in a community and trans-

boundary context. In practice this means the need for development and approval

of the detailed rules for the creation and functioning of the INSPIRE metadata.

These policies should reflect (comply with) applicable international standards in

geo-information.

The INSPIRE Directive, similarly to the Acts of Parliament in the Polish law,

lays down only general rules governing the creation and operation of infrastructurefor spatial information, including the metadata. Therefore, like other such provi-

sions, it requires a certain amount of detail and clarification by establishing the

appropriate implementation legislation, i.e., regulations, technical guidelines and

instructions. This also applies to the implementing rules for metadata.



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There are currently two documents defining the rules for the implementation

of INSPIRE with regard to metadata. The first is the Regulation a document of

a formal nature, being an official law enforcing implementation of the Directive.

The second INSPIRE Implementing Rules is a document of a more practical

nature, including specific technical guidelines. Broadly and simply speaking, the

Regulation defines a set of metadata elements required by the INSPIRE, and

Implementing Rules describe how to describe the specific resources using this set.

These rules for the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive are described and

commented on in more detail below.

Regulation to the INSPIRE Directive Regarding Metadata

The official and full name of the document is: Commission Regulation (EC)No 1205/2008 of 3 December 2008 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the

European Parliament and of the Council as regards metadata.

The text of the Regulation is available on the European Union websites in all

official languages of the European community the address given below leads to

the version in Polish (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri

CELEX:32008R1205:PL:NOT).

According to the INSPIRE Directive, as it was mentioned before, adequate

legislation for its implementation with regard to metadata should had been be adopted

by 15 May 2008 (INSPIRE Directive, Chapter II, Article 5, Paragraph 4). The originalversion of the Regulation, prepared by Metadata Drafting Team, was approved by the

INSPIRE Technical Committee on 14 May 2008 the day before the date required by

the Directive. Subsequently, the Regulation content was subjected to discussions and

arrangements conducted by the European Commission, for more than 7 months and it

was finally adopted only on 3 December 2008. The Regulation was published on

4 December 2008 in the Official Journal of the European Union No. L 326. It came

into force on the 20th day after publication, i.e., on 24 December 2008. From that

moment it is binding in all Member States, including Poland. It should be emphasised

that the Commission regulations are directly applicable legal acts and do not requirea separate transposition into national law.

Article 1 of Regulation states that it establishes requirements for the creation and

maintenance of metadata for spatial data sets, data series and spatial data services

relating to the themes listed in Annexes I, II and III of the INSPIRE Directive.

In fact, it establishes a set, that allows to describe: spatial data sets, series of sets and

spatial data services in the form of metadata in accordance with the requirements of

INSPIRE. It also defines the set of metadata elements, their value ranges and the

multiplicity of elements, and indicates which elements are mandatory for INSPIRE.

It should be noted that this Regulation gives metadata specification at minimalrange, which just meets the requirements of INSPIRE, it only describes the

resources at a very basic level not always sufficient or satisfactory for users.

However, this Regulation in no way limits the possibility of expanding this set of

metadata with additional elements. However, it imposes a requirement as to the

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origin of these elements. They should be introduced in accordance with interna-

tional standards or practices adopted by the industry. In practice, this means that

this set can be extended with existing elements coming directly from ISO 19115, as

well as items not appearing in this standard, but determined in accordance with the

methodology of creating additional metadata elements.

Analysing the text of the Regulation one can say that it establishes, formally and

in accordance with the law, the INSPIRE metadata profile. Issues of metadata

profiles, including an INSPIRE profile will be presented in detail in Chap. 3.

The document we discuss consists of three parts: the preamble, articles and

annex. The preamble to this regulation consists of five points, which justify the need

to develop rules for the use of metadata in INSPIRE. The second part consists of

four, one-sentence brief articles relating to, among other things, the subject matter

of the regulation and mode of entry into force of the discussed legislation. The most

comprehensive part is the Annex to the Regulation, which consists of four parts A,B, C and D, which from a practical point of view is the most important element of

the regulation.

The A part of the Annex (Interpretation) defines eight basic terms used in

regulation:

Character string

Free text

Lineage (of data set)

Metadata element

Namespace

Quality (of a resource)

Resource

Spatial data set series

Additionally, interpretation of the term: the validity of spatial data, is also

included.

Part B of the Annex (Metadata elements) lists 27 metadata elements of the

INSPIRE, gives their numerical identifiers, brief definitions and indicates range of

values. In addition, for some of those elements certain references and components(elements) of these references are identified. All these elements of the INSPIRE

metadata, according to their function, were divided into ten groups.

It should be stressed that hierarchy of the INSPIRE metadata is different from

the hierarchy used in international geoinformation standards, which consist of:

Metadata elements

Metadata entities

Sections of the metadata

Geoinformation norms and standards for metadata will be presented in detail inChap. 3.

In fact, according to the definition of the metadata element in ISO 19115, which

is also the definition adopted by the Regulation, the hierarchy of the INSPIRE

metadata consists of 14 metadata elements compliant with ISO. In consequence of



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the accepted model of metadata hierarchy in INSPIRE, some of the ISO metadata

elements are not explicitly named and do not have a numeric identifier (they are

not treated as the INSPIRE metadata elements in the strict sense), but are only

described as part of references to some of the INSPIRE metadata elements (listed as

such, and with a numerical identifier).

Part C of the Annex describes the multiplicity and conditions of the INSPIRE

metadata elements, summarised in tabular form. The first table lists information on

spatial data sets or series of data sets, the second table lists information on the

spatial data services. These tables include the following information:

First column contains the numerical identifier of the INSPIRE metadata element,

corresponding to the position of the metadata element in the INSPIRE metadata

hierarchy

The second column contains the name of the metadata element or group ofmetadata elements

The third column specifies the multiplicity of metadata element following the

notation used in UML

Fourth column contains a conditional statement if the multiplicity of the element

does not apply to all types of resources

Part D of the Annex identifies six value domains for the INSPIRE metadata

elements. In each domain, every value is defined by:

Numerical identifier of the value

Textual name for humans, which may be translated into different languages the

Community

Neutral language name for computers

Optional description or definition

For the INSPIRE metadata the following domains are defined:

1. RESOURCE TYPE this is a value domain of INSPIRE metadata element 1.3.

resource type

1.1. Spatial (geospatial) data set1.2. Spatial (geospatial) data set series

1.3. Spatial (geospatial) data services

2. TOPIC CATEGORIES in accordance with EN ISO 19115

2.1. Farming

2.2. Biota

2.3. Boundaries

2.4. Climatology/meteorology/atmosphere

2.5. Economy2.6. Topography

2.7. Environment

2.8. Geo-scientific information

2.9. Health

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2.10. Imagery/base maps/Earth cover

2.11. Intelligence/military

2.12. Inland waters

2.13. Location

2.14. Oceans

2.15. Planning/cadastre

2.16. Society

2.17. Structure

2.18. Transportation

2.19. Utilities/communication

3. SPATIAL DATA SERVICE TYPE according to the INSPIRE Directive

3.1. Discovery Service

3.2. View Service3.3. Download Service

3.4. Transformation Service

3.5. Invoke Spatial Data Service

3.6. Other Service

4. CLASSIFICATION OF SPATIAL DATA SERVICES

This domain includes about 70 types of spatial data services based on geographic

services taxonomy defined by ISO 19119. This taxonomy is based on the categ-

ories, the subcategories determine the value domain of classification of spatial

data services. Below, only categories are listed

100. Geographic human interaction services (humanInteractionService) (10)

200. Geographic model/information management service (infoManagement-

Service) (11)

300. Geographic workflow/task management services (taskManagement-

Service) (3)

400. Geographic processing services spatial (spatialProcessingService) (18)

500. Geographic processing services thematic (thematicProcessingService) (16)

600. Geographic processing services temporal (temporalProcessingService) (4)700. Geographic processing services metadata (metadataProcessingService) (2)

800. Geographic communication services (comService) (6)

5. DEGREE OF CONFORMITY

5.1. Conformant (conformant)

5.2. Not Conformant (notConformant)

5.3. Not evaluated (notEvaluated)

6. ROLE OF RESPONSIBLE ENTITY

6.1. Resource Provider (resourceProvider) The unit supplying the resource

6.2. Custodian (custodian) An entity that accepts the responsibility for data and

ensure appropriate care and maintenance of the resource

6.3. Owner (owner)- An entity that owns the resource



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6.4. User (user) An entity who uses the resource

6.5. Distributor (distributor) An entity that disseminates the resource

6.6. Originator (originator) An entity that created the resource

6.7. Point of Contact (pointOfContact) An entity which can be contacted in

order to obtain knowledge about the resource or acquisition of the resource

6.8. Principal investigator (principalInvestigator) Key entity responsible for

gather information and conducting research

6.9. Processor (processor) An entity which has processed the data in such

a manner that the resource has been modified

6.10. Publisher (publisher) An entity which published the resource

6.11. Author (author) An entity which formulated (edited) the resource

Hierarchy of the INSPIRE metadata is as follows:

1. IDENTIFICATION contains seven elements identifying (describing) the

resource:

1.1. Resource title (the value domain of this metadata element is free text)

1.2. Resource abstract/summary (the value domain of this metadata element is

free text)

1.3. Resource type (the value domain of this metadata element is defined in Part D.1

of the Annex). This metadata element can take one of three following values:

Spatial data set series series, spatial data set dataset

Spatial data service service

1.4. Resource locator (the value domain of this metadata element is a character

string, usually expressed as Uniform Resource Locator URL)

1.5. Unique resource identifier (the value domain of this metadata element is

character string code)

1.6. Coupled resource in the case of spatial data, this metadata element

identifies the target spatial data set (data sets) of services using their unique

resource identifier URI Uniform Resource Identifier (value domain of

this metadata element is a character string code)1.7. Language or languages of resource (the value domain of this metadata

element consists of languages defined in ISO 6392, e.g., pol)

2. CLASSIFICATION OF SPATIAL DATA AND SERVICES it contains two

elements for classification of geospatial data and services:

2.1. Topic category of resource (the value domain of this metadata element is

defined in Part D.2 of the Annex. This metadata element can take one of

the 19 values from a set of thematic categories in accordance with ISO

19115, to which this regulation additionally assigns 34 spatial data themeslisted in Annexes I, II and III of INSPIRE)

2.2. Spatial data service type (the value domain of this metadata element is

defined in Part D.3. of the Annex. This metadata element can take one of

six values the types of services specified by the INSPIRE Directive:

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discovery service, view service, download service, transformation service,

invoke service, other services)

3. KEYWORD contains two components designed to provide keywords:

3.1. Keyword value (the value domain of this metadata element is free text with

the following restrictions; in the case of spatial data or spatial data set

series, at least one keyword must be provided from the general environ-

mental multilingual thesaurus GEMET and correspond to the spatial data

theme defined in Annexes I, II or III of the INSPIRE Directive; in the case

of spatial data, at least one keyword from Part D.4 of the Annex should be

used. This metadata element can take one of 70 values types of spatial

data services)

3.2. Originating controlled vocabulary (element should include at least the title

of the dictionary and its date of publication and/or last revision, and/orcreation)

Keywords are derived from geographic services taxonomy of EN ISO 19119.

This taxonomy is based on the categories, the subcategories determine the

value domain of classification of spatial data services.

4. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION contains only one element used to identify the

location of geographical resource:

4.1. Geographic bounding box specifies the extent of the resource in the

geographic space expressed as a bounding box. Rectangle of the boundingshould be identified by westbound and eastbound longitudes, and by the

southbound and northbound latitudes in decimal degrees with a precision

of at least two decimal digits

5. TEMPORAL REFERENCE four elements. Group of elements defining the

temporal reference:

5.1. Temporal extent (which gives the time period covered by the resource, can

be expressed as: date, interval of dates, a combination of date and interval

of dates)5.2. Date of publication

5.3. Date of last revision

5.4. Date of creation

6. QUALITY AND VALIDITY Group of elements determining the quality and

validity of the resource:

6.1. Lineage a process history and/or overall quality of the resource (domain:

free text)

6.2. Spatial resolution the level of detail (domain: for the vector data it isthe denominator of the scale, for raster data it is raster resolution in units

of length)



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7. CONFORMITY Group of elements describing conformity of resource:

7.1. Specification citation of implementing rules, including rules of INSPIRE.

This citation should include at least the title and reference date (date of

publication, date of last revision or of creation)7.2. Degree (of conformity) (the domain values are described in Part D.5. of

Annex: conformant, not conformant, not evaluated)

8. CONSTRAINT RELATED TO ACCESS AND USE Group of elements

defining the constraints on access to the data resource and on its use:

8.1. Conditions applying to access and use (domain: free text)

8.2. Limitations on public access (domain: free text)

9. ORGANISATIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, MAN-

AGEMENT, MAINTENANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF SPATIAL DATASETS AND SERVICES Group of elements defining the organisations respon-

sible for the creation of spatial data and spatial data services and for manage-

ment, storage and distribution (2 items):

9.1. Responsible party (including organisation name and means of contact

e-mail address)

9.2. Responsible party role

10. METADATA ON METADATA Group elements defining the metadata on

the created metadata (3 items):

10.1. Metadata point of contact (including organisation name and means of

contact e-mail address)

10.2. Metadata date date of creation or last update of metadata (ISO 8601)

10.3. Metadata language (ISO 6392)

The Implementing Rules of INSPIRE Directive (IR Implementing Rules)

Regarding Metadata

The official and full name of the document is: INSPIRE Metadata Implementing

Rules: Technical Guidelines based on EN ISO 19115 and EN ISO 19119 (Revised

edition). Its identifier as a document of INSPIRE is: MD_IR_and_ISO_20090203.

This is the second version of the document, published on 3 February 2009 the first

version of the IR (First Edition) was published on 28 October 2008.

The text of this document is available only in English at INSPIRE website:

(http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/ImplementingRules/metadata/MD_IR_and_

ISO_20090203.pdf).The document in question was published on 19 December 2008. Work on it

was carried out by the editorial staff of the Metadata Drafting Team 1 (DT 1),

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since October 2007. In fact, work on technical specifications for the implementa-

tion of the INSPIRE metadata began in 2006. On 2 February 2007, a second draft

version of the specification Draft Implementing Rules for Metadata v 2 was

presented. It was then subject to public consultation within the INSPIRE LMO

and SDIC organisations. As a result of these consultations, some changes were

introduced and the third draft of the specification Draft Implementing Rules

for Metadata (Version 3) was developed along with a document describing the

changes between version 2 and 3. Both documents were published on 26 October

2007. Further work on the specification was conducted in the context of the

relationship between the INSPIRE specifications and the standards ISO 19115

and ISO 19119. The first document describing this relations Relation Between

ISO 19115 and ISO 19119 and the elements of the INSPIRE draft metadata

implementing rules was published on 10 December 2007. Another, which

became a first draft of the specification we discuss, Draft Guidelines metadataINSPIRE Implementing rules based on ISO 19115 and ISO 19119 was presented

on 25 April 2008. The texts of these documents and more detailed information on

the process of their development can be found on INSPIRE website (http://

inspire.jrc.it).

These INSPIRE Implementing Rules for Metadata are the official technical

specification of INSPIRE. They are also the documentation for implementing the

INSPIRE metadata profile, which was defined in the Regulation to the Directive.

This specification defines how to map metadata elements between the Inspire

profile and core ISO profile. He describes how metadata should be developed forspatial data, spatial data sets series and spatial data services, in accordance with the

standards ISO 19115 and ISO 19119 using the new set of metadata elements

specified in the Regulation to INSPIRE Directive. In addition, it presents the way

to express metadata using XML as specified by ISO/TS 19139. Methodology

described in the specification is supplemented with numerous examples of specific

implementations of metadata elements.

The document in question consists of three chapters and one annex.

The first chapter concerns the relation between the INSPIRE metadata profile,

and the basic profile of metadata in ISO 1911. In the first part, both metadataprofiles were presented and correlated in two tables separately for spatial data

sets and spatial data sets series and for spatial data services. In summary of this

comparison it is stated, that compliance with the basic metadata profile of ISO

19115 does not guarantee compliance with the INSPIRE. However, the speci-

fications for creating INSPIRE metadata are not in conflict with ISO 19115.

Still, the achievement of full compliance with ISO 19115 requires the use of

additional metadata elements that are not required by INSPIRE. The second

part of the first chapter presents a list of 18 constraints resulting from the require-

ments of INSPIRE. The final, third part of the chapter presents the extensions



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introduced by INSPIRE with regard to the types of spatial data services and their

classification.

The second chapter concerns the basic mapping the INSPIRE metadata and

metadata defined by ISO 19115 and ISO 19119. For each element of the INSPIRE

metadata profile there is a table presenting their main characteristics and main

features of the corresponding metadata element in accordance with ISO 19115 or

ISO 19119. In the first case the characteristics are:

Numerical identifier of the metadata element according to the regulation

The name of metadata element according to the Regulation

Information if the item is mandatory

Geoinformation Metadata in INSPIRE and SDI

Documents

Transcript of Geoinformation Metadata in INSPIRE and SDI