Spatial Data Infrastructure
A team effort linking UNIGE, UNEP-GRID and ArxIT
EnviroSPACE is extending and developing its filed of activities using Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), the state-of-the-art information technology to disseminate geospatial data.
An SDI could be defined as the base collection of technologies, data, human resources, policies, institutional arrangements, and partnerships that enable the availability, exchange of and access to geographically-related information using common practices, protocols, and specifications. SDI consists of a framework that enables users with different mandates and disciplines to operate in a cooperative and cohesive manner to acquire access, retrieve, analyze and disseminate geospatial data and information in an easy and secure way. It particularly helps to improve the efficiency of development, management, use and maintenance of geospatial databases.
The concept of SDIs reside in “working smarter, not harder” by reusing data, technical capabilities, skills, intellectual effort and capital, through the sharing the costs of people, technology and infrastructure. SDIs rely on the development of policies, technologies, data, common standards, standard practices, protocols and specifications such as those of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
In collaboration with UNEP/GRID-Geneva and through various research projects, enviroSPACE is developing and managing the UNIGE/GRID-SDI in order to make geospatial and tabular databases available to members of University of Geneva (scientists, students) as well as the general public.
EnviroSPACE has a good knowledge and experience the following areas:
- Interoperability standards: OGC (WMS, WFS, WCS, WPS, CS-W)
- Metadata standards: ISO (19115, 19139, 19119), Dublin Core
- Metadata: Geonetwork, ESRI GeoPortal, GIcat
- Databases: PostgresSQL, MySQL, Access
- Spatial Engine: PostGIS, ArcSDE
- Web Mapping: UMN Mapserver, ArcGIS APIs, Open Layers
- GIS Server: ArcGIS Server, GeoServer, THREDDS, HydroServer
- Geoprocessing: PyWPS, 52north WPS, Taverna Workflow Management
- Crowdsourcing: Ushahidi
UNIGE/GRID-SDI aims to support and serve data through the main international/transnational initiatives:
The added value of the UNIGE/GRID-SDI is that it will benefit of distributed computational technology, allowing the user, not only to discover and access data in a standardized and interoperable way but also to analyze and process large amount of high resolution data.
This technology will be explored in the context of the EU FP7 enviroGRIDS project
EnviroSPACE is member of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the technical committee of the Système d'Information du Territoire Genevois (SITG).