Chapter 6. Data
70 query the database using GeoSPARQL. In concert with activities under the
EU-PolarNet project and other research initiatives e.g. the Polar Data Cata-
logue, NSF-funded BCube Informatics Project, these efforts are establishing a clear picture of the data and computing services available within the commu-
nity.
6.2.10 Natural Resources Canada, Public Safety Geoscience Pro-
gram
The Public Safety Geoscience Program develops a huge amount of geospatial data and place-based knowledge about the Arctic. This includes, but is not
limited to: seismic hazard model, space weather forecasts, research into historic tsunamis and floods, marine sample data, videos of submarine features taken
by remotely operated vehicles, photos taken by UAVs, marine seismic data, journal articles about regional and local geohazards, slope stability research on
the offshore continental slope, marine research station data in the EDS, and maps documenting the location and extent of geohazards and other geological
features. Much of this is not included in the CGDI and could be included in both the CGDI and the Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure.
6.2.11 University Carleton, Geomatics and Cartographic Research
Centre
The Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre GCRC is an official Re- search Centre in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies,
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. GCRC offers a number of valuable re- sources called
Atlases , among them:
• SIKU
Inuktitut for sea ice Atlas developed in partnership with Inuit communities in Nunavut
• Kitikmeot Place Name Atlas
• Pan-Inuit Trails Atlas
Chapter 6. Data
71
6.2.12 Yukon Government
GeoYukon allows users to search, display and download Yukon government’s most authoritative and recent spatial data.
GeoYukon allows to view, query
and download the spatial data and its related metadata.
Chapter 7
Standards
Standards are one of the key pillars of any SDI. They are key for the quality and development of interoperable geographic information and geospatial software
during the entire life cycle of any data set. Standards define how data is cre- ated, archived, used, and discovered at and exchanged between components.
They address different levels of interoperability such as syntax, semantics, ser- vices, profiles, or cultural and organizational interoperability. There are excel-
lent publications available discussing the value of standards and role of stan- dards in geospatial information management OGCISO TC211IHO,
2014 or
the usage of standards in SDIs United Nations, 2013
. We therefore concen- trate here on experiences made by the SDI developers and users community
and refer to external literature for further details on the various standards. A good starting point to learn more about important standards is the Website of
the
Open Geospatial Consortium .
An approach often used by cookbooks is to classify standards in the context of SDI following three categories as introduced by GPC Group:
72
Chapter 7. Standards
73
• Data Content Standards For understanding the contents of different data
themes by providing a data model of spatial features, attributes, relation- ships, and a data dictionary.
• Data Management Standards
For handling spatial data involving ac- tions such as discovery of data through metadata, spatial referencing of
data, collection of data from the field, submission of data by contractors to stakeholders, and tiling of image-based maps.
• Data Portrayal Standards For visual portrayal of spatial data using car-
tographic feature symbology. This approach is often used by the
various cookbooks that exist for the devel-
opment and operation of an SDI New Zealand Geospatial Office, 2011
; United Nations,
2013 . Here, we follow a different approach and discuss standards
depending on their functionality domain, i.e. data format access standards, metadata and catalogs, geodata integration, and orthogonal standards.
7.1 Data Format Access Standards
Serving data online by leveraging the latest advancements is critical to help polar scientists better conduct research. Post all data center
holdings, especially the polar griddedraster data, via web services, such as OGC web services. Report on Workshop on Cyberinfrastructure
for Polar Science, 2013 Pundsack et al.,
2013 The polar community has reported that research and analysis of catalogues
such as the Global Change Master Directory has shown that polar data com- munity has adopted OGC standards. For example, the Atlas of the Cryosphere
hosted at
NSIDC , the
Arctic Sensor Web of the Arctic Institute of North Amer- ica
, and the Polar Data Catalogue
use OGC standards to make data and maps available for inclusion in external sites and applications. Additionally, the ESA
thematic exploitation platforms including Polar TEP have been instructed to use OGC standards when available and develop best practices for implemen-
tation of the standards. The use of OGC standards will include resource cat- alogues, processing service execution, processing service packaging, and pro-
cessing containers. It is anticipated that the resulting TEP best practices defi- nitions will be contributed to OGC in the future. The major challenge in de-
veloping increased usage of the OGC approach will be in community building,
