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Techniques for and consequences of using INSPIRE extensions : a case study with Swedish hydrological data

Eriksson, Helen LU ; Harrie, Lars LU orcid ; Paasch, Jesper LU orcid and Persson, Andreas LU (2018) In International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research 13. p.172-201
Abstract
The demand for easily available geographic information is increasing in society. Moreover, knowledge of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) has increased in many European governmental agencies, in large part because of the implementation of the INSPIRE directive. Many countries, thus, recognise the need to provide more detailed geographic information as network services at the national level. One means of realising this goal is to create INSPIRE extensions, i.e., to extend the INSPIRE data specifications with more detailed and specific national information. This paper describes a study where a complex INSPIRE extension has been created to describe the national need of hydrography information in Sweden, based on the Swedish water system... (More)
The demand for easily available geographic information is increasing in society. Moreover, knowledge of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) has increased in many European governmental agencies, in large part because of the implementation of the INSPIRE directive. Many countries, thus, recognise the need to provide more detailed geographic information as network services at the national level. One means of realising this goal is to create INSPIRE extensions, i.e., to extend the INSPIRE data specifications with more detailed and specific national information. This paper describes a study where a complex INSPIRE extension has been created to describe the national need of hydrography information in Sweden, based on the Swedish water system standard (SWSS). The study includes the creation of a UML application schema that extends the INSPIRE Hydrography (HY) theme, the transform from UML to an XSD schema, the creation of GML files, and finally, testing and evaluating the approach of using INSPIRE extensions. When evaluating the results, the consequences of replacing existing dataset/download services with one extended INSPIRE HY dataset/download service are evaluated from the perspectives of both users and data providers. The evaluation is carried out as quantitative tests of the resulting GML files, in a user-centric test where a user tests the applicability of the GML files in hydrological analyses, and by telephone interviews with personnel from Lantmäteriet, the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority. Beside these evaluations, the possible effects on the information modelling process when creating an INSPIRE extension are also examined. The study shows that it is possible to create complex INSPIRE extensions that include many object types, attributes and relations. From a user perspective, extended INSPIRE HY files do not differ substantially from SWSS files, and can be used in hydrological analyses. Data providers can relatively simply replace their current download services with one for the extended INSPIRE HY, but the specific economic consequences for this could not be drawn. It could be expected, though, that there can be both economic, administrative and maintenance advantages if today’s separate INSPIRE and national download services are replaced with services exposing datasets based on an extended INSPIRE data model for all adequate themes. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
INSPIRE, INSPIRE extension, Data harmonisation, GML, Hydrological data
in
International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research
volume
13
pages
30 pages
publisher
Ispra : European Commission
ISSN
1725-0463
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
96193a7d-148e-407b-a04b-f64ea394ff48
alternative location
http://ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/ijsdir/article/view/471
date added to LUP
2019-02-10 07:34:38
date last changed
2021-01-20 13:24:51
@article{96193a7d-148e-407b-a04b-f64ea394ff48,
  abstract     = {{The demand for easily available geographic information is increasing in society. Moreover, knowledge of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) has increased in many European governmental agencies, in large part because of the implementation of the INSPIRE directive. Many countries, thus, recognise the need to provide more detailed geographic information as network services at the national level. One means of realising this goal is to create INSPIRE extensions, i.e., to extend the INSPIRE data specifications with more detailed and specific national information. This paper describes a study where a complex INSPIRE extension has been created to describe the national need of hydrography information in Sweden, based on the Swedish water system standard (SWSS). The study includes the creation of a UML application schema that extends the INSPIRE Hydrography (HY) theme, the transform from UML to an XSD schema, the creation of GML files, and finally, testing and evaluating the approach of using INSPIRE extensions. When evaluating the results, the consequences of replacing existing dataset/download services with one extended INSPIRE HY dataset/download service are evaluated from the perspectives of both users and data providers. The evaluation is carried out as quantitative tests of the resulting GML files, in a user-centric test where a user tests the applicability of the GML files in hydrological analyses, and by telephone interviews with personnel from Lantmäteriet, the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority. Beside these evaluations, the possible effects on the information modelling process when creating an INSPIRE extension are also examined. The study shows that it is possible to create complex INSPIRE extensions that include many object types, attributes and relations. From a user perspective, extended INSPIRE HY files do not differ substantially from SWSS files, and can be used in hydrological analyses. Data providers can relatively simply replace their current download services with one for the extended INSPIRE HY, but the specific economic consequences for this could not be drawn. It could be expected, though, that there can be both economic, administrative and maintenance advantages if today’s separate INSPIRE and national download services are replaced with services exposing datasets based on an extended INSPIRE data model for all adequate themes.}},
  author       = {{Eriksson, Helen and Harrie, Lars and Paasch, Jesper and Persson, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{1725-0463}},
  keywords     = {{INSPIRE; INSPIRE extension; Data harmonisation; GML; Hydrological data}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{172--201}},
  publisher    = {{Ispra : European Commission}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research}},
  title        = {{Techniques for and consequences of using INSPIRE extensions : a case study with Swedish hydrological data}},
  url          = {{http://ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/ijsdir/article/view/471}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}