Spatial data infrastructure
A spatial data infrastructure is a data infrastructure implementing a framework of geographic data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Another definition is "the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data".
A further definition is given in Kuhn : "An SDI is a coordinated series of agreements on technology standards, institutional arrangements, and policies that enable the discovery and use of geospatial information by users and for purposes other than those it was created for."
General
Some of the main principles are that data and metadata should not be managed centrally, but by the data originator and/or owner, and that tools and services connect via computer networks to the various sources. A GIS is often the platform for deploying an individual node within an SDI. To achieve these objectives, good coordination between all the actors is necessary and the definition of standards is very important.Due to its nature will do the same for over 30 UN Funds, Programmes, Specialized Agencies and member countries.
Software components
An SDI should enable the discovery and delivery of spatial data from a data repository, via a spatial service provider, to a user. As mentioned earlier it is often wished that the data provider is able to update spatial data stored in a repository. Hence, the basic software components of an SDI are:- Software client - to display, query, and analyse spatial data
- Catalogue service - for the discovery, browsing, and querying of metadata or spatial services, spatial datasets and other resources
- Spatial data service - allowing the delivery of the data via the Internet
- Processing services - such as datum and projection transformations, or the transformation of cadastral survey observations and owner requests into Cadastral documentation
- data repository - to store data, e.g., a spatial database
- GIS software - to create and update spatial data
National spatial data infrastructures
List by country or administrative zone. It is not complete, is a sample of NSDIs with stable official website.| Admin. Region | [|NSDI] name and ext. link |
| Europe | |
| India | |
| Basque Country | |
| Swiss | |
| Colombia | |
| Bogota | |
| Chile | |
| United Nations | |
| United States | |
| Australia | and |
| Canada | |
| Chile | |
| Sweden | , Geodata.se - Sverige bit för bit, Geodata.se - Sweden Bit by Bit |
| Estonia | |
| Finland | |
| Germany | |
| Netherlands | |
| Lithuania | |
| Spain | |
| Catalonia | |
| Gipuzkoa | |
| Andalusia | |
| Canary Islands | |
| Andorra | |
| Brazil | |
| Malaysia | |
| Bolivia | |
| Abu Dhabi |
SDI-related journals
SDI-related books
- from the Global Spatial Data Infrastructur Organisation
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SDI software
- is a free, modular and interoperable Spatial Data Infrastructure software that includes other software like GeoNetwork, GeoServer, GeoWebCache,...,
- GeoNetwork is a free and open source cataloging application for spatially referenced resources,
- is a web-based application and platform for developing geospatial information systems and for deploying spatial data infrastructures,
- includes Open Source components like GeoServer and GeoNetwork,
- is a complete web-based platform for deploying any geoportal.
- is an open source solution for building SDI models where a central SDI node is populated with content from distributed nodes, as well as SDI models where each node participates equally in a federated mode. It requires a closed-source solution to operate.