Harmonisation requirements and capabilities towards a European spatial data infrastructure (ESDI): The HUMBOLDT protected areas scenario

Abstract

The HUMBOLDT project has the aim of implementing a Framework for harmonisation of data and services in the geoinformation domain, under the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Directive and in the context of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Initiative. The two-pronged approach of HUMBOLDT comprises a technical side of software framework development and an application side of scenario testing and validation. Among the HUMBOLDT Application Scenarios designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Framework there is the one covering Protected Areas themes and use cases. It aims to transform geoinformation, managed by park authorities, into a seamless flow that combines multiple information sources from different governance levels (European, national, regional), and exploits this newly combined information for the purposes of planning, management and tourism promotion. The Scenario constitutes a step further towards the integration of monitoring systems envisaged in the view of Digital Earth. Protected Areas Scenario creates an examples of the use of the HUMBOLDT tools in Desktop and Web GIS environment, together with setting up a server environment exploiting HUMBOLDT harmonisation framework as taking into account user requirements and needs and providing benefits for making the road to ESDI establishment easier. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.