Building bridges: experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of INSPIRE and e-reporting of air quality data in Europe

Abstract

The collection, exchange and use of air quality data require diverse monitoring, processing and dissemination systems to work seamlessly together. These systems should supply data in a format usable for other applications such as planning, assessing population exposure and environmental impact assessment. As air quality does not change abruptly near national borders, international cooperation within this domain is highly desirable. This manuscript reports lessons learned during the implementation phase of one the world’s largest data harmonisation effort of environmental information infrastructures, INSPIRE, a backbone of a European wide spatial data reporting system which involves an unprecedented number of actors and volumes of data. It is important within the context of the Digital Earth concept and the establishment of a global spatial data infrastructure (SDI) through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), as the quality of ambient air is among the most pressing contemporary environmental problems. We summarise our findings from the perspective of national public authorities, obliged by law to transmit standardised spatio-temporal data to streamline reporting and facilitate the use of information, while keeping public expenditure under control. To develop implementation strategies for these type of e-reporting data flows we established a cross-border case study, looking at the process of harmonisation and exchange of data in Belgium and the Netherlands based on interoperable standards. Our results cover the legal, semantic, technological and organisational aspects of reporting. They are relevant to a cross-thematic audience having to undergo similar processes of reporting, such as climate change, environmental noise, marine, biodiversity, water management, etc.