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Data standards and infrastructure for the Monitoring and Evaluation of SMAs

MESMA

Abstract:

The practice has the aim of ensuring consistency and quality in the handling and management of geospatial and other data and optimal alignment with EU common data standards.

Okt 13

Sea Basin(s):
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Baltic Sea
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North Sea
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Atlantic Ocean
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West Mediterranean
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East Mediterranean
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Black Sea
Application in MSP:
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Unknown effect
Type of Issue:
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Cross-border cooperation
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Data
Type of practice:
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Guidance
Stage of MSP cycle:
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Develop and implement plan
Cross-border / trans-national aspect:
Yes
Key words:
MESMA
data standard
Monitoring
evaluation
geodatabase
consistency
Source / Links:

Under WP5 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/226661/reporting/de 

Questions this practice may help answer

  • How can I assure consistency and quality in the handling and management of geospatial and other data when developing a data tool?
  • Which elements do I need to take into account when developing data infrastructure?

Implementation Context

Data standards and infrastructure have been the focus of Work Package 5 in the MESMA project. The findings of the activities in these workpackages have contributed to the development of the MESMA Central Exchange Application and the online geoportal.

Aspects / Objectives

Ensuring consistency and quality in the handling and management of geospatial and other data and optimal alignment with EU common data standards.

Method

Users were asked for feedback on the developed online tools. This feedback has been analysed, conclusions have been developed and recommendations for further development written.

Main Outputs / Results

A report has been produced with includes a conclusion and recommendations for best practices. The report concludes that functionally the system developed received positive feedback from users, however the content remains a weakness. This is due to the fact that the project partnership includes a large number of organisations that have different levels of control over the data used in MESMA and different levels of technical expertise in geographic information systems and technology.

The following recommendations need to be taken into account in developing (MSP) data infrastructures. The main recommendations are:

  • The use of standard data formats and delivery services is essential in interconnecting the disparate data sources and associated metadata needed for MSP to form a consistent system of interoperable systems.
  • The use of OGC catalogue services (CSW) and web map service (WMS) is a minimal requirement for building a data discovery and visualisation geoportal.
  • The key element that can glue an SDI’s components or subsystems together is metadata.
  • In metadata, references to the dataset classification themes and the links to the data delivery services must be specified properly according to a standard convention.
  • An effort should be made to standardise not only data (notably through the adoption of the INSPIRE data models), but also map legends.
  • Capacity building in the area of GIS should be planned in future (MSP) data infrastructure projects.

Transferability

The recommendations are applicable to other MSP data infrastructures.

Costs / Funding Source

This practice was elaborated under the MESMA project, co financed by the European 7th Framework Programme for Research. Direct costs of its elaboration are unknown.

Responsible Entity

MaREI Centre

Website: http://marei.ie/

Contact Person

Gerry Sutton, MaREI

University College Cork

gerry.suttonatucc.ie