From Ocean Teacher Library

Global Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiatives

Contents 1 Background 2 IOC IODE as part of Global Marine and Coastal SDI 3 Global SDI Initiatives with Marine Components 4 Other Resources 5 Subsections of this Article 6 Information about this article 7 Contact

Background

The term Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is now in common use in countries around the world, although definitions for the term differ quite considerably. The stated objectives of SDI initiatives vary as much as do the definitions, legal mandates, types of organisation responsible for specifying and implementing SDI and actual progress achieved in creating national and regional SDIs.

One complication in specifying any SDI is the nature of spatial information, i.e. information with a location attribute, often said to represent 80% of all information held, especially at government level. SDI designers must accommodate the widely varying information needs of highly diverse disciplines and sectors of society, business and government. Health epidemiologists are seldom interested in the same spatial data as geological surveyors, air traffic controllers or coastal zone managers. Yet an important overlap in jurisdiction and information needs may arise, e.g. when a potential health epidemic is generated by toxic chemical concentrations in marine fauna later consumed by area residents. Then knowledge of the coastal zone flora and fauna, hydrography, tidal states, nearby land use practices of industry and agriculture and transport routes, fishing practices and zones all become intertwined. The complex relationships between different types of spatial information are one reason that countries take different routes to specify their SDI, ranging from visions to strategies to goals to detailed content (data and standards) and implementation plans (rules and regulations).

We all recognize that the coastal zone is a difficult geographical area to manage due to temporal issues (tides and seasons) and the overlapping of physical geography and hydrography (offshore, near shore, shoreline, inshore), of jurisdictions, legal mandates and remits of government agencies and the often competing needs of stakeholders. Typically, many different local, national and regional government agencies are responsible for different aspects of the same physical areas and uses of the coastal zone, e.g. fisheries, environment, agriculture, transport (inland and marine), urban planning and cadastre, national mapping agency and the hydrographic service.

IOC IODE as part of Global Marine and Coastal SDI

Global SDI Initiatives with Marine Components

Other Resources

Subsections of this Article

No subsections available

Information about this article

Short title: Global SDI Initiatives

Description: none

Expertise level: beginner

Author: Roger.Longhorn

Approval status: approved

Approved by: Murray.Brown

Last change: 2008-9-26

Subsection of: Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Infrastructure

Contact

If you have any direct comments or suggestions for the author of this page then please feel free to send an email to the author (listed above). For discussions on this page please use the discussions page.,