The European Soil Data Centre, the European Soil Bureau Network and INSPIRE Data Specifications for Soil Marc Van Liedekerke, Panos Panagos, Luca Montanarella Land Management and Natural Harzards Unit SOIL Action 1
Outline 1. Background of ESDAC 2. Requirements 3. Developments so far 4. Outlook 5. Soil data harmonization: ESBN 6. Soil data harmonization: INSPIRE 7. How does ESDAC relate to soil data harmonization? 8. Conclusion 2
European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC): Established as one centre in the new system of European Data Centers for the environment, decided by the group of four (Go4) (DG ENV, ESTAT, JRC, EEA) (2006) Background JRC Go4 Soil Forest DG ENV specifies Data requirements EUROSTAT Waste Natural resources IPP EEA Climate Change Water Air Land use Biodiversity 3
Background The technical arrangement in the Go4 specifies for each data centre that: It will act as the primary data contact point for DG ENV in order to fulfill DG ENV s information needs. It will have the task of ensuring that the collected data fit DG ENV s requirements, that data collection is organized in an efficient way, that the necessary quality assurance is performed and that all relevant existing data are accessible to other parties. It will have the primary responsibility for organizing the availability and quality of the data required for policy. Data collection and quality control activities in relation to such data need to be fully co-ordinated with the data centre, which should also take steps to ensure that user needs are taken fully into account Data Centres are driven by DG ENV requirements Collect soil data at EU-level Make data available 4
JRC ESTAT DG ENV Requirements for ESDAC Collection of soil data at EU level : Inventory of existing soil data at EU level EEA, EIONET, ETC/TE EC European Soil Regions Soil regions of Europe (scale 1:5,000,000) European Soil Database (ESDB) and derived products PESERA OCTOP Various datasets at 1:250,000 Various soil profile datasets (point data) European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) Forest Focus, BioSoil SINFO Soil data from LUCAS project Soil geometry and attribute data for Eurasia obtained through harmonization of national soil data (scale 1:1,000,000) Soil erosion map for Europe (1k cells) Organic Carbon map for Europe (1k cells) Italy, Albania, Odra basin, Meuse basin Soil Profile Analytical Databases for Europe (SPADE), Danube basin Archive of >5000 scanned soil related maps for all continents. Forest soil (point )data Data on progress in management of contaminated sites for EU ESDB data expanded for the Crop Growth Monitoring System (CGMS) Compiled data related to the following indicators: Soil sealing, Diffuse contamination ( Heavy metal accumulation and Sewage sludge application ), Soil erosion Data from various EC funded soil related projects (e.g. ENVASSO (Environmental Assessment of soil for monitoring)) Currently : existing soil data documented in EUR Reports "Soil Resources in Europe" Member States Future : possibly risk area data for major soil threats identified in context of Soil Thematic Strategy and Soil Framework Directive 5
Title Collection of soil data at EU level : metadata for each Inventory entry The ESDBv2 Raster Library - 1km x 1km DG ENV Requirements for ESDAC Subject Keywords Publisher Status Prepared raster images for 73 soil attributes of the European Soil Database v2.0 (ESDBv2) Soil, Raster, Grid, SGDBE, Soil Geographical Database, PTRDB, Pedotransfer Rules Database, LAEA, INSPIRE European Commission DG JRC and European Soil Bureau Network Final Description The library contains raster (or grid) data files (in native ESRI GRID format) for most attributes (73 in total) of the SGDBE and PTRDB databases of the ESDB v2.0; cell sizes are 1km x 1km and the grid is aligned with the reference grid recommended during the 1st Workshop on European Reference Grids in the context of the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) initiative.. Datasource Type and Format Coverage Scale/Resolution Last update April 2006 Contact Rights / Accessibility URL European Soil Databasev2.0 Rasters (grids) ; ESRI GRID The grid origin is defined 4.321.000,0 m west and 3.210.000,0 m south of projection centre point (52N, 10 E), centre point. The grid extent is such that it covers all EU25 countries. Width : 7.500.000,0 m ; Height : 5.500.00,0 m ; 7500 columns, 5500 rows. Cell sizes of 1km x 1km Marc Van Liedekerke (marc.van-liedekerke@jrc.it), JRC Free for download after registration http://eusoils.jrc.it/esdb_archive/esdb_data_1k_raster_intro/esdb_1k_raster_data_intro.html 6
DG ENV Requirements for ESDAC Collection of soil data at EU level : Identified data and information providers at EU level: EC and JRC soil related activities: SOIL Action, BioSoil, LUCAS, EC funded projects results: ENVASSO, RAMSOIL, GS Soil, Research Collaborations: EuroGeoSurveys, FAO, ISRIC European Soil Bureau Network: European Soil Database, Working Groups EIONET NRCs (contaminated sites, soil organic carbon, soil erosion) Member States e.g. in a possible future Soil Framework Directive Implementation plan 2007-2009 was agreed with the other Go4 partners 7
ESDAC implementation plan implementation plan : At EU level: ESDAC will become the single focal point for policy relevant soil data and information technical platform for data/metadata; ESDAC will be one node in a system consisting of distributed data nodes: as a soil data node, it will hold soil data at European level, while other soil data nodes at regional, national or global level will focus on data of different scales. ESDAC will allow linking to data and information from National providers, fully complying with the INSPIRE principle of delocalized data systems in a networked approach (interoperability) 8
in 2007: European Soil Portal eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu ESDAC Technical Platform for data and metadata Data (e.g. European Soil Database) Maps (e.g. EuDASM archive of scanned maps) Documents (e.g. ESBN Research Reports) On-line applications (e.g. using ESDB) and much more Data distribution Help Desk for problem solving Download of data (some data are protected and access is subject to registration) User base : 1400+ users have been registered Communication with User Base: Mailing list, free subscription Regular mails for communication of updates Could be considered as ESDAC Technical Platform but was lacking: targeted search possibilty to interconnect to other systems 9
ESDAC: data, maps, applications Data (eg European Soil Database) On-line services/applications (eg ESDB data) Maps (as images) 10
ESDAC: value added products Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA) OCTOP -- Organic Carbon in topsoils (as images) 11
ESDAC Technical Platform In 2008, a technical platform was developed In essence a metadata system Contains metadata on data, applications/services, reports, events, links and projects Metadata points to actual resource For data and services: use of Metadata catalogue according to INSPIRE suggested standard (ISO19115) populated with metadata for all JRC-local data holdings Browse and Local search of the metadata ESDAC Technical Platform eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu browse and search metatata data, services, 12
ESDAC Technical Platform Metadata Catalogue: Catalogue of soil related data, services, applications, documents and projects at EU level ESDAC Map Viewer: Web application for the viewing of subset of available soil data Interoperable with other WMS based nodes (e.g. EFDAC) 13
ESDAC Technical Platform: metadata Browse, search and view of metadata 14
ESDAC Technical Platform: metadata eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu 15
ESDAC Technical Platform: Map Viewer Integration of many Soil layers in one place Navigation (Zoom, Pan) Overlay of layers Query WMS Interoperability with EFDAC 16
ESDAC outlook 2009 state of the ESDAC technical platform: Can be considered EU-node for soil data conform to INSPIRE requirements Metadata service for soil data at EU-level (INSPIRE discovery) Data viewing for selected data (INSPIRE view) Data download service (free and registered) (INSPIRE download) In the future, ESDAC technical platform wants to be extend with capabilities for meaningful soil data exchange with Member States Soil Metadata; Soil data ESDAC ESDAC: EU - node Member State - nodes Meaningful data exchange: nodes need to speak the same language Soil data harmonization is needed 17
Soil data harmonization Soil data harmonization: Within the European soil (research) community: European Soil Bureau Network established specifications for soil data representation at scale 1:1000,000 and is now in the process to develop specifications for 1:250,00 scale (many soil organizations invoved; result will not be binding) ISO TC190 (soil quality): Working Group that aims at creation of a standard for the exchange and recording of soil data (limited participation and result will not be binding) INSPIRE: work on data specifications for soil will start at the earliest by the end of 2009 (all MSs involved; results will be binding) 18
Soil data harmonization: the ESBN European Soil Bureau Network Network of organizations, scientifically oriented, dealing with many aspects of soil; network is maintained by JRC In the past: data providers for the European Soil Database, the only harmonized soil database for Europe Platform for information exchange concerning soil issues at EU-level Perform work on day-actual soil topics through Working Groups (voluntary): WG INSPIRE: contrubute to data specification process for INPIRE Soil WG Creation of 1:250,000 soil database for Europe WG Delineation of risk areas for soil threats (EU soil thematic strategy) WG Soil awareness and education 19
Soil data harmonization: INSPIRE INSPIRE Directive came into force in May 2007 A legal framework concerning the set-up in Member States of infrastructures for spatial data that support environmental purposes Spatial data: defined in annex-i, annex-ii and annex-iii (soil) So-called Implementing Rules will be specified through a participatory approach (anyone can participate) and will then be turned into EU regulations (binding). e.g. on Metadata in Dec 2008 Implementing Rules for data specifications: Annex-I currently under specification; Annex-II and III start end 2009 Through Thematic Working Groups, which are established by INSPIRE Technical Coordinators, after a public call for interest to participate Data specifications (for a theme) will dictate that (after a certain date) Member States have to make any new data (for that theme) available according to the INSPIRE specifications, guaranteeing interoperability of data among MSs 20
INSPIRE data specifications happen through a highly structured approach: In a first phase a conceptual framework and a data specification methodology was developed (2007) In a second phase, based on these, for each data theme data specifications will take place, along a road of tasks that is clearly specified and will require three years: Task 1: User requirements and use cases Task 2: Analysis of relevant reference material Task 3: As-is analysis Task 4: Gap analysis Task 5: Drafting data specification Task 6: Testing of draft data specifications for the soil theme in the soil data community Task 7: Preparation and adoption of IR based on draft and testing (legal text) INSPIRE data specifications for soil: ESBN WG INSPIRE decided to contribute significantly to the basic tasks 1 and 2 that will serve as input to the official Thematic Working Group for soil in 2010, in which the WG hopes to participate Soil data harmonization: INSPIRE 21
Task Collection of user requirements of soil related applications and collection of reference material What applications are of particular interest? : connected to the Community environmental policies connected to the Community policies that have environmental impact a cross-border or pan-european element between several EU Member States deal with multilingualism related to the harmonisation/exchange of spatial data give best practice examples of national implementation. Considering a variety of policy areas : the Soil Thematic Strategy, the Nitrate Directive, Bird and habitat Directives, Sewage sludge Directive, Groundwater Directive, Water framework Directive, Rural development Regulation, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EIONET and EEA reporting, Forestry / Forest Focus, GHG Reporting, Diffuse Contamination and Contaminated Land Considering all MSs Following applications and reference material templates suggested by the INSPIRE Technical Coordinators. Soil data harmonization: INSPIRE 22
Soil data harmonization: INSPIRE Task Use Case development The sources that are to be considered for the development of use cases and application scenarios will be: the community environmental policies, or policies which may have an impact on the environment, the user requirements and reference material identified before the INSPIRE DT DS deliverable D2.3 Definition of Annex Themes and Scope part Soil in particular Task In-depth analysis of the collected reference material An in-depth analysis will be made of the collected reference material; the analysis will be done in such a way that it can serve the development of a first-cut application schema for soil (which will be done by the TWG Soil) 23
ESDAC, ESBN, INSPIRE: conclusion 24