Status and Progress of OneGeology: Operational and Technical Ian Jackson and Francois Robida 23 April 2009 OneGeology Secretariat

Contents of this presentation OneGeology – some background Operational aspects Technical aspects Issues and problems

OneGeology is ….. A project to make web-accessible the best available geological map data worldwide at a scale of about 1:1 million, as a Geological Survey contribution to the International Year of Planet Earth Some background

The use case Access Geological map data is difficult to locate When one does find it its often not digital Not available on the internet Interoperability Can’t easily integrate different geoscience datasets Can’t easily integrate geoscience data with other scientific, topographical or political data Exchange of know-how and skills In the Developing (and the Developed) world Some background

OneGeology objectives Make existing geological map data accessible –in whatever digital format is available in the participating country Transfer know-how to those who need it Adopt an approach that recognizes that different nations have differing abilities to participate Stimulate a rapid increase in interoperability (i.e. disseminate GeoSciML further and faster) Raise the profile of geoscience, geological map data and geological surveys Some background

A crucial point OneGeology is about geological data available in a standard data structure first, i.e. making geological map data accessible without geological reconciliation The prime objective is not about harmonising geological units and scientific classification across frontiers – that’s something for the longer term Some background

January 2006 – origin of concept February 2006 – concept introduced at CGMW AGM March 2007 – Brighton meeting and agreement of Accord August 2008 – launch of portal at 33 rd IGC in Oslo April 2009 – first Steering Group meeting Evolution Some background

OneGeology funding OneGeology is a voluntary initiative by Geological Surveys They are providing the resources from their own budgets BGS and BRGM contribute the equivalent of ~ € pa for coordination and portal “hub” No additional external funds have been provided to achieve its goals Some background

Participation and data served Country participating in OneGeology Country serving data to OneGeology portal now Operational aspects

102 countries today Operational aspects

Coordination Operational aspects ICOGS

Funding won to support OneGeology work and goals €3.25 million for 21 nation OneGeology-Europe project started September 2008 (supporting INSPIRE) $ for Geoscience Information Network for 50 US State geological surveys, started August 2008 Operational aspects

Communication & outreach

Technical aspects Basic OneGeology technical structure/methodology Portal and how it works and visit numbers WMS/WFS GeoSciML Progress to date Technical Working group and its meetings Importance of /links to eg OGC and INSPIRE Next steps Up to 10 slides on ….

Getting in touch with countries which are not participating in OneGeology and reaching the right people in these organisations. Some participating nations are unable to serve data because their national laws/organisation business models say they must charge for geological map data. Many participating nations are happy to have their data served by others, but the long term goal is to have them serve their own data – that will need money and training. Sustaining OneGeology: Where will long term funding come from and what is the policy on sponsorship? Issues and problems

What is the optimum relationship between OneGeology and component/linked regional initiatives such as those in Europe and the USA? OneGeology’s global profile has resulted in enquiries from universities, individuals and companies asking if it is possible for them to participate and serve geological map data – how should we deal with these requests? Should we extend it to detailed mapping and/or derived thematic maps and to 3D models? The longer term plans for OneGeology – after 2012 – are not articulated and have been queried: what is the vision?

Technical aspects : basic principles Based on interoperability principles Maps produced on distributed servers and sent directly to web client (user side) Every participant delivers its map through a standard web service (WMS / WFS) The list of metadata of maps / services is collected into a catalogue of services managed “centrally” The portal gives the possibility to display / aggregate all the maps

Technical aspects : WMS – WFS ? Two ISO/OGC standards of web services to give access to geographical information through web portals and/or GIS tools WMS - Web Map Service : produces an image (raster) WFS - Web Feature Service : provides data Geometry (points, polygons, lines,…) Attributes  In a standardised text format (GML Geography Markup Language)

Technical aspects : GeoSciML systems syntax schematic semantic Data Structure (GeoSciML, Obs.& Measurements) Data Language (GML, XML) Data Services (WFS, WMS, WCS) The standard « language » to exchange geoscientific data (based on GML) The pile of standards for interoperability requirements

Technical aspects : the cookbooks

Some figures : visits in 6 months ( on opening day) currently around visits per month 125 datasets served from 40 countries Technical aspects : the portal

The Portal has the following functions –Zoom, pan, –Get Information tool [i] –Help menu –multi-layer map view, –opacity selection, –legend viewer, –link to google earth –Save « context » (to share same views of maps) –details of provider organisation / geological survey –web link URL to the provider survey –brief description of the data layer –conditions of use information for each layer –currently available in 2 languages – Français and English Technical aspects : the portal

List of registered maps

… in Google Earth

Technical aspects : Behind the portal…

Technical aspects : technical working group (TWG) Defines standards for OneGeology, provides technical specifications for services and portal Delivers cookbooks for implementation of services and GeoSciML by participants Provides technical support Meets twice a year : Utrecht - May : Orleans - February, Oslo - August : Copenhagen - January, Quebec - September (following GeoSciML annual meeting)

Technical aspects : next steps New version of portal in June Reengineered to improve performance, user interface, and compatibility with browsers - New presentation of hierarchical levels (continents  states) -Search datasets on title and abstract -WFS services more visible End Development of a Catalogue of services compliant to standard OGC protocol Update of cookbook to integrate new versions of WMS/WFS tools … and new datasets from participants

Technical aspects : links with external bodies Importance of links with “standardization” bodies to guarantee consistency, influence processes and reinforce the visibility of our community : -CGI  GeoSciML - OGC : (Open Geospatial Consortium) : develops geospatial standards and links with thematic communities -INSPIRE and other continental SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) initiatives -GEO/GEOSS -…-…