1. GIS Guidance for WISE supporting reporting and application of data
Updated Guidance on
implementing the Geographical Information System Elements (GIS)
of the EU Water legislation

2. Outline Purpose Form of document Overview of chapters
Future developments

3. Purpose of updating guidance document
It is the assumption that the GIS component of WISE will be a building block of the future European Spatial Data Infrastructure
WISE will cover all water related policies
The key services of WISE will be:
the visualisation of geographic and geo-referenced data,
the integration of data from different sources and at various levels (European and national levels),
the compliance assessment of data related to the implementation of the water directives, and policy assessment through the creation and analysis of scenarios.

4. Purpose of updated guidance document
To support the development of WISE by providing conceptual overview, technical specifications and digital resources
To be used by data providers and WISE developers.
The existing guidance from 2003 has formed the starting point for the work.

5. The update reflect:
The continuous interest in streamlining of reporting
Experiences gained through first years of WFD implementation
The developments in the application of the data provided by MS
The wider scope of WISE – all water related policies
Changes in frameworks (INSPIRE, SEIS)
Development in technologies (web services and service oriented architecture)

6. Drafting team WRc consortium: WISE TG Others
Michael Stjernholm, NERI, AU
Gabrela Vincze, UBA
Tim Lack, Ruth Cullingford, John Cima WRc
WISE TG
Stefan Jensen EEA
Violetta Vinceviciene DG ENV
Alfred de Jager, Stephen Pedell, Kathleen Miserez JRC
Ekkehard Petri ESTAT/GISCO
Javier Fernandez Pereira, CH Duero
Ralf Busskamp BfK
Rombout Verwimp GeoSolutions
Others
Mette Lund EEA
Kathleen Miserez JRC
Jon Maidens, Atkins
Walter Simonazzi, ETC-LUSI …

7. Co-ownership Member states DG ENV EEA ESTAT JRC
In all water policy areas

8. INSPIRE Data harmonisation Components ~ Ideal content !

9. Form of document
The main document provide the broader perspective of the GIS issues
A Conceptual part
A Technical part
Appendices provide:
Background documents
legal texts and methodology studies
Technical details
data specifications
processing recommendations

10. Form of document
The main document and annexes are available through the web:
The appendices with technical specifications documents are “snapshots” that reflect the current content of Data dictionaries and feature catalogues
Shorter specific GIS guidance documents are to be developed for each reporting cycle

11. Conceptual part of guidance
The conceptual part provide:
Overview of the role of GIS in WISE seen from both MS and EU side
An introduction to how MS submitted and EU processed GIS datasets are related and used
The principles of WISE when it come to:
the application of standards,
interoperability
update of datasets
management of identifiers and codes

12. Table of Contents 1/4 1- Introduction CONCEPTUAL
Purpose of guidance
Development of WISE via implementing WFD and other EU-wide reporting on water
Terminology and abbreviations
CONCEPTUAL
2 - GIS in WISE: Developing common understanding
Scope of GIS guidance and purpose of GIS in WISE
GIS Guidance – a necessity for streamlining reporting
The role of GIS in WISE
MS GIS submissions and WISE GIS reference data sets
GIS data requested from Member Stets under WISE

13. Table of Contents 2/4 3 - Definition of derived products (Maps)
Types of WISE GIS datasets
Policy implementation visualisation
Overview of WISE map viewer application
State of the Environment visualisation
Compliance assessments visualisation
4 - Principles of WISE compatibility and WISE interoperability
What is WISE compatible?
Update of existing datasets
Creation of new datasets
Management of identifiers and codes

14. Technical part of guidance
The technical part provide:
The data specification approach and data model
The overview of GIS layers in WISE
The methodology and recommendations for European feature coding
A description of metadata in WISE
Description and recommendations for the application of GML as future exchange format
An introduction to spatial data web services – an expected element of WISE

15. Technical part of guidance cont’d
Harmonisation:
Description and recommendations for the validation and harmonisation processes which takes place at either Member State level or EU level
Examples of the production of WISE Reference GIS datasets including challenges and principles for the data processing
An overview of the use and challenges in applying reference features for visualising data submitted by Member States.

16. Technical part of guidance cont’d
Coordination:
Description of the development phases we apply in defining a reporting cycle
A short overview of the main coordinating groups of relevance for WISE development
A short description of the role of the European institutions involved in the development of WISE

17. Table of Contents 3/4 5 - Technical descriptions
General approach for definition of datasets
Overview of GIS layers and their relationships
Data model
European Feature coding
Metadata
Standards for data exchange
Web services

18. Table of Contents 4/4 6 - Harmonisation 7 - Coordination
Validation and harmonisation of geometry, data definitions, data models, naming
Production of WISE Reference GIS datasets
WISE reference features for visualisation
7 - Coordination
Development phases of reporting cycles
Main coordination groups
Involved organisations

19. Challenges INSPIRE IR and Best practice are still developing
Technical specification details are missing
Technical tools have not yet been developed
Specifications are continuously being added and adjusted

20. Amendments foreseen More specific guidelines for:
web services and the interoperability between MS and WISE nodes - “portal”
the management of identifiers applied in the delivery and documentation of changes in updated datasets