1. Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM 1 Selected critical issues in current GIS datasets incl. general rules Miroslav Fanta ETC/ICM data manager

2. 2 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Objective of EEA effort To provide datasets which are: Unified and comparable for all participating countries Harmonised across country boundaries Content and precision relevant for planned utilisation Updated regarding to the latest available sources Available to all who should use them (EEA / COM / experts / public) ….. If possible (realistic evaluation of sources, planned costs, time schedule,…) If reasonable (for which purposes data will be used, how often,…) Costs / benefits: Sources available / effort (price of processing) / asset (profit) / time

3. 3 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Starting point - specification Should be done by expert who is familiar with requested / expected data, to attend maximum of a „weak points“ which can occur Determine the definition and classification of requested objects (scale, precision, content of the dataset) - Data Dictionary Unify the „variables“ which can differ country by country (or even within one country) Specify the realistic time schedule Specify the data manager for given dataset - Responsible for preparation of the dataset - Responsible for further utilisation and management of the dataset (the person who „takes care of the dataset“, support for users)

4. 4 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Starting point harmonisation across country boundaries Spatial data reported by countries Should match to country boundaries provided by submitter (EEA) Geometry + content (classification) should be harmonised with data reported by neighbouring countries Can be ensured by: - neighbouring countries (individual billateral coordination) - dream - regional coordinator – difficult management, additional costs - data manager (central level) – can be huge amount of work - feedback from countries needed (confirmation of corrected data) - in certain cases it is impossible to get successful result

5. 5 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM What can happen if mentioned rules are not followed Data from different countries are hardly comparable Data provided by countries are not checked and harmonised, only „sticked“ together Time consuming preparation of pan-European dataset => delayed (or even unfinished) final product, increased costs More frequent feedback from countries needed Impossible to reach expected quality Limited utilisation of data Nobody is managing the dataset once produced (missing support for users) Know-how about the dataset is lost in case of change of personnel (unsufficient / missing documentation) ….

6. 6 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM What level of assertivity against national reporters is possible to apply if the requested rules are not followed by countries? Directives reporting Non-Directives reporting (WISE – SoE priority dataflows) Possitive / negative evaluation of countries To whom we can complain, if necessary ?

7. 7 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Examples errors ?? inconsistencies, special issues issues to which the submitter national reporter dataset manager user should pay special attention

8. 8 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM RBD GIS reference layer v. 1.4 Coastal buffer zone is not unified (Netherlands 12 nautical miles, Belgium 0, France 1 nautical mile) red line = country boundaries

9. 9 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM UWWTD sensitive areas GIS ref. layer v. 2.2 Inhomogenous appearance evident (options in directive) designation if whole territory fractionated designation Catchment of sensitive areas Detailed subdivision in selected countries; in other cases the whole country area was specified by countries as Catchment of Sensitive areas without any subdivision

10. 10 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM UWWTD sensitive areas GIS ref. layer v. 2.2 Individual layers provided by countries were not unified by country to coast and to country boundaries Venice lagoon in Italy: Sensitive area – catchments (hatched polygons with green outline) and Sensitive area – transitional water (filled blue polygon on background).

11. 11 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM WFD groundwater bodies Preparation of dataset is managed by Klaus Duscher (BGR, Germany). Huge amount of work (several years) concerning harmonisation of country data across boundaries needed, incl. level of water horizon in which gw body is located. Dataset still under processing.

12. 12 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM WFD groundwater bodies - details Different numbers of horizons used in neighbouring countries

13. 13 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Transitional and Coastal water bodies Coastal buffer not unified even within one country (Denmark) Layers SWB_CW and SWB_CW_Legacy not harmonised across country boundaries (Denmark - Germany)

14. 14 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Data quality - Additional metadata information Description of the quality of each dataset = part of metadata information Known errors, inconsistencies or problematic issues in geometry, content, classification, harmonisation across boundaties should be described In many cases, it would be impossible or unreasonable to create 100% error-free dataset, but the user should be informed about existing and known data defects or problems Planned utilisation of the dataset, distribution, update, expected workload (costs) and time should be taken into account Special attention and effort should be paid to the quality of reference dataset

15. 15 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Basis for further work EEA GIS reference datasets relevant to pan-European scale 1 : 250 000 (1 : 1 000 000, 1 : 100 000) Country boundaries (polygon GIS layer) !!!! incl. all West Balkan countries and Turkey Coastline Rivers, Lakes (WISE Main rivers, WISE main lakes) River Basin Districts ( + SubUnits) Surface water bodies (Rivers, Lakes, Transitional, Coastal), Groundwater bodies Marine Regions and SubRegions …. Legal limitations have to be solved All other data provided by countries or created at EEA should be harmonised or snapped to these reference datasets – request for any further data specification

16. 16 Event/ date: WISE GIS – IT workshop, EEA, 7.-8.5.2012 Author: Miroslav Fanta, ETC/ICM Thank you for your attention