Long-term Preservation for Spatial Data Infrastructures: a Metadata Framework and Geo-portal Implementation

Abstract

With growing concerns about environmental problems, and an exponential increase in computing capabilities over the last decade, the geospatial community has been producing increasingly voluminous and diverse environmental datasets. Long-term preservation of these environmental data exposed through uniform and interoperable Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) is not typically addressed, but is highly important for applications that require continued access to both current and historical data, e.g., for monitoring climate change. The work presented in this article investigates the requirements for ensuring sustained access to environmental data from the perspective of a preservation-aware SDI. We take INSPIRE as an exemplar for our analysis and model development. In addition, we present an implementation approach in the form of a Geo-Portal that incorporates a preservation profile of the ISO 19115 metadata standard.