BGR Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe

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Interconnectedness of Geodata Infrastructures

BGR is involved in many ways in the development of national and European spatial data infrastructures. Within the framework of the Spatial Data Infrastructure Germany (SDI Germany), BGR represents the geoscientific interests in the IMAGI working group (Federal Interministerial Committee for Geo-information). In the European initiative INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe), BGR contributes to the implementation rules “Data specifications”.

Decision-making in administration and economy is 80% based on spatial information (geo-information):

  • Search for areas suitable for designating new business parks (competing area uses?)
  • Selection of locations appropriate for the utilization of geothermal resources,
  • Estimation of potential environmental risks in a region (earthquakes, flooding, landslides).

The response to such questions requires both expert knowledge and information on the geographical location (spatial reference).

As an example, the flooding disaster of the German river Elbe in August 2002 has shown that harmonization and interoperability of governmental geo-information including notably its availability, play a major role in planning and implementing complex measures. This environmental disaster revealed that the data needed to solve a problem are in fact existent, but stored in different places by the federal government, the states or the municipalities; transparency on information distribution is often missing. This is aggravated by the fact that data has been collected and processed according to different criteria. This can make it difficult or even impossible to act quickly due to an inhomogeneous information base: Rescue forces are directed to the wrong positions or aid measures do not achieve their planned efficiency because they are not carried out at the best locations. Such situations can occur especially when the disaster occurs across administrative boundaries.

On the other hand, there is a need for high-quality homogeneous and interoperable geo-information in a various range of economic sectors. For business processes in companies, it is unimportant which government agency is responsible and accountable for a certain information. What is decisive is quick and easy access to the information across administrative boundaries in the required qualities, resolutions and area coverage. Consistency of delivery conditions and data protection regulations as well as economically viable pricing models that optimize existing business processes or help promote new business models are particularly important here. This can only succeed if geo-information, which can be of quite different origin and nature depending on the industry, is made available in a barrier-free and business-oriented manner.

In order to achieve this goal, efforts have been made for several years to standardize and improve the accessibility of geo-information. Programs are being initiated at the state, federal and European level to boost the interconnectedness of geo-information.



Information Platform of the State Geological Surveys of Germany (InfoGEO)

On the geoscientific level, the State Geological Surveys of Germany and BGR coordinate their activities, e.g. regarding formats, harmonization of data and development of standards. www.infogeo.de is the internet platform for the joint products and results; information and applications are offered there for free use. The offer will be successively expanded in order to establish a central point of contact in Germany for geoscientific questions.



Federal Interministerial Committee for Geo-Information (IMAGI)

In the year 1998 the federal government of Germany established the Interministerial Committee for Geo-Information Management (IMAGI) in order to coordinate the necessary steps at federal level. The BGR has been involved in the IMAGI working groups from the very beginning and supports the process towards a nationwide geodata infrastructure also by providing metadata and web services in the federal geoportal.

First results can be viewed at the federal web portal https://www.geoportal.de/. Besides search functions for geodata in Germany including datasets of BGR, this portal offers a web map application to view these expert data. In addition to a geo data search, which can also be used to search the geo data stocks of the BGR, various expert data can be viewed in a map application. The BGR has made Web Mapping Service (WMS) available here

The work of the federal administration is incorporated into the future superordinate geodata infrastructures within Germany (GDI-DE/SDI Germany) and Europe (INSPIRE).


Spatial Data Infrastructure of Germany (GDI-DE/SDI Germany)

In their meeting on 27 November 2003, the Head of the Federal Chancellery together with Heads of State and Senate Chancelleries approved the setting up of a geodata infrastructure Germany (GDI-DE):

  • The "Working group of the State Secretaries for eGovernment in the states and the federal government" is commissioned to take on the issue "Joint implementation of the spatial data infrastructure in Germany by the federal and state governments in the context of eGovernment" in addition to the Germany-Online initiative.
  • A steering committee shall be established for the political and conceptual management of the Spatial Data Infrastructure of Germany.

For further details please refer to GDI-DE/SDI Germany: https://www.gdi-de.org/en.



Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE)

At the European level, work started in 2001 on the Directive establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe, (INSPIRE) which has been approved by the European Parliament on 13 February 2007 and subsequently had to be transferred into national law by March 2009. Simultaneously different expert teams are working on implementing instructions whereby BGR participates in various ways:

  • As Legally Mandated Organization (LMO), BGR is allowed to comment the draft papers and can effect amendments during the review process.
  • BGR is a member of EuroGeoSurveys which is recognized as Spatial Data Interest Community (SDIC), where the European requirements are coordinated and brought into the review process.
  • In the Thematic Working Groups "Geology" and "Soil", BGR voices the German requirements for data specifications.


Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

The ten-year implementation plan of GEOSS forms the internationally agreed working basis of the Group on Earth Observations (D-GEO, www.d-geo.de). It was adopted at the third Earth Observation Summit on 16 February 2005 in Brussels by ministers and high government representatives. It is based on the work of various earth observation initiatives, such as IGOS, the Integrated Global Observing Strategy, or CEOS, the Committee for Earth Observing Satellites. Numerous German institutions, with BGR and the GIW among them, participate in the implementation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development and its national GEO-Office at the German Aerospace Technology Centre (Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt).

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