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Geosemantic Interoperability and the Geospatial Semantic Web

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Springer Handbook of Geographic Information

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

This chapter describes what is meant by semantic interoperability of geographic information, the elements involved in semantic interoperability of geographic information, and how semantic interoperability of geographic information has been addressed in spatial data infrastructures (SDIs), standards, and in the Semantic Web. It is formed of ten sections. Semantics is a term used frequently in many contexts. Section 15.2 is dedicated to the description of semantics. Cognition is an area of study about the abstraction of phenomena by human beings. It is significantly related to semantics. Section 15.3 introduces basic notions of cognition related to semantics. Ontology is a well-grounded notion in the study of semantic interoperability and in the Semantic Web. Section 15.4 explains what ontology is about. This will lead to the description, in Sect. 15.5, of semantic interoperability in the context of geographic information, i.e., geosemantic interoperability. A spatial data infrastructure is the typical way in which interoperability of geographic information is implemented. Section 15.6 addresses geosemantic interoperability with respect to spatial data infrastructures. Standards underpin interoperability for geographic information and spatial data infrastructures. Section 15.7 provides an overview of the current contribution of standards bodies with respect to geosemantic interoperability. The Semantic Web makes an important contribution to semantic interoperability. Section 15.8 gives an account of the Semantic Web and its development. The Geospatial Semantic Web brings together the effort of geosemantic interoperability with the effort of the Semantic Web, as presented in Sect. 15.9. Section 15.10 provides concluding remarks on the chapter.

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Abbreviations

1-D:

one-dimensional

2-D:

two-dimensional

CGDI:

Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure

CSW:

Catalogue Services for the Web

DAML:

DARPA Agent Markup Language

DL:

description logics

FTP:

File Transfer Protocol

GF:

general feature

GFM:

General Feature Model

GSDI:

Global Spatial Data Infrastructure

GsP:

geosemantic proximity

HTTP:

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

IEC:

International Electrotechnical Commission

INSPIRE:

Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

IP:

Interoperability Program

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

JDBC:

Java Database Connectivity

NSDI:

National Spatial Data Infrastructure

NTDB:

National Topographic Data Base

ODBC:

Open Database Connectivity

OGC:

Open Geospatial Consortium

OIL:

Ontology Inference Layer

OS:

Ordnance Survey

OWL:

Web Ontology Language

RADAR:

Radio Detection and Ranging

RDF:

Resource Description Framework

RFC:

Request for Comment

RIF:

Road Impact Fees

RIF:

Rules Interchange Format

RIF:

rapid inquiry facility tool

RM-ODP:

Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing

RPC:

Remote Procedure Call

SDI:

spatial data infrastructure

SPARQL:

SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language

TC:

Technical Committee

UCS:

Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set

UML:

Unified Modeling Language

URI:

Uniform Resource Identifier

URL:

Uniform Resource Locator

URN:

Uniform Resource Name

W3C:

World Wide Web Consortium

WCS:

Web Coverage Service

WFS:

Web Feature Service

WMS:

Web Map Server

WPS:

Web Processing Service

WSMO:

Web Service Modeling Ontology

XML:

Extensible Markup Language

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Topographic Information, Natural Resources Canada, 2144-010 King West Street, J1J 2E8, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

    Jean Brodeur

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  1. Jean Brodeur
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Correspondence to Jean Brodeur .

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  1. University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg, Brodaer Str. 2, 17033, Neubrandenburg, Germany

    Wolfgang Kresse

  2. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 8615 Westwood Center Drive, 22182-2214, Vienna, VA, USA

    David M. Danko

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Brodeur, J. (2011). Geosemantic Interoperability and the Geospatial Semantic Web. In: Kresse, W., Danko, D. (eds) Springer Handbook of Geographic Information. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72680-7_15

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