Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Europe
The GI available in Europe tends to be only available for government agen-
cies or only after purchasing. A good starting point for European environ-
mental data is the UNEP-GRID office in Geneva (
http://www.grid.unep.ch/
data/index.php
). Another good source is the European Environment
Agency's data service (
http://dataservice.eea.eu.int/dataservice/
). At this site
you can browse metadata and if you sign an agreement you can also down-
load data.
The sources for GI from various countries and regions vary greatly. For
instance, Danish GI is available online at
http://www.grid.unep.ch/data/
index.php
, but it must be purchased. The U.K. Ordnance Survey has a great
deal of GI, which can be accessed after applying and usually paying a fee
(
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/
). Poland makes some data avail-
able over the Internet for viewing only (
http://217.153.152.212/bdo/
). Other
sources can be found at the European Umbrella Organization for Geo-
graphic
Information
(EUROGI)
website
(
http://dataservice.eea.eu.int/
dataservice/
).
Other Parts of the World
Some GI for New Zealand is available (
http://www.geographx.co.nz/
). Other
areas of the world have a great deal of GI, but most is part of global or
regional data sets. You can try the GI clearinghouses (
http://www.fgdc.gov/
clearinghouse/clearinghouse.html
)
or
the
Geography
Network
(
http://www.
geographynetwork.com/
).
Summary
Mapping and GI empower the creator and user. Mapping is part of almost
every government activity because of its power. Through geographic repre-
sentations and cartographic representations governments create spaces. The
cadastre is a prime example of how administrations in Western civilization
have created spaces. No matter how much effort the administration puts into
a cadastre, it must be accepted that its boundaries are related to actual
boundaries to be relevant. The Multipurpose Land Information System
(MPLIS) was one of key post-World War II information technology concepts
for administrating local government activities. The Spatial Data Infrastruc-
ture (SDI) develops these concepts to involve multiple governmental units
and benefit from computer networking. Other concepts that have advanced
the ways of administrating spaces are digital libraries and the Digital Earth.
The results of these concepts can be seen in the increasing access to GI.
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