Spatial Data Infrastructures in Estonia: State of play Spring 2004

Transcription

1 Spatial Data Infrastructures in : State of play Spring 2004 Country report on SDI elaborated in the context of a study commissioned by the EC (EUROSTAT & DGENV) in the framework of the INSPIRE initiative August 2004 SPATIAL APPLICATIONS DIVISION K.U.LEUVEN RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Vital Decosterstraat 102, B-3000 LEUVEN TEL.: FAX: URL:

2 Report meta-information Title Spatial Data Infrastructures in : State of play Spring 2004 Creator Marco Fritz (SADL) & Peter Beusen (ICRI) Date Issued Subject INSPIRE State of Play Activities 1, 3 & 4 Publisher K.U.Leuven (SADL + ICRI) + Margaret Hall consultant (Hall) Description This report is summarizing the review of SDI in Contributor Catharina Bamps (SADL), Jos Van Orshoven (SADL), Katleen Janssen (ICRI) Format MS Word 97/2000 Audience Identifier Rcr04EEv7.doc Language EN Coverage Snapshot at Version number Date Modified by Comments Marco Fritz First version (SADL) & Peter Beusen (ICRI) Jos Van Orshoven (SADL) Completion & harmonization with 31 other country reports Catharina Bamps (SADL) Integration and consolidation of comments by Mr Peep Krusberg, Adviser at the n Land Board; Addition of Report metainformation, Executive summary, Abbreviations/acronyms Jos Van Orshoven Harmonisations with 31 other (SADL) Catharina Bamps (SADL) Katleen Janssen (ICRI) Jos Van Orshoven (SADL) country reports Integration of information from limited review of web sites. General review, correction and update. Addition of table pointing to changes with regard to version 4 General review, correction and update of legal framework Consolidation

3 Change matrix 2004 versus 2003 Paragraphs in which information is reported which deviates in a significant way from what was reported in the Spring 2003 version of this country report are listed in the below table. Paragraph Type of change Executive summary Slight reformulation 1.2 Little new information New information, Updated to reflect state Spring New information, Updated to reflect state Spring Completed with info from Updated to reflect state Spring Updated to reflect state Spring Updated to reflect state Spring 2004 K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 1

4 Executive summary In, the public and private GI-actors are very active with data production and with the organization of GI-service facilities, an important part of which relate to webmapping. What is not present is comprehensive standardized metadata of spatial data. Access services to metadata are very limited. An NSDI-strategy has not been formulated. Despite this active GI-sector, no formal coordination initiative is in place. The planned Geodesy and Cartography Act though aims to avoid duplication 1 of efforts among agencies. [1]. There is no (and there are apparently no plans to create one) national GI association in. However, the main users and providers of GI seem to be member of the n Chamber of Mapping and the n Association of Surveyors. The n Land Board (ELB) is the National Mapping and Cadastral Agency and can be considered as the major player on the GI-scene. It produces reference and core thematic data (e.g. the n National Topographic Database (ENTD)), develops distributed nation-wide information systems (the cadastral and land information systems), has developed several web mapping services and provides some metadata on the internet. In this report we have described the de facto emerging NSDI in from the perspective of ELB. ELB has indeed expressed some ambition to develop more metadata and a metadata access service. Private companies are particularly involved in web mapping and related location based services. 1 Comment : we already rely on the Databases Act in this matter (the Act prohibits duplication. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 2

5 Table of Contents REPORT META-INFORMATION... 2 CHANGE MATRIX 2004 VERSUS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS... 3 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS GENERAL INFORMATION METHOD THE GI-, GIS- AND SDI-SCENE IN ESTONIA DETAILS OF THE ELB AS THE POTENTIAL NUCLEUS FOR THE ESTONIAN SDI: GENERAL INFORMATION COMPONENT 1: LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND FUNDING COMPONENT 2: REFERENCE DATA AND CORE THEMATIC DATA COMPONENT 3: METADATA FOR REFERENCE DATA AND CORE THEMATIC DATA COMPONENT 4: ACCESS AND OTHER SERVICES FOR REFERENCE DATA, CORE THEMATIC DATA AND THEIR METADATA COMPONENT 5: STANDARDS COMPONENT 6: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATA ANNEXES LIST OF SDI ADDRESSES / CONTACTS FOR ESTONIA LIST OF REFERENCES FOR ESTONIA K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 3

6 Abbreviations and acronyms CIS Cadastral Information System CRS Coordinate Reference System CT Core Thematic Data EAG n Association of Geography EEIC n Environment Information Centre ELB n Land Board (also MAA-AMET) EMC n Map Centre ENTD n National Topographic Database FIR Further Investigation Required GI Geographical Information IBS Institute of Baltic Studies INSPIRE INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in Europe LIS Land Information System MAA-AMET n Land Board (also ELB) MapBSR Digital map of the Baltic Sea region NIA No Information Available NLIS National Land Information system NMA National Mapping Agency NSDI National Spatial Data Infrastructures PPP Public-Private Partnerships PSI Policy and legislation on access to public sector information REF Reference data SDI Spatial Data Infrastructures TM-Baltic Transverse Mercator Baltic K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 4

7 1 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Method This report is summarizing the review of SDI in, and reflects the degree to which the SDI situation in is similar to the ideas set out in the INSPIRE position papers 2 and the more recent INSPIRE scoping documents. The report is based mainly on the analysis of various documents, project references and web sites readily accessible in English and n. (See Section 3.2 for the full list of consulted references). Although the n national mapping bodies have installed bilingual websites (EE and EN), most technical specifications were available in EE version only. The report has been completed by integration and consolidation of comments received from a representatives of the n Land Board. 1.2 The GI-, GIS- and SDI-scene in has not developed a NSDI strategy. Nevertheless there are multiple players on a rather uncoordinated GI-scene. The major producer of core geographic data is the n Land Board (ELB or MAA- AMET) (Information in n and English via ), which plays a role similar to that of a traditional National Mapping Agency. ELB performs and coordinates national mapping programs, produces orthophoto-coverages and establishes national and local geodetic networks and geodetic databases. It prepares specifications, performs quality control and organizes outsourcing of mapping works through tendering. It maintains the Land Cadastre. The Statistical Office of provides census analysis data and maintains classified data for administrative units and settlements (15 counties, ca 240 municipalities. and ca villages). The n Maritime Board is responsible for the production of nautical charts. Other major producers of thematic GI include the Geological Survey of, the n Environment Information Centre and the Ministry of Defense. [1], [4] An international SDI initiative is the MapBSR-project producing the Digital map of the Baltic Sea region. The territory of is completely covered by this database. A 2 INSPIRE position papers, final versions: RDM, ETC, DPLI, ASF, IST, IAS (latest version 2002). K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 5

8 detailed description is given in the country report for Finland (information about the project : ). ELB as an NMA was a project partner in MapBSR 3. The private sector is particularly active with respect to GI as reflected by following cases: [16] Regio Ltd. ( launched in 1998 one of the first web mapping applications in, the n Atlas ( The data are static raster maps. Search and zoom functions allow fast navigation. Navigation is also possible via name of town, village, street or object or by geographic coordinates. The use of the Atlas is free of charge for personal purposes. Use of the data and maps for profit making purposes is prohibited The application is available in English and n. The atlas is based on the n Road Atlas which are produced by another private company, the Institute of Baltic Studies (IBS). These data have been digitized from paper sources (Russian military topographic maps 1: ) from the late 80 s) and have not been updated since All atlas contents belong to their authors and are subject to international and n copyright law. Similarly structured is a second private web-gis-application, i-kaart ( This applications is also free of charge and allows for address location at different scale levels (block, street, district, town, parish, county, ). It also offers road information. The copyright is held by GIS to Business software. The basic data come from the n Road Atlas. The company n Map Centre (Eesti Kaardikeskus, EMC plays a particular role. It is a state owned for-profit GI company under the Ministry of Environment (all shares belong to that Ministry) 4. It provides web mapping of a.o. Natura 2000 sites. The most popular private GI web application is probably Delfi s (one of the biggest general purpose web portals in ). The map site is set up and 3 Comment : MapBSR is now superseded by EuroGlobalMap ( EGM will cover all EU, EFTA and accession countries plus Turkey in the first release with plans to cover all Europe including Eur. part of Russia. ELB is the Coordinator for the Baltic sub-region in this project and is responsible for gathering and harmonizing data from, Latvia and Lithuania. Prerelease data is already available to EC /Eurostat and the first public release is scheduled in November. 4 Comment : Historical background: as cartography is a very expensive business, government established a production unit EMC, invested a lot in the technology during the first half of 90 s and all cartographic production was done there. Also got lot of technological aid from other countries (Sweden, Switzerland, USA) which had to transfer to some state owned institution. Now the market has opened also to private companies and ELB, although state owned, competes with other companies for orders. Other bigger customers for ELB are Border Guard, Army, local governments and state owned (partly) utilities companies like n Energy. ELB hosts some national (gazetteer) registers (are Authorised Processor ) and provide web map hosting for counties, municipalities or companies (n Energy). K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 6

9 maintained by Regio Ltd at The following applications are offered via this service: A map of providing the opportunity for free to everybody to (1) put a marker on the map and add a comment (what is interesting there or announcement about an error), (2) browse maps; Mobile presentation of places of interest (ca 400 sites at the moment). The service works as follows (English version ): - Regio has defined unique ID-s to selected interesting sites, these ID-s are available in their Road Atlas (paper and CD-versions), on Delfi s Mapsite or via SMS (different modes available, most interesting is by finding the caller s location using GSM locating service); - oral presentation of the site is read after calling to specific GSM short number supplemented with the site s ID, English version available; Showing user s location on map with GSM locating service; Locating Public Internet Points. Locating ATM s. Locating Gas Stations. Despite this wealth of data and service providers, there is no (and there are apparently no plans to create a) national GI association. The n Chamber of Mapping 5 and the n Association of Surveyors 6 are incorporating the main users and providers of GI. Representatives from the ELB have been participating in some EUROGI meetings. The ELB is considered in this report as the core of a pre-sdi since it is undertaking several SDI-related projects like the web-based Cadastral Information System and the Land Information System. In addition and somehow surprisingly, the ELB depends administratively from the Ministry of Environment. As such, ELB may be in a good position to coordinate with environmental data producers and users. 5 Comment : Probably extinct. It was established in 1994 as non-profit, non-governmental institution and had some activity in But around all for profit and not-for--profit institutions had to reregister themselves (legislation changes), all institutions which didn t do that were eliminated. 6 Comment : Eesti Geodeetide Ühing, their representatives are participating in all major discussions and lawmaking related to geodesy, cartography and GI, they have regular seminars, conferences and magazine ( Geodeet, about quarterly) where these topics are actively discussed. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 7

10 2 Details of the ELB as the potential nucleus for the n SDI: 2.1 General Information The n Land Board is responsible for the organisation, co-ordination and supervision of the activities in the fields of geodesy, cartography, geoinformatics and cadastre. provides information in n and English. The Cadastral Information System (CIS, operational in 2001, ( ) will form together with the n National Topographic Database (ENTD, under development) a basis for the National Land Information system (NLIS). ELB has bilateral cooperation with Nation Land Survey of Finland, the Finnish Geodetic Institute, the National Survey and Cadastre of Denmark, with the MapBSR Project. It is/has been member in CERCO and EuroGeographics. ELB has been a partner in PHARE projects to set up cadastral and land information systems. The Phare project "Land Information System (LIS) Development in " was conducted from September 1997 to March In the period January June 1999, the EU Phare Land Reform Project was carried out. The National LIS is meant to make the administration of information related to n lands easier and conveniently available and usable over the Internet. The creation of a Cadastral Information System laid a foundation for LIS, which made the development of public services possible. The ELB cooperates with many national and international institutions and organisations within the scope of related fields. Most natural cooperation is with different institutions within the Ministry of Environment. Other national bodies include e.g. the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture and the nationwide utilities companies like the n Energy and the n Telephone. Cooperation with them started in They get up-to-date maps and information on property boundaries while ELB gets information about utilities networks as restrictions to cadastre as well as for map data production. 2.2 Component 1: Legal framework and funding [4], [11], [24], [25] [27] K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 8

11 2.2.1 Legal framework and organizational issues The n Land Board (ELB) (Riigi Maa-amet) is a government agency (established in 1990) under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment. The ELB has a clear mandate to deal with geodesy, cartography, geoinformatics and the related fields at national level by the following legal acts: Government of the Republic Act 7 declares that The area of government of the Ministry of the Environment shall include the management of national environmental and nature protection, the performance of tasks relating to land and databases containing spatial data, including organisations of the development and implementation of regional planning, the management of the use, protection, recycling and registration of natural resources, the radiation protection, the environmental supervision, the management of meteorological observation, nature and marine research, geological, cartographic and geodetic operations, the maintenance of the land cadastre and water cadastre, and the preparation of corresponding draft legislation. Same Paragraph, Point 2 states that the the Land Board as an executive agency shall be within the area of government of the Ministry of the Environment. Act regulating geodetic and cartographic works and geodetic and cartographic data usage (official text in n at Ch.I, Paragraph 1 declares that Carrying out geodetic and cartographic works and using of geodetic and cartographic data are managed by National Land Board of Republic of (hereinafter Land Board). Statutes of n Land Board (official text in n at Ch.II, Paragraph 6 declares that The main tasks of the Board are to maintain the Land Cadastre, to co-ordinate the execution of land reform in conformity with the Land Reform Act, to supervise, organise and co-ordinate the activities in the field of land consolidation, land assessment, geodesy, cartography, geoinformatics according to valid legal acts. The ELB is a centralized body with Local Cadastral offices in all counties. It is the coordinator and responsible for spatial data production, but the actual production is mostly done by private companies under public procurements. The copyright and ownership of the data belong to the ELB. [1] Legal framework for GI issues in consistis of: 7 Comment : official text in n at English translation also available at httt:// Ch. 4, Section 4, Paragraph 61, point 1). K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 9

12 Databases Act; Official Statistics Act (11/06/1997), Land Cadastre Act; Population and Housing Census Act. The collection and maintenance of thematic GI (production of maps or spatial data) is regulated by the Government Regulation and statutes of corresponding institutions. Coordination of national GI-activities and maintenance of core data ets will be regulated by a future Geodesy and Cartography Act 8. [1] All these acts and regulations point to ELB as the nucleus of a NSDI. This is however not explicitely stated Public-private partnerships (PPP s) The Department of Geodesy and Geoinformatics of ELB maintains several spatial databases (geodetic network, topographic maps, special maps), but it has only very small production capabilities and a majority of the works (building and measuring of geodetic networks, cartographic production, software development) are outsourced through public procurements. The Department of Land Cadastre of ELB registers land and maintains the Land Cadastre. All actual land surveying works are however carried out by private surveyors or companies at landowners own expense Policy and legislation on access to public sector information (PSI) The Public Information Act (RT I 2000, 92, 597) was passed on 15 November 2000 and it came into force on 1 January The Act covers state and local agencies, legal persons in public law and private entities that are conducting public duties including educational, health care, social or other public services. The Act also includes significant provisions on electronic access. Cadastral data are public and everyone has right to access the data, except the data about ownership.. The right to use data is free of charge for state agencies and local governments. [1] 8 Comment: Although the draft Act has been ready for some time, it seems that it will pass complete revision. Other legal documents cover now most of the topics in the Act, so that Act needs to cover now only very specific areas (e.g. it is better to include core spatial data sets into the list of main national registers like Business Register and Cadastre). We have had discussions in ELB about creating specific legal framework for NSDI but have concluded that it is possible to refer to other legal documents in most cases. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 10

13 2.2.4 Legal protection of GI by intellectual property rights The Copyright Act was passed 11 November 1992 (RT 1992, 49, 615; RT I 1999, 36, 469) and entered into force on 12 December It has been amended by the Act of 15 February 2000 which entered into force on 22 February 2000 (RT I 2000, 13, 94) and the Act of 9 December 1999 which entered into force on 6 January 2000 (RT I 1999, 97, 859). The 2001 EU-Directive on copyright in the information society has not been transposed into n law yet. In 4(17) of the Copyright Act it is stipulated that copyright exists in photographic works, whereas in 4(18) it is stipulated that copyright exists in cartographic works (topographic, geographic, geological, etc. maps, atlases, models). According to 5 of the Copyright Act legislation, administrative documents (acts, decrees, regulations, statutes, instructions, directives) and court decisions, and official translations thereof, are not protected by copyright law. Chapter VIII of the n Copyright Act provides for special legal protection of databases. This chapter was inserted by the Act of 9 December The copyright and ownership of data and publications produced by ELB s order belong to the Land Board Restricted access to GI further to the legal protection of privacy The 1992 n Constitution includes several statements on privacy. Article 22 states that "Everyone has the right to the inviolability of private and family life. State agencies, local governments, and their officials shall not interfere with the private or family life of any person, except in the cases and pursuant to procedure provided by law to protect health, morals, public order, or the rights and freedoms of others, to combat a criminal offence, or to apprehend a criminal offender." Article 42 protects against the governmentauthorized collection or storage of personal data without the citizen s consent. The Personal Data Protection Act was passed on 12 June In February 2003 it was repealed and subsequent legislation entered into force October 1, 2003, transposing Directive 95/45. The 2001 directive on privacy and electronic communications has not been included in the n legislation yet Licencing framework No information has been found nor provided. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 11

14 2.2.7 Funding model for SDI and pricing policy The ELB is financed from the state budget (2002: total budget for ELB 4.3 million ; 2001: total budget for ELB 5.2 million )). There is no cost recovery. All revenues earned by ELB go back to the state budget., [5] A price list, licenses and a price calculator are available on-line on the ELB homepage for the major digital mapping products: the n base map, the n Basic map, orthophotos and the soil map. Data is free for state institutions and cheaper for municipalities, scientific institutions etc. The price depends on the data usage licence types (how and how long one intends to use the data). The right to use data is free of charge for state agencies and cheaper for local governments. Other users have to pay. [1] There are free public viewing capabilities for the cadastral database and maps (Land Information Service, Cadastral Unit Data Service) The use and price of digital topographic data are regulated by procedure to be approved by the Ministry of Environment (on national level). [1] 2.3 Component 2: Reference data and core thematic data Scale and resolution: European, National, Regional, Local, Other ELB produces maps and GI at European, regional and local scale levels: [1] [1] 1: as part of the EuroGlobalMap; 1: as part of the Baltic Sea Region Map; Base map 1: under coordination of ELB The n base map 1: under coordination by ELB, is covering 100% of the country since K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 12

15 2.3.2 Reference data and core thematic data by resolution or scale range See the following table fro a non exhaustive overview. REF = Reference data, CT = Core Thematic Data K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 13

16 Geographical location Geodetic reference system Typ e Inspir e priorit y European National Regional Local Other scale / Comments REF H Y, 4 points included into EUREF Y, First class network established Y, established Y, rural established, in cities at finishing stage Meets (internat.) standards set for each class Geographical names REF H Y, EuroGlobalMap Y, in development Y Y Ministry of Interior Geographical grid CT H Y (?) Y (?) Y (?) No common grid exist if we don t count projection s (L-EST) grid. Many task specific grids exist, mostly related to envir. monitoring Administrative units Official administrative REF H Y Y Y¹ Statistical Office units Blocks and census REF M Y 5 districts Properties, buildings and addresses Properties REF L Y³ Register (CIS) fully 1:10000 (rural) ; 1:2000 (cities) functional since 2001 Buildings REF L Y¹ register in development, buildings layer exist in 1: Basic Map Elevation Addresses REF H Y² Elevation REF H Y Y Y 1:50000, 100% ; 1:10000 sparsely Bathymetry REF H Y Y Y¹ 1:100000, 100% ; 1:50000,?% 1 :20000 K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 14

17 Hydrography Land surface Hydrography, river, lake. Coastline REF H Y Y Y 1 : REF H Y Y Y 1 : Ortho-images REF H Y, 100% ( ) 1 :10.000, 100% ; 1:2 000 urban Unclassified satellite images CT M Y Y SPOT pan, XS ; Landsat Natural resource Water catchments CT H Y 1 :10.000, 100% ; Groundwater bodies CT H Soil CT H Y 1 :10.000, 100% Bedrock geology CT L Y¹ Climatic regions/data CT L Bio-ecological regions CT M Vegetation CT L Y (CORINE Y (forest) 1 : biotopes) Land Cover CT H Y Y 1 : , 100%, CORINE Land Cover + Register of AGricultural Lands Transport Transport networks REF H Y Y Y n Road Administration Transport facilities REF L Y Communication lines, Energy transmission lines Facilities M Location of facilities CT M Y Location of utilities CT M Y Land use regulation Protected areas CT H Y 1 : Land regulation/land use CT H Y¹ plans Demography Demographic attribute CT H Y¹ data Land price zones and Y 1 : K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 15

18 ¹= scale unknown land productivity zones Urban Areas Y Y 1:2 000 ²= available for main cities ³= in development [1] 4 = covering 100% EE 5 = acc. to Population Census Geographical Information System [12] K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 16

19 2.3.3 Geodetic reference systems and projections The National Geodetic Network has been established by GPS according to EUREF. The geodetic datum is ETRS89. The major projection system used is Lambert Conformal Conic Projection (Lambert- EST). However, the projection and other fundamental geodetic and mapping data is not fixed by law at the moment but the draft Act is ready. The Transverse Mercator Baltic projection (TM-Baltic) has had some usage during the 90 s but is now practically obsolete. TM-Baltic was created for maps covering all three Baltic states and was initially used by 1: national Base Maps as these were created at the same time in all Baltic states. In large scale maps this has never been used. For the local scale, Lambert EST 9 is also used: The n Basic Map 1:10.000; The soil map 1: Details of Lambert EST (CRS = coordinate reference system) CRS identifier EE_L-EST97 / EST_LAMB valid area CRS scope Coordinates of Points of the National Geodetic Network of Datum identifier L-EST97 type geodetic Datum realization epoch 1997 valid area Datum remarks The ETRS89 coordinates are derived from the final solution of EUREF-ESTONIA97 in ITRF96, Epoch by transformation see Rüdja, A. (1999), A new ETRS89 realisation for. In Gubler, E., Torres, J.A., Hornik, H. (eds): Report on the Symposium of the IAG Subcomission for European Reference Frame (EUREF) held in Prague, 2-5 June 1999, Veröff. der Bayer. Komm. für Intern. Erdmessung 60, EUREF Publ. No 8, pp , München 1999 Prime meridian identifier Greenwich Ellipsoid identifier GRS 80 alias New International Ellipsoid semi major axis m Ellipsoid shape true inverse flattening Ellipsoid remarks see Moritz, H. (1988): Geodetic Reference System Bulletin Geodesique, The Geodesists Handbook, 1988, Internat. Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Coordinate system identifier EST_LAMB system type projected Coordinate system dimension 2 Coordinate system axis name northing direction North unit identifier metre Coordinate system axis name easting direction East unit identifier metre Operation identifier EST_LAMB valid area Operation method name Lambert Conformal Conic Projection with 2 standard parallels Operation method formula Lambert Conformal Conic Projections, in Snyder, J.P., Map Projections - A Working Manual, Washington 1987, pages Operation method parameters number 6 Operation parameter name lower parallel value 58 00' N Operation parameter name upper parallel value 59 20' N Operation parameter name latitude grid origin / zero parallel value 57 31' " N Operation parameter name longitude grid origin value 24 00' E Operation parameter name false northing value m Operation parameter name false easting value m K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 17

20 Levelling points are planned to be integrated in a high precision leveling network (EUREF). Gravimetric points are planned to be integrated in the Unified European Gravity Network (UEGN2002 project) Quality of the reference data & core thematic data Quality control is performed by ELB. Special tools were developed for quality checks and spatial analysis of the Cadastral Information System. In particular, since 2003, a system for registration of cadastral restrictions (servitudes) is operational. It works as submodule under CIS in ELB and is meant for cross-referencing data with the managers of cadastral restrictions (power lines, gas pipes etc.). Besides software for data quality checking, data management and exchange principles and XML schemas for data exchange have been developed. [1], Interoperability As GIS software ESRI-products, MicroStation, MapInfo, Oracle Spatial and products from Intergraph (GeoMedia, GeoMedia Pro, GeoMedia WebInterprise) are used. ELB s main registers use GeoMedia products with Oracle Spatial. Most users have MicroStation and MapInfo. ESRI products (ArcInfo, ArcView, Internet applications) are used in more specific applications. Big utilities companies use more specialized software like GE, SmallWorld and X-Power Language and culture Metadata is provided in n and partly in English. Accompanying documents are available in n and partly in English Data Content Text explanation for attributes is available in n. [8] [9] K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 18

21 2.3.8 Geographical names Standardization of Geographical names is done by the Place Names Board of on the basis of the Law on Place Names (11/12/1996). Digital geographical names database (Register) and website have been developed. The toponymic guidelines have been published in internet. Geographical names are generally managed in n. Minority names have been used (in Vöru and Swedish). [14] [15] Character sets Character sets, keyboard layouts, etc are standardized, see Component 3: Metadata for reference data and core thematic data Availability Metadata are available for the n National Topographic Database (ENTD) at scale 1: It is termed a reality model. ENTD is the ELB s GIS database that contains topographic data collected during basic mapping. The reality model of ENTD complies with ISO 15046/10 standard and contains the following information: Name of feature in n and English, shortened name of feature, is it a feature causing restrictions, feature code, basic map code of feature, definition of feature, guidelines helping to identify the feature, selection criteria of features to be mapped, references to additional materials, features attributes definition, data type, measurement unit, definition of attribute value, relations to other features, name of feature relation, name of related feature, description and conditions of feature relation. At under the heading maps, limited description can be obtained from the base maps 1: and 1:50.000, orthophoto s and orthophotomaps, city plans and soil map. Availability of metadata has not been confirmed for other geodatasets. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 19

22 2.4.2 Metadata catalogues availability + standard Currently, there is no standardized metadata catalogue covering a significant part of the GI in. ELB is planning to develop such catalogue and a related metadata service. [1]. The envisaged standard is not known Dublin core metadata standards for GI-discovery Currently not applicable Metadata implementation The coordinating authority for metadata implementation is the ELB. An unilingual (n) standardized feature code list for use with the metadata is being developed. [8] 2.5 Component 4: Access and other services for reference data, core thematic data and their metadata On-line access service for metadata of reference data & core thematic data At under the heading maps, limited description can be obtained of the base maps 1: and 1:50.000, orthophoto s and orthophotomaps, city plans and soil map. A comprehensive on-line metadata service is currently not available On-line access service for reference data & core thematic data The possibility to obtain on-line access to some raster and vector cadastral via the ELBhomepage could not be confirmed Inter-linkages of on-line access services for metadata and reference data resp. core thematic data Currently not applicable K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 20

23 2.5.4 OpenSource software and access services Universal Services (= software components for building different web applications based on Intergraph WebEnterprise) are used to develop and implement targeted Internet applications (registration of buildings in Buildings Register and data exchange with CIS) Availability of web mapping service(s) The major milestone for ELB in 2001 was the full-scale launch of the Cadastral Information System (CIS). CIS now manages in an integrated way both textual and map data. Since the end of the year 2000, free public access to the textual part of the cadastral database covering the whole country has been provided via ELB s home pages ( ). In July 2001, access to the cadastral maps for 9 counties was added to the service and the full coverage (15 counties) was achieved at the end of the same year. This public service is free for everyone and includes also almost all large scale digital spatial data available from ELB as backdrop maps, so everybody can use these pages also just as an n web atlas. Basically there is a working web map server that everybody can use free of charge. Through that service, maps are made available to the public. It is possible to look at the maps and lots of other data (parcel boundaries, valuation zones, geodetic points etc.), but one can not download the digital data. The usage of this service has been gradually increased from about hits/day at the beginning to about hits/day in spring 2003 (for comparison, number of inhabitants in is about 1.4 million) The Cadastral Unit Data Service (alphanumerical data) is accessible via internet ( and via mobil phone (WAP protocol, wap.maaamet.ee/ky ) It was planned (2002) to provide framework applications, so that geospatial data from other public as well as private sector institutions would be accessible to the public. It is not clear to what extent these plans could put into practice. The Land Information Service is already accessible through [6] The UPS will enable users to integrate LIS data into their own applications using OpenGIS WMS protocol (experimental services are created and run. Applications are tested between ELB and Maritime Board.. [10] Besides cadastral boundaries and attributes, all data that is stored in the Oracle Spatial format at ELB is also viewable via the ELB homepage: administrative boundaries, orthophotos, geodetic points, K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 21

24 topographic data, soil data, land price and productivity zones, location of rural municipality centres, etc Some data is also downloadable for registered users (surveyors). A real time data link is established between the cadastre and Title book (Ministry of Justice) Availability of catalogue services to regulate access Currently not available Availability of catalogue services that perform payment operations Currently not available Availability of catalogue services to extract and send data to a user application No information has been found SDI user applications The Cadastral Information System (see 2.5.5) can be regarded as the major user application of the (future) SDI. The n Atlas ( and the i-kaart application ( were the first web-based user services. (These services are not coordinated by ELB) Availability of geo-processing services Following components or Universal Services (Intergraph) are planned to be publicly available from ELB : K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 22

25 A presentation service (serves map window from Public Services System, so developers can include it into their Internet application map window requiring background maps) A registration Service (enables inclusion of users data into the system and data editing over Internet with Spatial data editor and Universal Import service, which allows importing of file-based spatial data into LIS; DGN, SHP and MIF formats are also supported) An extraction service (data export, definition of area of interest, data layers and data format (DGN, SHP, XML) possible) Analysis Automata (spatial analysis and results display; for finding inconsistencies in input data) A printing service (tools for printing of maps via Internet) 2.6 Component 5: Standards GI related standardization is not very actively done in. When building a national topographic dataset, standards required for international co-operation and EU integration are adhered to. [1] ELB is participating in the development of GI standards for the n society. The statistical office publishes a list of standards used for geographical names (NUTS, ISO 3166) [13]. 2.7 Component 6: Thematic environmental data The n Environment Information Centre (EEIC) was established in 1989 under the Ministry of Environment. The EEIC has a role of national coordinator for environmental information activities. It is remarkable that also the n Land Board is under the same Ministry. K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 23

26 2.7.1 Application of the legal framework and funding principles (for reference & core thematic data) to thematic environmental data Environmental information secondary legislation has been introduced regarding the national monitoring stations and national subprograms. [1] At the moment environmental data is handled in separate thematic databases in EEIC. Environmental Register Act (English version available at regulates how all these databases will be unified. The Register will start to work 10 gradually by the Act. The first parts must be operational by 1 July 2003 and last parts by 1 July Comment : current status(july 2003): feasibility studies are done, documents to announce public procurements are at final preparatory stages, deadlines for first steps will be delayed by one year (i.e. first parts will be operational next year). By initial agreements, core non-thematic data will be provided on-line by ELB and even some envir. thematic layers will be managed by ELB (those directly linked with cadastre and topographic mapping, e.g. boundaries of protected areas) K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 24

27 3 Annexes 3.1 List of SDI addresses / contacts for Table: SDI contact list Web address National MAA-AMET (n Board) n Atlas i-kaart Land Statistical office of Organisational mailing address Mustamäe tee 51 _wark_on.cgi.en kaart.php3 Web: Tallinn, Institute of Baltic Studies (IBS) 15 Endla Street Tallinn Over-all contact person: tel./fax/ tel: , fax: maaamet@maaamet.ee atlas@ibs.ee info@gis2b.com Contact: Mrs Helen Tammeste Phone: helen.tammeste@stat.ee Statistical office of Population Census Geographical Information System Section Ms Inge Nael Head of Section Phone: inge.nael@stat.ee K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 25

28 3.2 List of references for Table: list of references used to compile the Country Report Web sites: [2] kaart [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 26

29 [18] [19] [20] Publications : M. Craglia and J. F. Dallemand: Geographic Information and the Enlargement of the European Union. EUROGI-European Commission Workshop. Brussels, 16-17/11/2000. Technical Report. EUR EN [1] K.U.Leuven (SADL-ICRI) + Hall 27