Spatial Data on Water: Geospatial Technologies and Data Management

By Hassane Jarar Oulidi

Spatial Data on Water: Geospatial Technologies and Data Management focuses on the worldwide corroborated difficulties in accessing data, a major hindrance in conducting water related studies in several domains.

• Presents examples of research focused on water resource management
• Includes a guide on how to manage water data using a geographic information system and a spatial data infrastructure
• Provides several ideas and techniques to support integrated water data management

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Nov 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9780128183885

Hassane Jarar Oulidi

Hassane Jarar Oulidi is professor of geoinformatics in the Department of Mathematics, informatics and geomatics at Hassania School for Public Works Engineering (EHTP). From 2006 and 2009, he had been a research scientist at German Research Center for Geosciences. His current research activities focus on the design, development of geospatial data infrastructure for groundwater resources management. His other research interests include geospatial sensor web, OGC standards and interoperability. He was established elearning program course for GIS and remote sensing in Morocco. He has led and participated in many research projects and has authored and co-authored numerous academic chapter’s books and articles. He was member of the program committee of several conferences in the area of geomatics and geospatial technology. He works with many companies to help them manage and implement GIS project.

Book preview

Spatial Data on Water

Geospatial Technologies and Data Management

Hassane Jarar Oulidi

Series Editor

Jean-Charles Pomerol

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Acknowledgements

List of Acronyms

Preface

Introduction

Scientific goal of the book

Structure of the book

Target audiences

1: Theoretical Framework

Abstract

1.1 Geospatial information system

1.2 Spatial data infrastructure

1.3 Overview of geospatial technologies

1.4 Conclusion

2: Technical Framework: Spatial Data Infrastructure for Water

Abstract

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Water data management

2.3 Establishment of a water information system

2.4 International experiences

2.5 Water data standards

2.6 Conclusion

3: Case Studies

Abstract

3.1 Cataloging data on groundwater resources

3.2 Geosensors Sensor Observation Service (SOS) for sustainable water resources management

3.3 GDI and water data geoprocessing

3.4 Design of decision support tools

General Conclusion

Cataloging data on groundwater resources

Sensor Observation Service for sustainable water resources management

A hydrogeological data geoprocessing tool integrated into our geospatial data infrastructure

Design of decision support tools

References

Index

Copyright

First published 2019 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Press Ltd and Elsevier Ltd

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

For information on all our publications visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/

© ISTE Press Ltd 2019

The rights of Hassane Jarar Oulidi to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN 978-1-78548-312-7

Printed and bound in the UK and US

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the staff and professors at the Hassania School of Public Works (EHTP), in particular the department of Mathematics, Informatics and Geomatics, which provided the necessary support for this project.

I thank also my colleagues for their assistance with reviews: Guy Mélard and Atika Cohen.

Thanks to my PhD students Aniss Moumen and Khazaz Lamiaa who contributed to the case studies.

Special thanks to my family, wife and kids.

Finally, I thank the ISTE team for their high-quality professional support during the preparation of the book.

List of Acronyms

AFIGEO 

Association Française pour l’Information Géographique [French Association for Geographical Information]

AFNOR 

Association Française de Normalisation en France [French Association for Standardization in France]

AGIRE 

Programme d’Appui à la Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau [Moroccan Support Programme for the Integrated Management of Water Resources]

AHIS 

Automatic Hydrological Information System

ANSI 

American National Standards Institute

API 

Application Programming Interface

AWRIS 

Australian Water Resources Information System

BADRE21 

Base de Données des Ressources en Eau du 21ème siècle [French Database for Water Resources in the 21st Century]

BOM 

Australian Bureau of Meteorology

CNIG 

Conseil National de l’Information Géographique [French National Council for Geographical Information]

CORBA 

Common Object Request Broker Architecture

COVADIS 

Commission de Validation des Données pour l’Information Spatialisée [French Commission for Validation of Data on Spatial Information]

CSIRO 

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

CSW 

Catalog Service for the Web

CUAHSI 

Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science

DCOM 

Distributed Component Object Model

DEM 

Digital Elevation Model

DGH 

Direction Générale de l’Hydraulique [Moroccan General Directorate of Hydraulics]

DBMS 

Database Management System

DRG 

Digital Raster Graphic

DRPE 

Direction de la Recherche et de la Planification de l’Eau [Moroccan Directorate for Research and Water Planning]

EEA 

European Economic Area

EMWIS 

Euro-Mediterranean Information System on Know-how in the Water Sector

EPSG 

European Petroleum Survey Group

ESRI 

U.S. Environmental Systems Research Institute

EU 

European Union

EUWI 

European Union Water Initiative

FGDC 

U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee

FOSS 

Free and Open-Source Software

GeoJSON 

Geographic JavaScript Object Notation

GDI 

Geospatial Data Infrastructure

GEOSS 

Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GeoTIFF 

Geographic Tag(ged) Image File Format

GIF 

Graphics Interchange Format

GIN 

Groundwater Information Network

GIS 

Geographic Information System

GML 

Geography Markup Language

GPS 

Global Positioning System

GSDI 

Global Spatial Data Infrastructure

GSM 

Global System for Mobile Communication

GWML 

Ground Water Markup Language

HBA 

Hydraulic Basin Agency

HCP 

Haut Commissariat au Plan [Moroccan High Commissioner for Planning]

HIDROWEB 

Sistema d’Informaçoes Hidrologicas [Brazilian Hydrological Information System]

HISPAGUA 

Sistema Español de Información sobre el Agua [Spanish Hydrological Information System]

HTML 

Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP 

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

IGN 

Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière [French National Institute for Geographical and Forestry Information]

India-WRIS 

Water Resources Information System of India

INSPIRE 

Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe

ISO 

International Organization for Standardization

JS 

JavaScript

JSON 

JavaScript Object Notation

JSP 

Java Server Pages

KML 

Keyhole Markup Language

MRE 

Ministère des Ressources en Eau [Algerian Ministry of Water Resources]

NDVI 

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

NetCDF 

Network Common Data Form

NICT 

New Information and Communication Technologies

OGC 

Open Geospatial Consortium

ONEMA 

Office National de l’Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques [French National Office for Water and the Water Environment]

PHP 

Hypertext Preprocessor

PISEAU 

Programmes d’Investissement du Secteur d’Eau [French Water Sector Investment Program]

PNG 

Portable Network Graphics

RAOB 

Réseau Africain des Organismes de Bassin [African Network for Catchment Basin Organizations]

RNDE 

Réseau National des Données sur l’Eau [French National Network for Water Data]

SADIEau 

Système Africain de Documentation et d’Information sur l’Eau [African Water Documentation and Information System]

SANDRE 

Service d’Administration Nationale des Données et Référentiels sur l’Eau [French National Service for Water Data and Common Repositories Management]

SDSS 

Spatial Decision Support System

SINEAU 

Système d’Information National d’EAU [Tunisian National Water Information System]

SiSOL 

Service d’Instrumentation Sol [French Soil Instrumentation Service]

SLD 

Style Layer Descriptor

SNDE 

Schéma National des Données sur l’Eau [French National Program for Water Data]

SOA 

Service-Oriented Architecture

SOS 

Sensor Observation Service

SQL 

Structured Query Language

SYGREAU 

Système de Gestion des Ressources en Eau [Tunisian Water Resources Management System]

UfM 

Union for the Mediterranean

UN 

United Nations

UML 

Unified Modeling Language

UNEP 

United Nations Environment Program

UNESCO 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

URL 

Uniform Resource Locator

USGS 

United States Geological Survey

WaterML 

Water Markup Language

WCS 

Web Coverage Service

WDTF 

Water Data Transfer Format

WFS 

Web Feature Server

WIFI 

Wireless Fidelity

WISA 

Water Information System for Austria

WIS 

Water Information System

WISE 

Water Information System for Europe

WKB 

Well-Known Binary

WKT 

Well-Known Text

WMC 

Web Map Context

WMO 

World Meteorological Organization

WMS 

Web Map Service

WPS 

Web Processing Service

XML 

Extensible Markup Language

Preface

Hassane Jarar Oulidi October 2018

Data around water, whether it is hydrologic, meteorological or hydrogeological, comprises a considerable wealth, hence the high cost of its acquisition, production and updating. However, it is not always managed in an optimum manner.

On the one hand, this is linked to the lack of knowledge as to its existence and its localization, the heterogeneity of technologies and tools used, which makes sharing, research, access, interpretation and the use of this data difficult. On the other hand, it is linked to the existence of a multitude of players that are involved in data collection and management. This leads to data redundancy with various types, formats and qualities. These factors pose problems of both access and use of data coming from multiple organizations, thereby limiting the planning and the use of this data for decision-taking, which varies according to the given time, scale, structure and participants, who can be policy-makers, planners, professionals or researchers.

In this context, geospatial technologies play a major role as regards scientific research, assisting decisions for the integrated and sustainable management of water resources, as well as for the contribution of various players in decision-making processes.

Geospatial technologies are also a powerful vector for the introduction of new information technologies, in particular favoring the sharing and the exchange of information between public services as part of the policy of modernizing the public sector. A multitude of international initiatives (such as WISE, SANDRE and eWater) were developed to this end.

This work illustrates the contribution of geospatial technologies for the better management of data around water, a preliminary stage giving concrete expression to actual integrated management of water resources. This work also touches on examples of initiatives as regards pilot development for implementing an infrastructure for spatial data on water (known in France as IDSE).

Introduction

Water as a vital resource is, from now on, essential as regards the major concerns of this century. Demographic and technological transformations associated with globalization and climate change have impacts around the questions of water linked both to issues of sustainable development and territorial governance. The Mediterranean area particularly, where the growing demand for water is associated with a reduction in this resource, requires rational and optimal management. It is thus necessary to pursue applied research activities around water management and to develop innovative practices that are based upon the integration of both the geospatial dimension and new IT and communication technologies (NICTs).

The core aspect of these technologies is their capacity to gather together within a single tool, variable and geographically localizable data. The tool is not limited to compiling and communicating information. It also enables the analysis, manipulation and management of such data, the simulation of various development scenarios and the reproduction of their results.

The wealth and availability of communication tools for geographical information corollary to the development of IT and communication networks have enabled the sustained progress within the sphere of geographical information systems (GIS). The progress that this sphere has witnessed has caused a transfer of GISs towards GIS-webs.

The publication of cartographic data on the Internet has become a necessary means of communication for the various organizations that are manipulating geoscientific information. Generally, this technology, based upon a form of architecture known by the client/server designation, is widely used for cartographic dissemination applications [GOG 01]. It is also implemented using free tools (open source) made available to the general public and initiated by the international scientific community. Water itself is part of geoscientific information. However, standardization remains an impediment and today mobilizes think-tanks at all levels, so as to construct a framework for interoperability, and it enables an exchange of these data [ATE 12] [OLI 05].

In relation to water data, this interoperability can only be guaranteed by the implementation of advanced information systems. We must stress that new scientific