Arctic GIS Workshop Poster Abstract

22-24 January 2001
Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Seattle, Washington

Web-Enabling Arctic Geoscience Data as a Contribution to the Canadian Geospatial Data Inventory

Bridget E. Ady
GIS Manager, GeoArctic International Services Ltd., Suite 1250, 815 - 8 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 3T2 Canada, Phone: 403/290-1320, bady@geoarctic.com, www.geoarctic.com

GeoArctic, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office have initiated a project to Web-enable available eastern Canadian Arctic geoscientific data and data interpretations. The purpose of the project is two-fold: consolidation of geoscientific datasets for the region; and implementation of interoperable Web mapping technologies to manage and deliver geospatial data to multiple users. Interoperable Web mapping will increase the capability to visualize the data by enabling users to dynamically integrate multiple online sources into one map or a series of maps.

Web-enabling the geospatial datasets according to open standards and registering those datasets with the Canadian Geospatial Data Inventory (CGDI) discovery service - CEONet, will allow data to be discovered, accessed, and manipulated in Internet GIS Java applets made available to the client-side Web-browser.The OpenGIS Web Map Server Interface provides specifications for requesting maps via the Web so that maps from multiple sources can be overlaid in a custom view in the users' Web browser. This is designed to work with catalog services defined in the OpenGIS Catalog Services specification.

The project will contribute to the Canadian Geoscience Knowledge Network (CGKN), which is the geoscience component of CGDI. Upon project completion users will be able to query the CEONet Service Registry for eastern Canadian Arctic geoscience data, and request, integrate, view, and manipulate map layers in their Web browsers. These map layers will be hosted on Map Servers in GSC offices in Ottawa and Dartmouth and, when high-speed Internet connections to the eastern Canadian Arctic are established, in the Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office in Iqaluit. Users will have the capability to access and integrate the geoscientific data, independent of their physical location. This will help to communicate natural resource potential, support exploration planning, and aid scientific research in the region.