One central goal of INSPIRE is to promote the sharing of data in order to better manage the natural environment and impacts related to human security. Historically, one of the largest impacts to human settlements in Europe are due to natural hazards such as flooding. While there are a range of INSPIRE themes related to flood management, there are also critical event based services that need to be incorporated in order to adequately monitor and respond to flood events. This challenge involves integrating the necessary INSPIRE themes with event based data resources necessary to support flood impact assessment and response.
Key issues to questions to answer/investigate
INSPIRE themes related to flood risk and management are often not easily integrated with real time / event based data feeds or with proprietary tools typically used to model flooding and its impacts. INSPIRE themes are typically GML with complex, nested object models and geometry. Flood mapping applications are usually based on flat, relational GIS data structures, such as geodatabase. Data feeds that provide real time or event based flooding information are typically available as REST services that provide RSS, GeoRSS, JSON or GeoJSON feeds. Finally weather or flood forecasts and simulations typically generate time series data in the form of multi-dimensional numerical grids such as NetCDF. Considerable effort around transformation and integration can be required to synthesize information from across these diverse sources to build a common operational picture.
Required knowledge and skills
Some knowledge of the flood monitoring and management domain in order to find and retrieve flood event information. Knowledge about the INSPIRE data specifications related to which themes are relevant to flood risk, impact, response and management. These might include but are not limited to theme’s from across all 3 Annexes as relevant such as roads, hydrography, natural risk zones, buildings, population distribution, geonames, elevation, orthoimagery etc.
Ability to work with web formats such as XML/GML and JSON. Ability to transform between object model data structures and relational data structures. Ability to build and chain services on top of published API’s to respond to queries from clients.
Data integration and transformation. Ability to interact with and build on web APIs
The challenge is to integrate INSPIRE basemap data with real time /event based flood information feeds
Offered datasets
We could assist participants who wish to provide WFS3 REST services, including ability to host WFS3 on top of WFS2.
We can provide a limited amount of cloud based database and file service hosting.
Other relevant datasets
Participants will gain access to a range of shared datasets related to flood forecasting, monitoring and response. Most of these will be revealed in the weeks preceding the scenario kickoff.
Along with providing FME and FME Cloud access (see below), this would in turn provide participants with access to cloud based data resources such as Sentinel-2 and LandSat satellite imagery.
FME Server / FME Cloud can also be used to provide a source of simulated flood event data via an RSS / GeoRSS or JSON/GeoJSON feed.
New technologies to test or evaluate
WFS3
Offered personal resources
We have found in recent interactions on OGC projects such as IndoorGML that slack provides an efficient way to communicate within project groups. We are also open to communicating via email and gotomeeting as needed.
We can offer one day of support per week, spread out over the course of the week.
Our weather expert team can offer knowledge and support with data sets and challenges related to the weather domain.
Offered or suggested tools
We can offer free access to FME desktop and Server licenses for the duration of the project. Also free access to a shared FME Cloud instance for the duration, with separate logins and access available for each participant.
We can offer free licenses for the INSPIRE Solution Pack for FME plug-in for the duration of the project.
We can also offer some sample source datasets and flood notification services that we have used in our demos in the past. These may serve as a useful starting point for testing or may in fact be useful in developing the participants actual challenge scenario. We can also offer some sample example FME workspaces and templates that show how related workflows can be implemented in FME which may prove useful for those who wish to develop solutions on the FME platform. For detailed examples related to processing flood information with FME see:
https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/44289/json-reading-advanced.html
Which uses the flood feed published by UK EA: https://environment.data.gov.uk/flood-monitoring/id/floods
Or the following flood notification demo which is based on NOAA monitoring stations:
https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/44550/flood-notification-scenario.html
Desired outcome and presentation
Ideally teams should present the results of their work via an online demo and/or mobile app.
Offered benefits for the teams
Participating teams will gain valuable insights in terms of how to integrate a wide range of data sources to solve flood modeling, impact and management problems.
Participants will gain access to a range of shared datasets related to flood forecasting, monitoring and response. Most of these will be revealed in the weeks preceding the scenario kickoff.
Participants will benefit from free support during the month of the challenge in order to support their use of the relevant INSPIRE themes, other relevant datasets from non INSPIRE sources, and real time data feeds. Those using the FME platform will have access to FME templates of related workflows.
Prizes include free registration at the next conterra FME Days, and Safe Software’s next international FME 2020 User Conference in Vancouver, June 2020.
Background & context
One central goal of INSPIRE is to promote the sharing of data across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries in order to better manage the natural environment and impacts related to human security. The need to monitor and respond to natural disasters is one of the driving principles that contributed to the founding of INSPIRE. Since the vision of INSPIRE was developed decades ago, we have seen increasing impacts due to the evolution of climate change that seem to only grow in severity.
One of the largest impacts to human settlements in Europe resulting from climate change resulting from natural hazards is flooding due to storm events, rising rivers and rising sea levels. For the purpose of the Helsinki Challenge themes, a flood scenario is an ideal fit because it incorporates data from all the themes mentioned in the challenge theme:: air/atmosphere/weather, sea/coastline/hydrography, and cities/urban areas/human settlements. It also relates to pan european SDI as there are clear benefits to interconnections coming from SDI beyond INSPIRE such as weather and water level station data, satellite imagery from Copernicus, and other event based data feeds. Overall, this use case supports underlying INSPIRE themes such as data sharing and utilization, environmental sustainability, public welfare and safety.
Recommended Evaluation Criteria (additional background info - worth adding here? - may want to abbreviate this somewhat)
Range and significance of INSPIRE themes used.
Range and significance of other industry standards employed. This includes ability to bridge gaps between open standards and proprietary standards and systems and support mixed environments.
Degree to which demo supports both INSPIRE recommended open standards and incorporates elements of emerging OGC standards that are evolving to embrace 21st century web and mobile application development norms such as OGC OpenAPI: REST, GeoJSON, JSON and HTML such as embodied by WFS3.
Meaningful interactions between the data sources above.
Sense of realism in terms of the demo scenario workflows that are supported
Ease with which demo supports data updates both for basemap and event based data.
Ability of the demo user to interact, upload, validate and incorporate their own data.
Demo dashboard data should be viewable via a typical web browser or mobile device, and support client friendly data streams such as geojson, html, PDF, slippy maps and / or web3d standards like cesium or I3S as relevant.
Degree to which the demo supports underlying INSPIRE themes such as data sharing and utilization, environmental sustainability, public welfare and safety. For example the inclusion of demo elements related to climate change scenarios, energy efficiency or public safety.
Cooperation with other Challenge Partners
We are open to offering an FME Cloud API platform for use during the challenge
Submitting organisations
Dean Hintz, Safe Software, dean.hintz@safe.com
Sören Dupke, con terra GmbH, s.dupke@conterra.de
Summary (~100 words)
One central goal of INSPIRE is to promote the sharing of data in order to better manage the natural environment and impacts related to human security. Historically, one of the largest impacts to human settlements in Europe are due to natural hazards such as flooding. While there are a range of INSPIRE themes related to flood management, there are also critical event based services that need to be incorporated in order to adequately monitor and respond to flood events. This challenge involves integrating the necessary INSPIRE themes with event based data resources necessary to support flood impact assessment and response.
Key issues to questions to answer/investigate
INSPIRE themes related to flood risk and management are often not easily integrated with real time / event based data feeds or with proprietary tools typically used to model flooding and its impacts. INSPIRE themes are typically GML with complex, nested object models and geometry. Flood mapping applications are usually based on flat, relational GIS data structures, such as geodatabase. Data feeds that provide real time or event based flooding information are typically available as REST services that provide RSS, GeoRSS, JSON or GeoJSON feeds. Finally weather or flood forecasts and simulations typically generate time series data in the form of multi-dimensional numerical grids such as NetCDF. Considerable effort around transformation and integration can be required to synthesize information from across these diverse sources to build a common operational picture.
Required knowledge and skills
Some knowledge of the flood monitoring and management domain in order to find and retrieve flood event information. Knowledge about the INSPIRE data specifications related to which themes are relevant to flood risk, impact, response and management. These might include but are not limited to theme’s from across all 3 Annexes as relevant such as roads, hydrography, natural risk zones, buildings, population distribution, geonames, elevation, orthoimagery etc.
Ability to work with web formats such as XML/GML and JSON. Ability to transform between object model data structures and relational data structures. Ability to build and chain services on top of published API’s to respond to queries from clients.
Data integration and transformation. Ability to interact with and build on web APIs The challenge is to integrate INSPIRE basemap data with real time /event based flood information feeds
Offered datasets
We could assist participants who wish to provide WFS3 REST services, including ability to host WFS3 on top of WFS2. We can provide a limited amount of cloud based database and file service hosting.
Other relevant datasets
Participants will gain access to a range of shared datasets related to flood forecasting, monitoring and response. Most of these will be revealed in the weeks preceding the scenario kickoff.
Along with providing FME and FME Cloud access (see below), this would in turn provide participants with access to cloud based data resources such as Sentinel-2 and LandSat satellite imagery.
FME Server / FME Cloud can also be used to provide a source of simulated flood event data via an RSS / GeoRSS or JSON/GeoJSON feed.
New technologies to test or evaluate
WFS3
Offered personal resources
We have found in recent interactions on OGC projects such as IndoorGML that slack provides an efficient way to communicate within project groups. We are also open to communicating via email and gotomeeting as needed.
We can offer one day of support per week, spread out over the course of the week.
Our weather expert team can offer knowledge and support with data sets and challenges related to the weather domain.
Offered or suggested tools
We can offer free access to FME desktop and Server licenses for the duration of the project. Also free access to a shared FME Cloud instance for the duration, with separate logins and access available for each participant.
We can offer free licenses for the INSPIRE Solution Pack for FME plug-in for the duration of the project.
We can also offer some sample source datasets and flood notification services that we have used in our demos in the past. These may serve as a useful starting point for testing or may in fact be useful in developing the participants actual challenge scenario. We can also offer some sample example FME workspaces and templates that show how related workflows can be implemented in FME which may prove useful for those who wish to develop solutions on the FME platform. For detailed examples related to processing flood information with FME see: https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/44289/json-reading-advanced.html Which uses the flood feed published by UK EA: https://environment.data.gov.uk/flood-monitoring/id/floods Or the following flood notification demo which is based on NOAA monitoring stations: https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/44550/flood-notification-scenario.html
Desired outcome and presentation
Ideally teams should present the results of their work via an online demo and/or mobile app.
Offered benefits for the teams
Participating teams will gain valuable insights in terms of how to integrate a wide range of data sources to solve flood modeling, impact and management problems.
Participants will gain access to a range of shared datasets related to flood forecasting, monitoring and response. Most of these will be revealed in the weeks preceding the scenario kickoff.
Participants will benefit from free support during the month of the challenge in order to support their use of the relevant INSPIRE themes, other relevant datasets from non INSPIRE sources, and real time data feeds. Those using the FME platform will have access to FME templates of related workflows.
Prizes include free registration at the next conterra FME Days, and Safe Software’s next international FME 2020 User Conference in Vancouver, June 2020.
Background & context
One central goal of INSPIRE is to promote the sharing of data across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries in order to better manage the natural environment and impacts related to human security. The need to monitor and respond to natural disasters is one of the driving principles that contributed to the founding of INSPIRE. Since the vision of INSPIRE was developed decades ago, we have seen increasing impacts due to the evolution of climate change that seem to only grow in severity.
One of the largest impacts to human settlements in Europe resulting from climate change resulting from natural hazards is flooding due to storm events, rising rivers and rising sea levels. For the purpose of the Helsinki Challenge themes, a flood scenario is an ideal fit because it incorporates data from all the themes mentioned in the challenge theme:: air/atmosphere/weather, sea/coastline/hydrography, and cities/urban areas/human settlements. It also relates to pan european SDI as there are clear benefits to interconnections coming from SDI beyond INSPIRE such as weather and water level station data, satellite imagery from Copernicus, and other event based data feeds. Overall, this use case supports underlying INSPIRE themes such as data sharing and utilization, environmental sustainability, public welfare and safety.
Recommended Evaluation Criteria (additional background info - worth adding here? - may want to abbreviate this somewhat) Range and significance of INSPIRE themes used. Range and significance of other industry standards employed. This includes ability to bridge gaps between open standards and proprietary standards and systems and support mixed environments. Degree to which demo supports both INSPIRE recommended open standards and incorporates elements of emerging OGC standards that are evolving to embrace 21st century web and mobile application development norms such as OGC OpenAPI: REST, GeoJSON, JSON and HTML such as embodied by WFS3. Meaningful interactions between the data sources above. Sense of realism in terms of the demo scenario workflows that are supported Ease with which demo supports data updates both for basemap and event based data. Ability of the demo user to interact, upload, validate and incorporate their own data. Demo dashboard data should be viewable via a typical web browser or mobile device, and support client friendly data streams such as geojson, html, PDF, slippy maps and / or web3d standards like cesium or I3S as relevant. Degree to which the demo supports underlying INSPIRE themes such as data sharing and utilization, environmental sustainability, public welfare and safety. For example the inclusion of demo elements related to climate change scenarios, energy efficiency or public safety.
Cooperation with other Challenge Partners
We are open to offering an FME Cloud API platform for use during the challenge
Submitting organisations
Dean Hintz, Safe Software, dean.hintz@safe.com Sören Dupke, con terra GmbH, s.dupke@conterra.de